Which $60 Win XP/7 computer for new Voice Over actor?

[greghall00]

There it is. It has motherboard sound.
Koz

Uh, is that a bad thing or a good thing?

[gator7]

kozikowski, you mentioned that you are working on a tutorial ' We are composing a book segment called Tips and Techniques for Spoken Word Recording'.
I am very interested in that also, are you going to announce that when its available? Thanks,

[greghall00]

Just in case the preceding poster's question/comment was unintentionally missed, I'm giving this thread a bump.

[kozikowski]

There was a recent posting from someone doing game commentary. He had almost achieved recording nirvana. Good level, seemingly clear sound and almost no intelligibility. Like it's one of those TED talks where somebody is lecturing on how to freak out your ears. Background music, room echoes and very high data compression are not a good combination.

Don't sit on the edge of your bed waiting for publication. Your knees will fall asleep. I only have the basic outline of the document and I'm soliciting comments. We write the same things to people day after day. 'No, we can't 'clean up' your recording." This kind of dirt doesn't come off.

Koz

[Gale Andrews]

If you look around on this page http://wiki.audacityteam.org/wiki/Recording_Tips you'll probably find something to help, such as http://wiki.audacityteam.org/wiki/Micro ... _for_Voice .


Gale

[kozikowski]

Oh, yes. That's our bedsheet of text posting. It's rough to read, but if you get a good cup of coffee and crank through it, there's a lot of good information in it.

Koz

[greghall00]

I look forward to checking out that page, Gale Andrews!

In the meantime, my $60 (incl. s/h) Dell GX 620 Optiplex arrived in good condition, I think. I can't say for sure because I'm no tech guy, unfortunately. Also, because I'm assembling this budget home studio piece by piece and only after buying a VGA cable could I even hook it up to my 720p 20" Hi-def TV set I'm using for a monitor.

After calling up the Guru in India, who helped get me past a black screen and Windows XP Logo, I found I had no sound.

When I asked you in a previous post what 2 in 1 sound was, I wasn't kidding! I see a blue, green and pink set of what looks like 3.5mm jack/recepticles but I don't know what they are or if they are fuctional.

And I STILL don't know what "2 in 1 sound" means!

Do I have a sound card?

How do I know if I actually have a sound card or not?

The ONLY thing I've heard from the computer since Narinder Singh got me online is the melodic chime when Windows starts.

Do I NEED a sound card if I have the Blue Icicle USB interface?

If I do need a sound card what's a good one for an aspiring voice over person on a budget to look at?

Can I use an external sound card (so I don't have to install an internal sound card)?

If not, how can I do this?

I saw some exteral USB sound cards on ebay that look like colorful little thumb drives for a buck or two, but I'm sure those are toys, right?

Don't tell me I'm STILL $100+ away from being set.


GH

[steve]

And I STILL don't know what "2 in 1 sound" means!

Neither do I

I see a blue, green and pink set of what looks like 3.5mm jack/recepticles but I don't know what they are or if they are fuctional.

That sounds like it's a sound card.

The ONLY thing I've heard from the computer since Narinder Singh got me online is the melodic chime when Windows starts.

Where is that sound coming from? Do you have speakers plugged in somewhere?

[kozikowski]

Can you send us pictures of the front and back of the machine? We can get quite a bit from that.

No, oddly, you don't need a soundcard to get the show from your USB microphone into Audacity, but you may need one to hear what you did later.

"Soundcard" means any device that can handle computer sound whether or not it's actually a card. Many computers have Soundcard Services built into the motherboard. That usually puts the pink, blue, and green sockets next to the other computer interconnects instead of further over where the other optional equipment cards plug in.

This is another, simpler version of a soundcard.

http://www.kozco.com/tech/audacity/pix/ ... Final2.jpg

That's a game port connector on top, but from top to bottom:

Green -- This is usually stereo line-out. It may or may not be paired to a black connector which is the headphone connection. Same thing. Stereo Line-Out very nearly always interchangeable.

Blue -- This is the one missing from many laptops. It's Stereo Line-In. Plug in your stereo dance mixer or the output from your Cassette machine or CD player.

Pink -- That's almost always a mono (not stereo), super sensitive microphone connection. It's designed to almost always do just this:
http://kozco.com/tech/audacity/pix/comp ... ophone.jpg

Many laptops only have pink and green.

http://www.kozco.com/tech/audacity/pix/ ... pSound.jpg

That's designed to do this:

http://www.kozco.com/tech/audacity/pix/PCHeadset.jpg

That's a Microphone on the flexible boom and one Headphone making it a headSET suitable for communications, Skype, or multi-player gaming -- although I'd get a headset with stereo ear muffs for gaming.

Koz

[Shaky]

I. . .only after buying a VGA cable could I even hook it up to my 720p 20" Hi-def TV set I'm using for a monitor.

. . . The ONLY thing I've heard from the computer since Narinder Singh got me online is the melodic chime when Windows starts.

Hmmmm. If the only connection from your new computer - aside from keyboard and mouse - is a VGA cable to your TV monitor and you envisage using that for sound, the problem is likely that there is no sound flowing.

The HDMI monitor cable standard supports sound, but most like VGA do not, and you may well have a system speaker internally that is only intended to convey operating system beeps, etc, that produced the Windows audio greeting you heard; alas it is not suited for much else.

You could probably get a relatively cheap cable to connect a jack on your soundcard to the TV, but the key question then is will you be able to view the computer at the same time, which seems somewhat doubtful.

Do you have some headphones you can use? If so I suggest your try those, and if not it is probably the best investment you can make. You can get pretty good ones for very little money, but it is worth considering that you may well be wearing them for extended periods so comfort is moderately important -- try before you buy if possible.