doveman
New Head-Fier
- Joined
- Apr 8, 2013
- Posts
- 28
- Likes
- 0
I needed a mic to attach to my Samson SR850 headphones. I used one of these Panasonic WM-61A Electret Condenser mic capsules http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Panasonic-WM-61A-Electret-Condenser-MIC-Capsule-10PCS-/120608514455?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_3&hash=item1c14d3e197 as they're meant to have high sensitivity, attached it to a boom I took from a cheap headset and used the boom's wiring and 3.5mm jack but the results have been rather disappointing.
Whilst it works with my motherboard http://www.asus.com/uk/Motherboards/Z97A/specifications/ with Realtek onboard ALC892 it's too quiet and I have to turn up the boost to +30db so that people can hear me properly on Teamspeak, although Windows speech recognition seems to work better with it at +20db, or at least with the input volume at a lower setting than is suitable for voice comms, so I can't really use both. Naturally the boost also boosts the noise, which is cancelled out reasonably well by a setting in Teamspeak but no doubt confuses the speech recognition. The PC mic input does provide the voltage needed to drive the mic (when wiring it up it wouldn't work at all with just the signal + and GND connected, only once I connected the third pole to provide the voltage) but maybe it's not the ideal voltage to drive this capsule, or it needs other circuitry to drive it optimally?
As far as I understand, the realtek onboard audio is fairly good quality nowadays and it's unlikely that a separate soundcard will make much difference but would I be able to improve things by running an external amp to boost the signal before it goes into the PC, so that I can reset the boost to 0db and thus prevent the onboard audio boosting the noise? Would an external amp be able to increase the signal without increasing the noise?
I think I might be able to set a line input device as my default comms device for speech recognition and Teamspeak has it's own audio input selector, so I should be able to select it there, if it will be necessary or better to boost the signal to line level externally, to avoid using the mic input at all. I've actually got a semi-pro mic amp (I'll have to dig it out and check the make/model) I bought for my SM58, which I could connect the mic to and then connect the amp to the PC's line input. It only has 1/4" and XLR inputs, so I'd need an adapter to convert the 3.5mm jack to a 1/4" one but I don't know if this amp is likely to even be suitable for this capsule or if it will need some custom circuitry.
So will I be able to increase the level and signal quality using this capsule with my PC or should I just give up on the idea and get a different capsule and if so, what?
Whilst it works with my motherboard http://www.asus.com/uk/Motherboards/Z97A/specifications/ with Realtek onboard ALC892 it's too quiet and I have to turn up the boost to +30db so that people can hear me properly on Teamspeak, although Windows speech recognition seems to work better with it at +20db, or at least with the input volume at a lower setting than is suitable for voice comms, so I can't really use both. Naturally the boost also boosts the noise, which is cancelled out reasonably well by a setting in Teamspeak but no doubt confuses the speech recognition. The PC mic input does provide the voltage needed to drive the mic (when wiring it up it wouldn't work at all with just the signal + and GND connected, only once I connected the third pole to provide the voltage) but maybe it's not the ideal voltage to drive this capsule, or it needs other circuitry to drive it optimally?
As far as I understand, the realtek onboard audio is fairly good quality nowadays and it's unlikely that a separate soundcard will make much difference but would I be able to improve things by running an external amp to boost the signal before it goes into the PC, so that I can reset the boost to 0db and thus prevent the onboard audio boosting the noise? Would an external amp be able to increase the signal without increasing the noise?
I think I might be able to set a line input device as my default comms device for speech recognition and Teamspeak has it's own audio input selector, so I should be able to select it there, if it will be necessary or better to boost the signal to line level externally, to avoid using the mic input at all. I've actually got a semi-pro mic amp (I'll have to dig it out and check the make/model) I bought for my SM58, which I could connect the mic to and then connect the amp to the PC's line input. It only has 1/4" and XLR inputs, so I'd need an adapter to convert the 3.5mm jack to a 1/4" one but I don't know if this amp is likely to even be suitable for this capsule or if it will need some custom circuitry.
So will I be able to increase the level and signal quality using this capsule with my PC or should I just give up on the idea and get a different capsule and if so, what?
