Help with microphone into pc spdif....
My pc has a spdif interface for digital input (optical and spdif). I would like to connect my dynamic microphone (XLR balanced) to this input for home recording. I know I will need some type of A/D converter to get the signal into the pc. I have been searching for some type of direct box or converter to acomplish this but the solutions I have found on the net are far too expensive for my purposes. What I need is something similar to what the Edirol UA-25 USB Audio and MIDI Interface (http://www.edirol.com/products/info/ua25.html) does or the UA-5, but without all the extras. I just need the simplest form of input for my mic, with perhaps a limiter to avoid digital clipping to the spdif of the pc.
Any ideas or suggestions?
Thanks,
Chris
One way or another you'll need a mic preamp to bring that mic-level input up to a line-level input. Either get an audio interface with a built-in mic input; or get a separate mic preamp and send its output into a line-level audio interface. First, go to my list, sorted by price:
http://www.silentway.com/interfaces
Then do a search on that page (control-F on PCs, command-F on Macs) for "XLR" or "mic".
You can find a stand-alone mic preamp for under $100, like these:
http://www.zzounds.com/a--3778/prodsearch?cat=2891&form=prodsearch&cat2=&ob=p19&submit=Filter+Results
You might even find a stand-alone mic preamp with a S/PDIF output. But in the long run, you're better off with a dedicated audio interface for your computer. It will make everything that goes into (and comes out of) your computer sound much better.
Exactly! All USB audio interfaces send the audio to/from the USB port. That's their main purpose. Most users don't need the extra step of using the S/PDIF port. Just get a USB or FireWire audio interface which has a mic preamp, via my link listed above.
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Thanks for the advice.
Unfortunately, there are no mic preamps with spdif or optical outs in the sub $100 range. The list is pretty comprehensive and informative. I may just have to bite the bullet and layout a bit more $$££.
Thanks again for the advice and your website is both informative and helpful.
:D