Computer Audio Problems -- Was OT - sound cards

[K7TV]

Jim,

 

Thanks for your comments; I know of your expertise and hoped you would.

 

>ALL microphones are analog. It is the connection to the computer that is
digital.

 

That's what I was trying to say, but apparently I didn't say it clearly
enough.

 

>For about ten years, I've used nothing but top line Thinkpads, which DO
have decent sound cards.

 

This is very useful information that I was hoping to get. Not planning to
replace any computer now, but it makes sense to select better products over
time.

 

>I would suspect a problem with the connection of the mic (or the rig) to
the computer sound card. I've written a couple of tutorials on that topic

 

I am aware of a lot of issues that come into play when another active device
such as a radio is connected to the computer, and I am by no means claiming
that the digital modes setup I had was ideal an up to your standards.
However, when a simple passive microphone capsule is connected to a simple
unbalanced sound card microphone input, with no RF around, in what respect
would you vary or adapt the connection? Besides impedance and level issues,
are sound card inputs sensitive to DC resistance? What about DC offsets (the
software offers an option to cancel such.) Could you please refer me to the
specific tutorial, as there are so many that you have written.

 

Thanks,

Erik K7TV

 

 

 

 

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[Jim Brown-10]

On 1/9/2012 11:08 AM, Erik Basilier wrote:
> I am aware of a lot of issues that come into play when another active device
> such as a radio is connected to the computer, and I am by no means claiming
> that the digital modes setup I had was ideal an up to your standards.
> However, when a simple passive microphone capsule is connected to a simple
> unbalanced sound card microphone input, with no RF around, in what respect
> would you vary or adapt the connection? Besides impedance and level issues,
> are sound card inputs sensitive to DC resistance? What about DC offsets (the
> software offers an option to cancel such.) Could you please refer me to the
> specific tutorial, as there are so many that you have written.

The RFI tutorial has a section on Solving Problems in the Shack that
covers this. Also the power point on Ham Interfacing.  Impedance DOES
NOT MATTER. DC blocking is NOT required, but an electret DOES need DC
bias to work. All that is required is the proper connection and getting
levels right. The ham interfacing tutorial shows everything you need.

I also recently did a tutorial webinar on recording wav files for
contesting for NCCC, our local contest club, including detailed info on
how to set levels properly.  Problems with noisy recording are almost
always caused by recording at levels that are far too low, or by not
having proper bias for an electret mic.  In the webinar, I went through
the use of simple but nice sound editing (and free) software that I
found on the internet. I believe that there is a link to the webinar on
the public section of the website (nccc.cc).

73, Jim K9YC
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