What Made you Smile/What Ticked you off Today?

[REPO Man]

I still have my 10yo Acer laptop that runs like ass, which DOES have a dedicated microphone port. But since support for Windows 7 and its antivirus software, I'm leery about firing it up. Plus I have only used it once or twice since getting my current PC over two years ago.

[marurun]

I just don't want to spend $50-60 on a new microphone and end up with the same problem or finding out that my problem could have been solved by spending a fraction of the money.

I went back to the link you originally posted. You paid likely $31 or $32 before tax for your existing mic. You have since purchased phantom power and are planning on buying a different (presumably also cheap) USB sound card. By the time you have purchased all that, you will have spend more than what you could have spent on a mic from a reputable vendor. I will share 4 good candidates from known, reputable vendors below, all of which are cheaper than what you will ultimately end up spending with no guarantee of success. (I even made sure to strip any affiliate junk from the URLs, yw.)




https://www.jlab.com/products/talk-go-u ... 6206500936

I did very little research to come up with this list. No amount of fun accessories make a device of dubious quality magically a great deal.

[Limewater]

I still have my 10yo Acer laptop that runs like ass, which DOES have a dedicated microphone port. But since support for Windows 7 and its antivirus software, I'm leery about firing it up. Plus I have only used it once or twice since getting my current PC over two years ago.

I understand the concern. One time Ziggy587 booted up one of his ancient computers whose operating system is no longer supported and it knocked him unconscious, stole his wallet, and drew a phallus on his face in permanent marker.

[marurun]

I understand the concern. One time Ziggy587 booted up one of his ancient computers whose operating system is no longer supported and it knocked him unconscious, stole his wallet, and drew a phallus on his face in permanent marker.

To this day we call him Zig the Twig (and berries) behind his back.

[Ziggy]

I understand the concern. One time Ziggy587 booted up one of his ancient computers whose operating system is no longer supported and it knocked him unconscious, stole his wallet, and drew a phallus on his face in permanent marker.

To this day we call him Zig the Twig (and berries) behind his back.

And now every time I turn that PC on, all I see on the screen is this...



Also, my car was gone.

[REPO Man]

I meant that since the Windows 7 version of Microsoft Defender hasn't had any updates in years, I'd be prone to viruses.

Now, could my surge protector be causing it? I've got my TV, PS4, modem, router Switch and Xbox 360 plugged into it, along with a few USB charging cables.

[marurun]

Now, could my surge protector be causing it? I've got my TV, PS4, modem, router Switch and Xbox 360 plugged into it, along with a few USB charging cables.

I mean, the microphone is connected to a USB sound card. That's highly unlikely. For one, your power supply would also have to be highly questionable, and USB usually regulates power delivery pretty well, so you'd have a lot of components between you and your surge protector. I suppose it's possible there could be ambient interference, but it's far more likely the drone is coming from the device itself or the USB component. Either it has a noisy component inside it or it's inadequately shielded against interference, both hallmarks of cheaply made devices and a fatal flaw in a microphone.

[Ack]

You could also find free software that might be able to isolate the hum sound and remove it with a few seconds of recorded room tone, but I don't know.

[Limewater]

You should be fine. If you're really worried just turn your WiFi off.

If the tone shows up on your laptop while running on batteries and not sitting on top of your desktop machine or something, then we know it's not an AC power problem so we don't need to wonder if it's power-related.

It is highly unlikely to be your surge protector.

If the tone is still there then you know the problem is with either the USB sound card or the microphone itself.

If the tone is gone, then you can experiment a little with powering your computer to try to eliminate/minimize it. It may still not be solvable with your current hardware. Or you could just start recording using your laptop running off battery. Though I doubt your battery is in great shape if the laptop is really ten years old.

[SamuraiMegas]

Holy shit dude do you really think a board full of hardcore electronics enthusiasts don't know what they're talking about? There's multiple members who work with sound professionally/or are high level hobbiests who know a lot, just look at the synth thread.

You're spending money on both the power supply and the microphone- if you combined the money you spent on the two items, you could have gotten one, nicer, microphone. You're complaining about spending $60 when you've already spent it on crappy products that don't work.