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Low Input signal on microphone. Why?
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porpoise
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Join Date: Jul 2002
Location: New York
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Jul 18, 2005, 04:34 PM
 
Hi all,

I bought an XLR microphone from Shure and an XLR to mini-jack cable. I turn the microphone and plug it into my computer. I open System Preferences>Sound and select Line In from the Input menu. And the input signal is incredibly low. I have to hold the mic right to my lips and shout into it in order to get level recording.

I've tried running it through an external USB sound box (Audiophile USB) but it didn't help the situation.

I've also tried two different microphones - one XLR, the other minijack. I have the same problem.

Any ideas??

-Perry
     
tooki
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Jul 18, 2005, 05:26 PM
 
Do a search -- this is a super-common question that gets asked -- and answered -- frequently.

But simply, a mike won't work on a line-in. Mikes go into mike inputs, which are different electrically. The Mac and the Audiophile have zero mike inputs.

tooki
     
Brian McHale
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Join Date: Jul 2001
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Jul 21, 2005, 01:42 PM
 
As Tooki said, you cannot drive a line in with a microphone. Furthermore, what kind of XLR to minijack adapter did you buy? If it doesn't have a transformer in it, it's not likely to work correctly anyway (the three pins in the XLR do not correspond to three pins on a stereo input).

To use any microphone with a line in, you'll need some kind of preamp. You plug your mic into the preamp and the line out from the preamp into the line in on your computer. I use my mixer as the preamp, then run that into an Edirol USB interface. There are many choices, but basically you need to bump up the level of the mic using a preamp to get a satisfactory input level for your computer.
Brian
     
Wet Jimmy
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Jul 21, 2005, 09:04 PM
 
Something like the Griffin iMic will solve this problem?
     
Brian McHale
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Jul 22, 2005, 10:31 AM
 
The iMic might help, since it does have a preamp in it, but the main purpose of the iMic is to provide an audio input to Macs that don't have one (like my Quicksilver).

An XLR microphone has a balanced output. To convert it properly to a signal that can be routed into a computer, you need a transformer.
Brian
     
   
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