How to Hook Up a Studio Mic to a Computer
If you have a nice studio mic, you probably want to know how to hook it up to your computer to utilize your computer's sound-processing capabilities. You can connect a studio mic to any computer and begin recording audio almost right away. Studio microphones, however, don't fit into the one-eighth-inch audio inputs on most computers. The balanced XLR output of a studio mic is a small part of what makes it superior to a computer mic.
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Instructions
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1
Insert the installation disc of your audio interface and run the setup program. An audio interface is a small USB device with instrument and microphone inputs. Connect the device to a USB interface on your computer when the setup program prompts you to.
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2
Connect your headphones to the quarter-inch headphone input on your interface. Put them on.
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3
Run the software that you installed from the audio-interface installation disc. Connect the female end of the XLR cable to the three-pronged jack in the microphone. XLR cable is a standard microphone cable with three prongs on the male end and three holes on the female end.
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4
Connect the male end of the XLR cable to the microphone input on channel one of your interface. Flip the switch on channel one to "Mic in."
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5
Turn the knobs on the interface to adjust the headphone volume and the input level for channel one. The headphone-volume knob is next to the headphone input and the input-level knob for channel one is next to the XLR input where you plugged in the mic.
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Speak into the microphone to test the level. Adjust the headphone level and mic volume as necessary. Click the red circle button in the audio-interface software to begin recording your voice. Watch the sound wave as it appears on the screen and listen to the mic input to ensure you aren't over-driving the input, which causes distortion.
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Turn the channel-one knob to set the level as loud as it gets without over-driving. Click "Stop" to end the recording. Click "Record" to start a new recording with the correctly adjusted levels.
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Tips & Warnings
If you only have earbuds or headphones with a one-eighth-inch minijack connection, use an eighth-inch-to-quarter-inch adapter to plug your headphone cable into the audio interface.
Resources
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