A microphone that plugs into my soundcard's "mic in" would be another option. I assume the sound card would then be a factor in the recording quality (I have an ASUS A7N8XD motherboard, which has built-in sound).

My definition of "good" is something that's comparable to what I get from my Sony TRV-22 camcorder. I'm not an audiophile, but I don't want something that will sound "hollow" or "tinny".

MitchK

I know on a few occasions I have actually used my camera as a microphone (when I had to) Just pop in a MiniDV tape, hit record, talk into the mic on the camera, then capture the clip in Vegas, delete the video part and you're left with the audio. Might sound better than a cheap oustide mic also.

We're working on something similar to this where i work. The chip that amplifies the microphone's signal and converts it to USB data is a substantial part of the cost of a low-end unit. If you remove that from the $30 price tag then what's left over for the rest of the microphone is pretty slim and you'll probably be getting a pretty bad unit.

If at all possible, look for a microphone that connects to the analog mic input of the sound card so that the cost can go more towards a better microphone element instead of the USB chip.

I've used my camera for recording sound too, but it's a bit of a hassle. However you indirectly gave me the bright idea of reserving a "sound only" tape to use, so I don't clutter my regular video source tapes with sound bites.

MitchK

Thanks for that advice. Makes sense.

MitchK

You don't need to tape anything, just turn on the cam and launch Capture. It will capture a live stream.
30.00 mic= hollow and tinny. 30.00 mic means plastic mic housing, which means hollow and tinny. USB=latent as heck.
Use your camera mic. It's better than a 30.00 mic.

Yeah Spot, I guess you could do that also, I find when I do though I pick up a lot of computer noises like fans and hard drive noise. I prefer to take the camera in a quiet room to do the recording then bring it back to the computer and import it into Vegas. I guess it just depends how loud your computer is :)

Computer noise is a big problem, of course you get also get SF and NR, on special at the moment. But money might be better spent on good mics and some soundproofing. Other option might be to see if you can get a pair of headphones with a noise cancelling mic. I very much doubt you'll get good voice out of them as they're designed to give maximum voice clarity not accuracy but if that's all you need for say corporate voice overs they might fill the bill.

Look around, Telex used to make some good ones for use in aircraft and by ground crews. I suspect though they'll be rather expensive.

2 points on this comment...
1. You can't escape the noise of the camera no matter what when doing this, because the heads rotate whenever the cam is on, and it's ALWAYS noisy. So it's still a bandaid solution.
2. You're still better off getting a cheap mic in a quiet room, than having a good mic in a noisy room. I highly recommend the AT 831, regularly found on ebay for sub 100.00, as a cheap mic. Conversely, AT makes great computer mics, but they start at 100.00.
Record the V/O directly into the computer from a closet, and even a crappy lapel mic from CompUSA sounds better than most camera mics, and there won't be noise from the cam. But....use too long a cable, and the cable will induce noise on it's own.
Just got the new AT 866. WHAT A KILLER MIC!!!! WOW!! but it's also expensive at 499.00. We get a killer price from AT on endorsement buys, so we get it cheap, but it's a great sounding mic. Very impressed. We bought their new UHF wireless system.