Hi all, first of all, this is not my first post, I just forgot the password to my previous one!! Now I’ve got that out of the way I hope all you wonderful people can help me. My girlfriend is trying to record some narrative for a video she has made on her PC. She asked me to sort out the microphone for this which prompted me to go out and buy a USB one (Logitech approx £20.00). This seemed to work fine however there was too much background noise so I returned it. I then went out and purchased a normal hi-fi mic ( uni-directional) with a small jack (fits in the mic in port) And tried that however am getting nothing out of it. I have tried it on two other PCs and am getting no sound in. I though it was the mic so I replaced it but the same has happened again. I have checked the mic in the volume control and it is selected. The mic is switched on and the volume turned up so I don’t know what else to do. I have also noticed that a long time ago (when Windows 95 was just released) when I plugged the mic in, I could immediately hear my self speaking through the speakers. This has not happened with either the normal or USB mic, have things changed in XP, as it worked in windows 95?? Any how could anyone give me some advice please about getting the microphone working. I mean is there a difference between hi-fi mics and pc ones, and should I go with usb for quality of sound, Any advice will be welcome, Thanks! G.

"is there a difference between hi-fi mics and pc ones" Absolutly. Most if not all cheap computer mics are of the dynamic type. This type of mics uses a voice coil connected to a diaphram. The sound waves hit the diaphram causing it to viabrate and creates a small current through the voice coil. Some types of "pro" quality mics work this way as well but there is a difference between the small cheap mics and the pro versions. Cheap mics usually have an impedance of 10,000 to 50,000 ohms. Pro mics are usually around 500-600 ohms and have a balanced output. There are also condensor mics that come in cheap and pro models. These types of mics require power to run them. The power either comes from a battery or from a 48 volt phantom source on the mixing board. This may be where your issue comes in to play. Do you know if you have a condensor mic and if you do, did you put a battery in it. If you bought a pro quality mic, is it high or low impedance. If it's low impedance (500-600 ohms) you will need a matching transformer to bring up the impedance.

No its not a condensor but it is low impedance. I have purchased it from maplins ( UK site), is there anything you would recommend, and what range would be classed as high impedance.