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can Linux use USB microphone?


prost
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I'm looking for a good quality noise cancelling microphone, either usb or line-in. I read reviews of the Logitech USB Desktop Microphone & the Samson Q1U - Dynamic USB Microphone. In windows no special software is needed.

 

I need it to record a speech audio cd.

 

I have a portable voice recording mp3 player that records at 4bit 32000hz mono.

Edited by prost
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Hello Prost.

Please just type in the following into the Google in Firefox and you will get a swathe of suggestions.

 

Noise cancelling Microphone for Computer

 

I think you should have no problem using usb under Linux but others can come in on this aspect.

Certainly Line In will not be a problem.

 

Since you are doing a speech the noise cancelling will be a must since it will also reduce a lot of the echo effect and reverberation that results from reflective surfaces of bare walls in a room. Important not to speak too loudly or too closely into the microphone or it pick up your breath inhales and exhales.

 

Cheers. John.

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One easy answer to getting stereo sound into a pc:

 

imic.jpg

Griffin iMic USB Microphone Audio Adapter(pictured above) See http://www.musiconmypc.co.uk/product_info....products_id/182

 

£30, US$40

reviews here & here

(US buy from www.turntablelab.com/production_tools/0/0/779.html or http://computers.pricegrabber.com/other-multimedia/m/559269/

(Australia http://www.streetwise.com.au/product_info....products_id=431)

 

All you have to do is make sure you're recording software is configued to record from "USB Sound device" rather than your sound card, so how would that work in linux?

 

 

WAIT!

If you have a 800mhz PC:

 

43760542dd48afa5e3a5fbc717c72998.jpg

Turtle Beach Audio Advantage Roadie(sometimes called the new name SRM) USB Sound Card with built-in stereo microphone US$50(inc post), £66

 

info here & here

review here, here, here, here & here

manual here(5 Mb)

Edited by prost
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USB audio devices almost all use a standard interface which is supported by Linux. The mention that 'no special drivers are needed' on Windows is a very good indication this is such a device. That means it will plug and play on Linux - the snd-usb-audio driver will be loaded to handle it. This should work on any vaguely recent distro.

 

The only caveat is that if you have another sound device on your system, the USB mic will likely become the *second* (i.e. not default) device. You have to make sure whatever software you're using has a setting to change the device it uses for input, and set that to the USB mic. otherwise you should be good.

 

(I use a USB sound device, a Turtle Beach Audio Advantage, on my system, without problems - I only use it for output but input should be basically the same).

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Someone reviewed the imic & said that Linux recognises the device, but at the time of writing(nov06) the only supported input is Mono Microphone. I need it for a stereo microphone!

 

www.softwaredesign.co.uk/information.SoundCards.html tells how they installed the Terratec Aureon 5.1 USB MarkII, which uses instructions at www.alsa-project.org/main/index.php/Matrix:Module-usb-audio which says copy and paste some lines on that page to the bottom of the /etc/modules.conf file in the 'Setting up modprobe' section. I have a modprobe.conf file but not /etc/modules.conf. What do I do?

Edited by prost
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None of that stuff would be needed.

 

Thanks.

 

I can use the Terratec Aureon 5.1 USB MarkII without doing anything further?

 

You using the Turtle Beach Audio Advantage roadie or Micro? If the roadie, is the built-in mic good enough for cd quality recordings?

 

With a usb sound card, does linux only use OSS or can it use alsa? Someone said theirs used oss.

 

Why did that person have to change their modprobe file?

Edited by prost
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