No sound card needed on a Macintosh. On a Macintosh, there is no problem with sound input, since the audio input interfaces are usually integrated in the motherboard.
Webmaster
Music and sounds : The required equipment and tools
[ Contents ]
Eric Chautrand
Audio Capture
You might want to create your own audio files. Here is the equipment you will need:
- A sound card
On a PC, the card must have a sound input interface. Ideally, it will bear the words "Full Duplex", i.e. it will allow you
to simultaneously record and play audio information. - A fast hard disk with a large storage capacity.
This is a recommendation more than a must. The audio capture has to be done without compression to the CD norm (16 bit/44.1
kHz, i.e. 10 MB per one minute of stereo sequence); better results are obtained by compressing afterwards.
- An audio editing software
Here again, this is not mandatory. However, such a software will permit you to optimise as desired the final quality of your
audio file.
- A quality microphone
If you are a non-musician, a number of end of range products of well-known labels will be enough to obtain a high-quality
voice capture. The Prologue series by Shure is a good example.
No sound card needed on a Macintosh. On a Macintosh, there is no problem with sound input, since the audio input interfaces are usually integrated in the motherboard.
On a Macintosh, sound management is done through the Sound Manager, a standard utility. For long-lasting sounds, you just need to increase the memory space assigned to the application.
On a PC, WaveLab (published by Steinberg) is a good choice. It is compatible with numerous plug-in formats and enables spectacular sound effects to be applied.
On a Mac, the WaveLab equivalent is Bias Peak (published by SCV Audio). Bias Peak offers the same features as WaveLab, except for the interface and the ease of use.
The input level of your sound card. An important point to check is the maximum input level accepted by your sound card. The signal level generated by a microphone
is relatively weak. Just connecting it to your sound card might not be sufficient for a high-quality recording. To obtain
an adequate level, a mixing console with a specific Micro In jack sometimes has to be used. In which case, the console output
must then be connected to the audio input of your sound card.