Anyone know where i can get these of decent/good quality but at a reasonalble price?
Second hand would do as long as its of good quality.
:)

Possibly, I'm in a band and there's usually lots of gear changing hands in the community I can keep my eye's peeled for you.

Just to make sure i'm looking for the right thing, are you after a vocal, instrument or condenser mic? As for the pre-amp what is the usage, will you be going into a PA system or recording?

Oh and heck, what's your budget?

- Matt

Possibly, I'm in a band and there's usually lots of gear changing hands in the community I can keep my eye's peeled for you.

Just to make sure i'm looking for the right thing, are you after a vocal, instrument or condenser mic? As for the pre-amp what is the usage, will you be going into a PA system or recording?

Oh and heck, what's your budget?

- Matt

Thanks for the reply Matt.
To be brief im needing to make basic sound recordings of a noisey neighbour.
Im wanting to use my pc to make the recordings using the mic 3.5 mini jack input (my soundcard is ans Auzentech Xmredien and is of pretty good quality) so i need something that wont have lots of hissing and crackling.
Ive made them before using this preamp (http://www.maplin.co.uk/Module.aspx?ModuleNo=97933) and this mic (http://www.maplin.co.uk/Module.aspx?ModuleNo=12188) but being from Maplins they are junk.
Price is an issue to be honest so it would be a case of seeing whats available and then seeing if i can afford it.
Ive had and ART Di box reccomended to my by Reverb on City road. They have one of offer for £35 (was £49) and will go for that if i cant find anything else. I was astonished at the prices of even the most basic of equipment when bought new but i suppose its a case of getting what you pay for which is why i was thinking good quality second hand may be the way to go.
Thanks again Matt and let me know if you need more info.:)

Thanks for the reply Matt.
To be brief im needing to make basic sound recordings of a noisey neighbour.
Im wanting to use my pc to make the recordings using the mic 3.5 mini jack input (my soundcard is ans Auzentech Xmredien and is of pretty good quality) so i need something that wont have lots of hissing and crackling.
Ive made them before using this preamp (http://www.maplin.co.uk/Module.aspx?ModuleNo=97933) and this mic (http://www.maplin.co.uk/Module.aspx?ModuleNo=12188) but being from Maplins they are junk.
Price is an issue to be honest so it would be a case of seeing whats available and then seeing if i can afford it.
Ive had and ART Di box reccomended to my by Reverb on City road. They have one of offer for £35 (was £49) and will go for that if i cant find anything else. I was astonished at the prices of even the most basic of equipment when bought new but i suppose its a case of getting what you pay for which is why i was thinking good quality second hand may be the way to go.
Thanks again Matt and let me know if you need more info.:)

Cool, if a little unorthadox :-p

I'll ask my flatmate (who did sound tech at uni) if he'd recommend a vocal or instrument mic (I guess you'll be putting it up against an interior wall)

As for the pre-amp, if this is the only use you could buy it and then sell it on once you're done. The better quality you buy the more likely you are to get a good re-sale. Heck, some stores might even buy it BACK off you (at a discount of course) :-p

Let me guess... You're up at 4am because of your neighbour? :hihi:

Cool, if a little unorthadox :-p

I'll ask my flatmate (who did sound tech at uni) if he'd recommend a vocal or instrument mic (I guess you'll be putting it up against an interior wall)

As for the pre-amp, if this is the only use you could buy it and then sell it on once you're done. The better quality you buy the more likely you are to get a good re-sale. Heck, some stores might even buy it BACK off you (at a discount of course) :-p

Let me guess... You're up at 4am because of your neighbour? :hihi:

:hihi:
Not exactly. Ive started another thread about not being able to sleep due to having nightmares and stuff. Im just a big girl arent i:D
Thanks for your advice Matt but can i ask why you say its unorthadox? Am i going the wrong way about things? Im a total dunce when it comes to anything like this ( looking back my phone conversation with Reverb yesterday must have been hillairous,,,,for them:blush:) and if there is an easier and hopefully cheaper way id be greatful for any input.
Thanks again mate.
:)
Forget to say, yes it will be going against or at least very close to an interior wall.
Thanks again Matt.

Oh I just meant it was an unorthadox use of sound equipment, here's me thinking you want to do some singing or something :-p

I take it you need a pre-amp because the signal isn't strong enough going direct from the mic to the PC? I know it might seem a bit silly but you could try pressing something against the wall to pick up the vibrations (like a card tube) and place the mic inside...
...Or maybe I've just lost it?! :-p

I've posted about your nightmares actually :-) and I don't know, big girls shouldn't be having nightmares should they now? :-p hmm, tut tut ^_^

Oh I just meant it was an unorthadox use of sound equipment, here's me thinking you want to do some singing or something :-p

I take it you need a pre-amp because the signal isn't strong enough going direct from the mic to the PC? I know it might seem a bit silly but you could try pressing something against the wall to pick up the vibrations (like a card tube) and place the mic inside...
...Or maybe I've just lost it?! :-p

I've posted about your nightmares actually :-) and I don't know, big girls shouldn't be having nightmares should they now? :-p hmm, tut tut ^_^

We must stop meeting up like this. People are gonna talk:D
Thanks for the advice on the nightmare thread though, some great stuff to think about.
As for the recording though, i did try in the beginning to use various things to amplify the sound but nothing seemed to make much difference. There is a mic boost option on my soundcard but it dosent boost it by much and the quality takes a bit of a hit so i figured havbing a better quality input to begin with would suit me best but like i say im a totaly dunce about most things technical. I can switch on a pc, break it and then let it switch its self of better than anyone i know though so at least im good at something techy:hihi:
Oh, and if youde ever heard me singing youd know i would never dare to record it, it just wouldnt be right and i would probably to sectioned or something.
Thanks again Matt, your a star :thumbsup:

haha, all the best rumours are started that way! :-p

haha, all the best rumours are started that way! :-p

:hihi:
Very true indeed.

Just a thought - if the mike if going to be used to record neighbour noise wouldn't it make sense not to have it actually against the wall? Wouldn't that give an exaggeratedly high impression of the noise levels? If you want to get action taken that's great but I reckon if you ever need to use the recordings in legal proceedings that you'd want them to be fairly made.

Just a thought - if the mike if going to be used to record neighbour noise wouldn't it make sense not to have it actually against the wall? Wouldn't that give an exaggeratedly high impression of the noise levels? If you want to get action taken that's great but I reckon if you ever need to use the recordings in legal proceedings that you'd want them to be fairly made.

Thats really why i need a preamp and decent mic to save artifictialy enhancing it. Im able to do that using Audacity but to my mind that wouldnt be right. If i have good equipment then the noise would be clearly heard along with any background noise in my house:)

If you're getting into legal procedings, you're going to need to be able to prove the measurements you make, which requires calibrated microphones and recording equipment = ££££s.

If it's to demonstrate the need for calibrated measurements to be taken by someone like Environmental Health, then a decent quality mic and recording would be ok. It might be better to hire the equipment you need from a corporate AV company than buy. You need a "small diaphram condenser" mic ideally, with windshield, which for a decent one you're up to at least a couple of hundred quid to buy, but hire should be fairly cheap. Look in the Yellow Pages, explain what you're needing to do, and most should be able to help you out.