Edirol UA-1EX opinions for laptop editing
 

Anyone ever used one of these for laptop editing? I tried doing some voice recording through the mic jack on my laptop and I have a noticeable hum and thought it might be the mic.

Now I'm wondering if it isn't the laptops integrated sound card causing the problem.

Hum in your recording can be due to a variety of problems and certainly using the laptop's builtin soundcard is high on the list. But it's not the only issue. Can you give more detail as to what and where you're trying to record, what kind of mic you have, etc.

HI Steve,

My mic isn't very close to TOTL - It's a new Azden SMX-10.

I previously had a Rode VideoMic, but the mic was just too big for the HC7's I just transitioned to. I work as a freelance Solo Video Journalist and I'm trying to create a kit that is lightweight, yet as functional as possible - with all of it fitting in a photo backpack.

After posting this thread, I went ahead and did some test recordings with the mic attached to one of my cameras in a silent room and there didn't seem to be the low hum/buzz that I had gotten when doing a voice recording on my laptop. I think it actually was the integrated sound card on my laptop. I use the laptop not only for editing video, but also as a make shift recording studio when field editing, although I probably should look at a standalone field recorder but fundage is not there at the present time.

I know the mic isn't the greatest, but it's what I have to work with for the time being.

Hard to say just what is causing it but hum is always a risk with bargain basement mics and unbalanced cables running in proximity to AC power. Compound that with the super cheap quality of most on-board soundcards and the electrical noise nightmare inside a laptop case and you have a recipe for major headaches.

Some experiments to try ... If you still have your Videomic, see how it sounds when substituted for the Azden on the laptop. Try recording to your laptop while it's running on battery and see if there's any difference. You might also see if you can tryout an inexpensive mixer or preamp to feed your laptop through it's line input instead of the mic input (assuming it has one). If still no joy, see if you can borrow an external USB and/or firewire audio interface depending on what ports your laptop has and see how it sounds.

Steve,
Is the Rode VM able to be plugged directly into a laptops sound card? I've considered this, but have been afraid to try in fear of damaging the card or mic.

I can't say for absolute fact (only because I haven't done it) but I can't imagine any reason there would be a problem with it.

I, too, haven't tried it, but it should work. It is powered by a battery in the mic.

Some of the camcorder mics with a 1/8" plug are powered by the camera. I don't think these would work.