HELP!!!

[saleen]

I just baught a Shure SM57 with all the fixins to hook it up to my computer, we hooked it up to a computer at the store and it worked fine but now that I brought it home I can't get it to pick up any sound.

I cannot find an on/off switch on the mic and there is no real manual to go with it so I don't know whether the mic is on always or what?

When I test to see if the mic is working on my computer I get nothing.


any help would be appreciated, if you feel like IMing me please feel free.

[MWR]

The basic sm57 doesn't have an on/off switch so it is always "on". It's most likely something whith the sound card. I would open the software for the card and mess around with that. I would also check the computers main sound settings. Sorry if this is vague but it's always hard trying to narrow down computer problems. It could also be something really simple like a plug that isn't in all the way (this has happened to me). Hope this helps.

[saleen]

I got some sound from the line in but it is REALLY quiet even with the volumes turned all the way up, how do I get to the options specific to my sound card?

[saleen]

now I tried it on another computer and still got nothing.

On my original computer when I had it set to mic and plugged something into the mic jack it made the sound that an amp makes when you plug a guitar it and the amp is already on..... so maybe it is the mic then?



oh well.... I have no idea..... I am about to give up and just return all this crap.

[saleen]

anyone?

[gregplaysguitar]

Try double clicking your sound options..usually found in the bottom right hand side of the screen on the taskbar......double click this and look for the microphone settings........if microphone isn't there, then just look for line in or whatever.....just make sure that all your options are "not muted". This may help you.

-g-

[Daroou]

To build on a previous reply:

1) Double-click on the volume icon in your task tray (bottom-right corner, looks like a speaker).

2) When the window opens up, go to Options->Properties, then in "Adjust volume for" select "Recording".

3) In the window below, make sure Microphone is checked. Now click OK.

4) Now make sure the Microphone column is checked in the "Select" box, and play around with the bar. Usually, if you raise the bar too high, you will get feedback because the mic is picking up the hissing from your speakers, so don't put it too high.

I hope this helps!

[jkanter]

If I was going to take a guess, I would say it's because the mic isn't powered. Mics need a power source in order to pick up the sound. A phantom power source would take care of this problem easily. The mic-in should work becuase I believe it gives some power to the mic, but probably not enough to run a Shure sm57

[geekmug]

Dynamic mics like the SM57 require no external power. Condensor mics require power (like Phantom Power +48V) to power the back-plate of the capacitor in the microphone. Dynamic microphones have no such amplifier, in fact that is one of the key advantages to a dynamic microphone, without an internal amplifier it cannot be peaked. Anyways, it doesn't need power.

You are correct though that the mic-in is different than the line-in, most mic-ins have some sort of amplifying circuit that is not present on the line-in, hence why you get more output from the microphone on that input. I don't know how well a SM57 would work feeding it straight into, other people do it so I imagine it works.. most people will feed it through a mixer and feed the monitor outs to a computer's sound card, though.