This is, what, my fifth post to HA? (Edit: make that fifteenth!) I guess I don't have the time I wish I had to participate in the discussions here...

Anyway, I'm primarily interested in recording lectures and the like by visiting scholars to my community, and I am hoping to record "straight" to digital via a notebook computer or available desktop using a (preferably) USB-based device. In one of my other posts, I was asking about an Audigy 2 NX and/or Extigy, most likely due to my ignorance.

Moreover, I'll need a good quality microphone, and I have this fantasy that I can get one for under $100...am I dreaming?

Does anyone have any recommendations?

Note: I am not really looking for a DAT-style setup, because of the additional hardware and unnecessary complications - I want a simply way to get high-quality recordings of these lectures into CoolEdit as fast as possible.

Thanx in advance!

I would say look into low-end taping gear for a mic and pre-amp. You can get a mic and battery box for $100. Then just plug them into the line-in of a desktop soundcard. This site will give you an idea of what mics and battery boxes cost.

Taping sites may have more info or resources on this topic.

This site you gave me, SoundProfessionals.com, seems to be very useful! Thanx!

But I'm looking for the D/A conversion to be outside of the PC/notebook, because there is too much noise, artifacts, etc. in PC recording, particularly motherboard audio. Remember, I'm trying to keep the price low, so no dedicated sound cards, unless it is a portable solution.

Regardless, I'm going to check out this site.

Hrmmm I am confused now are you recording for a concert or lectures? It seems like you are recording for a concert when you said this.

"But I'm looking for the D/A conversion to be outside of the PC/notebook, because there is too much noise, artifacts, etc. in PC recording, particularly motherboard audio"

FYI I record on my iRiver iFP player, but the only problem you need to sit fairly close to where the lecturers are speaking the mic can't pick the sound up if its too far away. Before that I was using a MiniDisc solution with a mic as the pickup tool, although there was a mic you still had to sit fairly close to the sound source to ensure you picked up most of the sound. So far both methods have worked and I haven't found a time where noise was an issue in masking what was being said during the lecture.

Hope this helps....

Regards

AgentMil

Have you ever recorded with a PC sound card that's connected through a PCI slot? I think you have some misconceptions about how noisey they are. If you're only looking to spend $100 on a mic (which I assume means the mic and preamp), why are you so concerned about the A/D quality. I think you will be quite suprised with what you can get out of an off the shelf desktop soundcard. Now if you want to record to a laptop, then you'll probably have to go with USB if your laptop doesn't have a line in, which seems to be the norm. Hope that helps.

I will be recording lectures, but I will have access to the main lecturer's microphone, so distance is not a problem.

The noise I am referring to is the noise that would be experienced via the PC/notebook line-in, be it PCI-card or not.

I'm sure the noise-level on PCI-based sound cards are quite low nowadays, but desktop PCs are not my idea of portable.

I'm thinking about having a portable solution that I can take to whatever location, and/or one that I can have with me whenever I need it.

Are my needs becoming more clear?

And thank you for all the input so far. I really do appreciate it!