Re: [Alsa-user] software MIC boost ?

[John H. <jc...@th...>]

On 27 Feb 2010, at 09:06, kapetr wrote:

> I am of course mindful that the quality of SW boost would be worse,
> but for not "quality critical" use, it would be the simplest and cheapest
> solution.

It's not so much "quality critical" as "audible".   I've tried that before: record something with a mic through an incompatible mic input and then amplify the result until you can hear what was said.   I could, just about hear what was said into the mic above the noise.

My local music shop sells a small battery-powered mic pre-amp, I think it's about £20 (call it €20 :-)) but they're definitely not expensive.

A condenser microphone is also not expensive if you're not after high quality.   You can tell it's a condenser mic if it needs a battery.

Depending on what you're doing, though, you may prefer to get a mixer: the smaller Behringer Xenyx mixers (502?) are very good and will give you a line-level signal.

jch