an interesting soundcard/mic pre solution for mobile laptops.

[manning1]

soundcard signal chain on a extreme budget....
(eg....laptop owners wanting something cheap/mobile/compact on the road
better than laptop sound chip for recording with 3 pin xlr pro dynamic mic.)
get a edirol ua1ex for 80 buks
(look up google for best pricing)
eg....one of many links.
http://www.bswusa.com/proditem.asp?item=UA1EX
then build a common emitter preamp out of an npn
transistor...just a couple of caps and resistors.
(put the circuit in a dollar store small wooden box or ciggy tin.
dont even need a circuit board...just point to point wiring,
run by a 9volt battery. biggest expense is the 3 pin xlr connector
to plug mic into feeding the circuit.)
a transistor i like is mat02 by www.analog.com low noise
but expensive or a 5 cent bc will do the job or anylow noise transistor like mpsa 18.)
connect xlr mic to the preamp. then preamp out into edirol line input.
the edirol has an input level control as well.
use the supplied edirol driver.
heres an audio example of what it sounds like useing an sm57 mic.
(16 bit 44.1k). pretty clean. what do others think ??
ps...if anyone wants the schematic for the mic pre i used i'll upload it as a jpg in this thread. its v easy to build.