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I just bought a Creative 5.1 USB External Soundcard to get surround sound from my computer to my surround system. I noticed that the external soundcard has a microphone input integrated. I was wandering if anyone knows the quality of that input? Is it an equivalent to a cheap microphone preamp or is it as bad as plugin your microphone directly to your computers mini-jack stick?

http://www.soundblaster.com/products/product.asp?category=1&subcategory=873&product=17751&listby=

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Boswell Mon, 02/22/2010 - 07:42

Those minijack mic inputs are meant for consumer-grade stereo electret mics that require "plug-in power". They aren't suitable for connecting professional microphones that normally have balanced, low-impedance outputs. That said, if you plug a decent pro-sumer stereo mic like the Sony ECM-MS957 into an SB Extigy external soundcard, you get a surprisingly good audio result, albeit with a relatively high noise floor.