I suppose it would not hurt to say a little about myself: I have been=20
reading this list since sometime in 2003, though the first time I sent a =
message was just recently (I found out about it after reading Bernie=20
Krause's book, which I seem to remember hearing about from an interview he =
did on NPR). I have been slowly acquiring equipment to do recording over =
that time, including a Sharp MD-DR7-a minidisc recorder, a Rode NT-4, a =
telinga (dish only), and most recently a pair of Shure WL183s. I did a =
little bit of recording with the NT-4, but it did not seem to suit my=20
needs (I like to get out hiking and it's fairly heavy, plus it was pretty =
sensitive to noise from hand holding). I think the WL183s will probably =
work a little better for me.
I live in Sitka, Alaska (where I grew up-- though I spent most of=20
1993-2002 going to college and graduate school). I am a=20
mathematician/statistician by training (I teach at Sheldon Jackson College =
and do some consulting work). However, my primary interest intellectually =
at this time is the natural history of the Sitka area. I consider myself =
an aspiring naturalist and my technique of learning has been to get out, =
take pictures, and come back home to see if I can figure out what I saw. =
I put most everything up on my websites at
http://www.nawwal.org/mrgoff/
and/or more recently,
http://www.sitkanature.org/
Currently, the vast majority of the content is photos, but I would like to =
start adding audio; especially of things like the local birds.
Anyway, on to my question:
I just started trying to transfer some of my recordings from the minidisc =
recorder to my laptop through the microphone jack and realized that all I =
was getting was mono. A quick search on the internet led me to realize =
that I would need to purchase an external soundcard to get stereo=20
transfers. Are there recommendations for such a card? The reading I have =
done makes me think that a USB card would be good. Can I get one that=20
will allow me to transfer the audio digitally rather than through analog? =
If I must do the analog conversion, are some cards dramatically better=20
than others? I am not sure whether the specific concerns of nature=20
recording limit the acceptable possibilities and I would rather not=20
purchase a card to find out it is inadequate (on the other hand, I don't =
have loads of money, so a relatively inexpensive solution would be helpful =
as well).
Thanks,
Matt Goff
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