bitesize wroteWhat I want to do: I have a piezo contact mic and want to record directly to my computer but it comes out scratchy, barely audible. I was told that I need a boost for the mic, is this true and how do I do it?
The problem you are describing is all about the piezo, rather than the laptop itself. You do need a preamp, for any piezo to interface it with most other bits of gear (see
http://ratcliffe.co.za/articles/preamp.shtml for details - old article, but still holds true). Most interfaces and even mixers cannot take a non-preamped piezo signal without ending up sounding terrible.
Also, while a decent external audio interface is important (that's been covered in many topics recently), look at getting a decent microphone - contact piezos are a "live" playing solution (and not the best one at that) - and it's easier to get a good tone with a guitar in a home studio using decent mic in a decent sounding room than it is using any type of live sound reinforcement solution like a contact or even undersaddle piezo.
maybe the following is why I have my problem:
The "click and pop" problem described is a common one with many laptops not designed for audio from the ground up and not just limited to the video driver/chipset. Sometimes it's curable, sometimes there is no way around it.
I have two near identical Acer laptops - same processor, memory speed and other stuff - biggest difference is one has a 14" screen and the other has a 15". I managed to take some radical steps to get the 14" working (For the tech heads: by lifting ground on the PSU and changing computer type to Standard instead of ACPI, although I lost the use of one USB port), but the other refuses to work (changing to standard causes a conflict between the keyboard and the touchpad). I'm still going to try update the bios, see if I can sidestep the issue.
If you run across problems like this, the solutions can be complex, so best take it to an IT pro who knows audio computers - if you are in the Cape Town area, speak to
Rene Avenant (Renesongs), who has lots of experience in this area.
