Subconsciously fulfilling the ACB metaphor, I recorded these sounds as I was preparing a spaghetti dinner in my kitchen tonight. I used my Audio Technica AT822 stereo condenser running straight into the MacBook Pro line in port. To my surprise I managed to get levels, but had to turn up the input volume in the preferences almost all the way up to get a good strong signal. In the preferences you can adjust the input volume, so the signal is running through some sort of pre-amplification.
Getting signal is probably the result of the condenser mic having a fresh battery, high sensitivity, and a short cord built specifically for the mic. It would probably not work as well with a dynamic mic. I wouldn’t recommend recording this way (without running the mic through a preamp), but I would be interested in knowing the specs on how the input volume is being powered on the MacBook Pro. Any Apple experts out there have any inside info?
I have both an AT-822 and a MacBook Pro (15″ 2.2ghz). I haven’t used the AT-822 as much as I’d like to yet though – planning on mainly using it w/ my Sony Minidisc Hi-MD RH1.
You said you wouldn’t recommend this set up this way without running the mic through a pre-amp – what kind of pre-amp would you suggest?
Hey, Shahryar. I don’t have a good recommendation for a pre-amp for the AT822. I’ve actually used an old Sony PCM-M1 DAT recorder that eats tapes as a pre-amp for mine. It works really well, but there’s not much on the market for small portable and inexpensive mic pre-amps. You might consider building something from a kit. Let me know what you discover. Cheers!