Anyone Else use the Mic Input?

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KawaiDon · #1 Post by **KawaiDon** » Fri Dec 08, 2006 11:30 pm

Hi all,

I use the microphone input, and have found that it is horribly noisy. There is a whole lot of digital noise which changes with every kind of action - mouse pointer movements, for instance.

I'm wondering if this is common to other T60s, or if mine is just a bad one. Thanks for any comments.

marlinspike · #2 Post by **marlinspike** » Sat Dec 09, 2006 12:10 pm

I use it to play counterstrike, seems fine. The trick is to have your volume low (well...have it all the way up in the little Master Volume thing, but using the buttons on the keyboard have it at either 1 or 2), and have the mic volume slider in the master volume set between the 1st and 2nd notches, but then click advanced and check off the microphone boost box.

seeplus · #3 Post by **seeplus** » Sat Dec 09, 2006 4:58 pm

I think mic input interference is common to most integrated sound systems.

zixy_tris · #4 Post by **zixy_tris** » Tue Dec 12, 2006 4:18 pm

I use microphone regularly to talk to my parents on Skype. The quality is amazing and crystal clear. Although I havent heard it myself but thats what they say because I have tried using bunch of external mics and thinkpad mic works the best. So I think you have bad one. But remember your mic input is right below the keyboard on left side. So if you type then there is lot of background.

arni · #5 Post by **arni** » Tue Dec 12, 2006 4:46 pm

Use it for skype, too. It's very clear and i had no problems whether under xp or vista.

idebb · #6 Post by **idebb** » Wed Dec 13, 2006 5:38 pm

Kawaidon and others...

Is there a difference in noise levels between running on battery or plugged?

KawaiDon · #7 Post by **KawaiDon** » Wed Dec 13, 2006 11:09 pm

idebb wrote:Kawaidon and others...

Is there a difference in noise levels between running on battery or plugged?

No, with mine the digital noise is the same on AC or Battery.

I also use the mic (both internal and external) for voice applications, and it is clear and strong and works well. But for recording music, it is awful. There is way too much noise to be useful, and the noise changes with mouse movements and display changes, moving windows, etc.

My Thinkpad T20 had a really great, quiet mic setup. My T40 had a noisy internal mic (mostly machine noise) but was excellent with an external mic plugged in. I have never had this kind of digital hash noise in a mic pre-amp before.

idebb · #8 Post by **idebb** » Tue Dec 19, 2006 5:21 pm

Have you tried to disable CPU power management in the BIOS?

Maybe it is similar to GUI activity noise as described in this thread
http://forum.thinkpads.com/viewtopic.php?t=34421

#9 Post by **GomJabbar** » Tue Dec 19, 2006 6:10 pm

I kind of sounds like your mic is not properly grounded. This might be caused by having the wires reversed at the jack, or possibly in the mic cable (not very likely).

I may be off-base here, but possibly what might help is to put ferrite magnets around the mic cable. See link below to see what I mean.

http://www.wonderquest.com/rf-stopper.htm

KawaiDon · #10 Post by **KawaiDon** » Thu Dec 21, 2006 12:20 am

idebb wrote:Have you tried to disable CPU power management in the BIOS?

Yes, I had seen that thread and tried this - no change.

The microphone works perfectly in other things - for instance, in my home computer and plugged into a small mixing console. Also, the noise exists in the internal mic as well, so it is not only when using the external mic. The internal mic also picks up physical noises, so it is quite a bit worse sounding.

I guess no one else has tried making a recording with the mic input, though. I suppose Lenovo doesn't really expect it to be used that way - but I don't think it should have this kind of noise.

#11 Post by **GomJabbar** » Thu Dec 21, 2006 1:09 am

The thought just occurred to me. Maybe you would be better off with a USB mic. That way, you shouldn't pick up any analog noise.

Logitech USB Desktop Microphone USB MIC for PC or Mac
(MPN: 9801860403)
Price Range: $15.35 - $34.38 from 20 Sellers

Muse · #12 Post by **Muse** » Thu Dec 21, 2006 10:04 pm

Is there a line-in for sound on the T60? If so, is it stereo? TIA.

claudeo · #13 Post by **claudeo** » Fri Dec 22, 2006 3:11 pm

There is no stereo audio input on the T60. The mic input is mono only. I found the built-in mic quite decent for stuff like Skype but if you need good audio quality you need to use a USB audio input device. There are USB microphones and USB "input/output" boxes, some of which have mic-level inputs in addition to line level inputs. YMMV -- shop carefully.

cinemafia · #14 Post by **cinemafia** » Fri Dec 22, 2006 3:35 pm

Any built-in audio card is going to have a higher amount of line noise, both for input and output. For anything serious on my Thinkpad, I use an external sound card...which in my case is an old Roland UA-3.

WPWoodJr · #15 Post by **WPWoodJr** » Tue Feb 13, 2007 12:10 am

I agree, the internal microphone on the T60p is very noisy -- kind of a digital hash noise overlaid with the sound of the fan which is also noisy on the T60p. My old T42p and T41p were much much quieter and the microphone input was very usable. I'm very disappointed because I used to use the microphone to record conversations but I really don't think you can with this machine. It's just too awful to listen to on playback. Yes, I know you can get an external USB mic which will sound great, but the internal mic was great when you wanted to be discreet, or when you didn't have the USB mic with you. What is the best way to let Lenovo know?

zixy_tris · #16 Post by **zixy_tris** » Tue Feb 13, 2007 6:25 pm

I have a 2623D6u T60. I regulalrly use mic. I would say it is the best internal mic I have ever used. The only problem is it is located on palm rest. You will see two holes on left side. so if you type on keyboard then mic really become noisy. Otherwise it works like a charm

pianowizard · #17 Post by **pianowizard** » Tue Feb 13, 2007 6:40 pm

I just tried recording my own voice with Audacity software using my T60's built-in microphone, and compared how much background noise I got under these two settings: 1) higher gain and without "Microphone Boost", vs. 2) lower gain and with "Microphone Boost". The gain in setting #1 was adjusted so that the volume of my voice was comparable to that recorded with setting #2. I got noticeably less background noise using setting #1. So, if you've been relying on the Boost option, try to turn it off and increase the gain instead.

WPWoodJr · #18 Post by **WPWoodJr** » Tue Feb 13, 2007 7:24 pm

That's funny, I just tried the same thing and I agree that it is quieter when you turn off the microphone boost. However, I found that the volume of my voice was too low on that setting. So it's [censored] if you do, and [censored] if you don't use that microphone boost.

I also tried a technique to lower the fan noise. I created a power profile called "Quiet" with maximum CPU speed set to "lowest" and optimize fan control set to "balance all parameters". This power setting keeps the fan a little quieter than the normal power setting "power source optimized".

WPWoodJr · #19 Post by **WPWoodJr** » Tue Feb 13, 2007 7:29 pm

zixy_tris wrote:I have a 2623D6u T60. I regulalrly use mic. I would say it is the best internal mic I have ever used. The only problem is it is located on palm rest. You will see two holes on left side. so if you type on keyboard then mic really become noisy. Otherwise it works like a charm

I wonder if the people who are having problems with a high-pitched hash sound are those who have T60p machines?

laundromatt · #20 Post by **laundromatt** » Tue Feb 13, 2007 7:56 pm

WPWoodJr wrote: I wonder if the people who are having problems with a high-pitched hash sound are those who have T60p machines?

i have a T60, and i use audacity to record stuff all the time. i think the mic is decent for a built-in unit. no high pitch noises for me.

#21 Post by **gator** » Wed Feb 14, 2007 2:19 pm

I use audacity too, and I don't get any high piched noise with the in-built microphone. It has great sensitivity for a built-in.

WPWoodJr · #22 Post by **WPWoodJr** » Sat Feb 17, 2007 12:54 am

I'm going to get myself one of these slick little USB microphones - very small and supposedly good quality!

http://www.soundprofessionals.com/cgi-b ... -USB-MIC-1

Anyone Else use the Mic Input?

Anyone Else use the Mic Input?

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