# New Member Mic and Sound Card Question



## SalemChiro (Nov 18, 2010)

Hello everyone, I'm a new member and have a few questions to get ready for REW. :wave:

I need to purchase a mic and sound card for my laptop. From the two mics listed on this forum, the EMC 8000 and Dayton EMM-6, is one superior?? I plan to use REW to set up my new home theater, this is my first time using any form of REW.... Which type of mic do I need, Basic, +, Premium, +. I don't mind spending a few extra bucks now for a mic with more options if it's something that I need or could use in the future (I'm unfamiliar with the technical specs).

Sound Cards
I was looking at either the Sound Blaster X-Fi Surround 5.1 Pro for $70, or the Sound Blaster X-Fi HD for $99. Both are 30% off this weekend!

Could someone that is familiar REW specs tell me which one would work better before I make the purchase this weekend.


Thanks in advance or any help! :T

Sean D.


----------



## Wayne A. Pflughaupt (Apr 13, 2006)

Welcome to the Forum, Sean!



> From the two mics listed on this forum, the EMC 8000 and Dayton EMM-6, is one superior??


It’s the same mic, just re-badged for different vendors. Herb got a good deal on a bulk order for the EMM’s, which is why he sells them cheaper. He’s great about passing savings on to the customer. :T




> Which type of mic do I need, Basic, +, Premium, +.


Basic + is all you’d ever need for home theater purposes. Actually, you don’t even need a calibrated mic unless you intend to do measurements of your main channel speakers. If all you care about is measuring the subwoofer, a Radio Shack SPL meter and our generic calibration file is all you need.




> I was looking at either the Sound Blaster X-Fi Surround 5.1 Pro for $70, or the Sound Blaster X-Fi HD for $99. Both are 30% off this weekend!
> 
> Could someone that is familiar REW specs tell me which one would work better before I make the purchase this weekend.


Generally, it’s not so much an issue of what will work with REW as it is what will “play nice” with your computer’s OS. It’s always a good idea to Google for some user reviews before choosing a soundcard. This post will tell you what to look for in a review.

Regarding those two sound cards specifically, neither will work with the calibrated mic you’re considering. The mics require a mic pre-amp with phantom power. You’d have to spend another $40-50 to get something like the Behringer XENYX 502 mixer. A better route would be to get an audio interface, something like the Tascam US122, that does everything in a single package. It’s certainly less hassle with connections, and if you shop around it’s probably even cheaper than what you’re considering. Unless you have some other specific purpose for the Sound Blaster.

Regards,
Wayne


----------



## SalemChiro (Nov 18, 2010)

Thanks Wayne, you saved me from buying the wrong sound card!!! I'll pick up a Tascam US-122MKll and a mic from Herb.

Sean


----------

