[!@#$%!]

Originally Posted by evollove

I'm just tired of hiss showing up in all the music recordings I make on my computer, vocal tracks or other.

Is a headphone jack imput better than USB, or vice versa?

I just want to pull something out of the box, plug it into my computer, and not have a hissy recording.

no hissy fits eh? ha ha. that's the job of a good preamp. the preamp brings the mic level to line level and sucky ones will add noise. which is why you want a good interface (or mixer).

the input is going to be a line or mic input in your computer. the headphone is OUT. some holes go both ways though, in some machines.

pluggin a mic to a mic input should be okay (though your audio card likely sucks), plugging a mic to a line-in will require amplification that usually can be done by the computer if you tell it you've got a mic in line-in (same case as above), so it would be best if you had preamps.

this is an unfinished answer cuz i have no more time but for $100 you could probably buy a used zoom recorder and use the onboard mics instead of recording to computer.

if you're unhappy with my answer, pray for the return of terminal pharmacy to this shithole of a board.