What I need for recording from microphone?

[rodiongork]

Hello, colleagues!

Please, excuse me my silly question The trouble is that when I'm trying to record sound with any microphone attached to mic-in of my computer, I get significant amount of noise (so that "noise removal" feature in Audacity is not enough to overcome it without loosing too much of voice / music). I tried several mics but it seems the quality of on-board sound-card is not very great.

So I start wondering, whether I can profit from purchasing some USB-device to plug microphone into it - for example something like "BEHRINGER UCA222"
(or 202) - I've seen in several topics that some people own these things and would like to know whether they will help to solve my problem or they are intended for some different purpose.

Another question is whether it would be easy to use them with my Ubuntu 14.04 or I may encounter some software problems and should look for some other devices?

Thanks in advance,
Rodion

P.S. It would be sufficient to direct me to suitable FAQ-topic if one exists (I'm afraid I failed to find it).

P.P.S. Ooops, I suddenly realized this device have no dedicated input for mic - only line-in...

[paul]

Hi, and welcome!

If you don't want noise in your recordings, the only way is to buy an external sound card/interface. The more expensive, the more silent, but even a cheap one will be much better than the internal sound card.
You want a real microphone, an XLR cable, and an XLR socket on your interface, which is much, much, much(!) more clean than the small jack of an internal soundcard... And of course, a good mic.
Digital (usb) mics are also an option, but the fidelity is usually much lower..and they are also less compatible with the rest of the standard music equipment (e.g. with an interface you can use your electric guitar or bass).
For example, I have a small Focusrite 2i2 and a Röde condenser microphone, they are both quite cheap, but in my tracks there is almost no noise (most of the time I don't even filter it out).

Consider also that some noise (even white!) may be actually present in your room. In that case, optimize your room (better window, thick curtains...), or do your recording in a better place. You don't need a real studio, even a local rehearsal room should be already better (as long as no other band is playing in a nearby place).

Remember that when it comes to noise, solving the problem physically is always much better than any software!

[emarsk]

rodiongork, you can look at this recent topic or here for some suggestions about a USB audio interface.
For the mic, if you have no idea, I'd suggest a Shure SM57 or SM58. They are quite cheap, almost indestructible and quite well suited for a wide range of applications, most notably vocals (yes there are better ones, but more expensive and/or delicate), guitar amps, percussions, wind instruments (there's a reason why they are the most used mics for live). BTW, they are practically the same, the only relevant difference is the external grill (which in the SM58 you can unscrew).