So I tried the eeePC idea I mentioned last time, and I tried loading the
module on the Debian machine. Puppy Linux was not up to the challenge.
I really didn't expect it to be, because one of the ways they keep the
small size of that distro is by not including a bunch of the kernel
modules that larger distros have the luxury of doing. I've heard about
USB issues with it before, though it's important to point out that Puppy
is simply awesome for older hardware. Anyway, my luck being what it
usually is, I didn't hold out much hope for the Debian machine, but lo
and behold, it actually worked! At least, with some prompting. And
with a system restart to get the module loaded properly. (I dunno what
the hell that was all about...I thought I'd left that sort of crap
behind with Windows, but whatever, it worked.)
So, I plugged in the M-Audio device to the computer, then I plugged in
an XLR cable to it and ran that out to its full 10 foot length. This
got me to just inside my office. I plugged this into an AT8801 Audio
Technica Phantom Power Supply (which was plugged into a convenient
outlet in the wall), then I plugged in a second XLR cable, and ran it
out to my microphone. And there I had it: a "recording booth" (with
really dreadful acoustics, truth be told, but it's all I've got right
now), with a "sound engineering station" in the room next door.
In order to test it, I turned off the box fan I have in the window;
turned off that darned Zareason lawn mower; fired up Audacity in the
other room; came back; shut the door; knocked the mic off my makeshift
clip-on stand thingie; futzed with it for a bit; dropped the mic AGAIN;
and then finally read a blurb off the back cover of a book on my desk.
After removing all the extraneous crap from that test file (because I'd
also recorded all my comings and goings and droppings and swearings), I
had a piece of really clear audio. My voice still had that same whiny
depressive tone it always has, but there was no background noise now.
My proof of concept worked!
So, I need to continue editing an old script of mine, turning it from a
stage play into an audio play, and I need to do some more sound
experiments. One problem though: I'll need to actually print my
scripts/stories off on paper, and we don't have a printer. I'm used to
reading this sort of stuff off the computer screen, but, of course, I
can't do that with this situation. Maybe the eeePC could come in handy
after all? I could read off of that thing. It's not silent, but it's
pretty quiet. Guess I need to do more sound tests, more audio checks.
