Microphone help

[Meme lord]

I have a cisno BM-800, it's a condenser microphone with a 2.5mm output. It's really quite so I have to boost it really high and it ends up being really fuzzy. My friend says I need an external sound card. Should I get a preamp, sound card or what? Any suggestion would help.

[vanished]

From what I can find out about this on Google, it's an XLR mic, not 2.5mm... I'm not even sure how that would work with 2.5mm unless it was a TRS to allow it to be balanced.  Anyway, a condenser mic will need phantom power so just plugging it directly into your PC with an adapter cable will result in it being extremely quiet like you experienced.  You need an interface with a preamp that can supply phantom power.  A common one is the Scarlett Solo from Focusrite but there are certainly others.

[Meme lord]

3 minutes ago, Ryan_Vickers said:

From what I can find out about this on Google, it's an XLR mic, not 2.5mm... I'm not even sure how that would work with 2.5mm unless it was a TRS to allow it to be balanced.  Anyway, a condenser mic will need phantom power so just plugging it directly into your PC with an adapter cable will result in it being extremely quiet like you experienced.  You need an interface with a preamp that can supply phantom power.  A common one is the Scarlett Solo from Focusrite but there are certainly others.

Does it use a 2.5mm input? I can only find ones with the larger inputs. The mic came with the 2.5mm output so idk what to do. The mic has a fat output but the end of the cable is 2.5mm

[vanished]

Just now, Meme lord said:

Does it use a 2.5mm input? I can only find ones with the larger inputs. The mic came with the 2.5mm output so idk what to do. The mic has a fat output but the end of the cable is 2.5mm

I have never heard of a condenser mic using a 2.5mm output before and I have never seen an audio interface of any kind that takes that as an input.  I am 99% sure you have an XLR mic on your hands, and so if you don't already have a cable, you'll need to get one.

 

The ends look like this btw:

[Meme lord]

Ok, I have the left side that plugs into my mic, but the other side is 2.5mm. Ill go out and buy one then.

 

[anothertom]

If this is essentially a bm800 (which are sold under many names) then it isn't 2.5mm or a condenser mic. It has an unbalanced xlr to 3.5mm connection to allow use with computers and is an electret design which doesn't need the full +48v of phantom power but can operate at lower voltages (+5, +12, +24 v), but afaik output level increases with the voltage applied.

 

It might be worth getting an inline phantom power supply rather than an interface, as if you're happy with the audio quality then no need to spend extra money.