Recording using Laptop's mic input

Henry Brooks · Post by **Henry Brooks** » 16 May 2007 5:24 pm

Is someone out there making a attenuator pad so I can connect the line out of my 112 to the mic input on my Laptop? I want to be able to record my playing using BIAB recorder function. But, my Laptop doesn't have a line in. Living in a townhouse I need to go direct, especially late at night. Seems, to me, that a simple resistor pad should do the trick. I only need to record a work track for evaluating my progress.
Henry

Tony Prior · Post by **Tony Prior** » 17 May 2007 12:44 am

Why don't you just get a small 4 channel Behringer mixer ? Feed the Laptop headphones out to the mixer, plug the Steel in and listen from the mixer headphones out ?

The line out of the 112 is a match for the small mixer.They also have a stereo line in's to accomodate the Laptop audio.

I paid $29 for mine a few months back, quality is not bad, not great, but for what it does these are fine gadgets which can be used for many applications.

I feel it would be beter to use a small external mixer for what you want to do rather than do it thru the Laptop. All of the "goes into's" are on board already.

good luck

tp

Henry Brooks · Post by **Henry Brooks** » 17 May 2007 11:26 am

Thanks Tony for your reply. I understand how that would work to play-a-long with the track. But, how could I record it using BIAB. The program only allows mic or line input from the sound card.
Henry

Tony Prior · Post by **Tony Prior** » 17 May 2007 2:25 pm

Henry you are right, then just use the mixer as the preamp for the Steel and feed it into the Laptop mic input and you should be fine..

go for it

tp

Les Pierce · Post by **Les Pierce** » 2 Jun 2007 7:52 pm

For a laptop without a line input, look into a USB mixer. I think Behringer makes one fairly inexpensive. It would allow you to record multible inputs, as well.

Les

Dave Boothroyd · Post by **Dave Boothroyd** » 3 Jun 2007 12:56 am

I'd go along with the USB plan. If you use an ordinary mixer, you will, sooner or later come across the fact that the mixer output is stereo and the mic input is mono.
Cheers
Dave

Chris Collins · Post by **Chris Collins** » 3 Jun 2007 12:13 pm

Henry,

Are you sure your laptop does not have "line in"? Many laptops use one jack for both a mono "mic" input and a stereo "line in". You then configure the jack in the control panel on the operating system. That said, any recording you do will only be as good as the sound card in the laptop. FWIW my suggestion would be to go for an external USB sound card. It would solve your problem and give you a better recording quality.

Chris

Henry Brooks · Post by **Henry Brooks** » 3 Jun 2007 3:34 pm

Les, Dave, and Chris:
Thank you for your responses. I'm just getting started trying to use a computer as a music workstation. I would like to get back to playing, start over, now that I have more time. I'm trying to figure out just what I need and what the best and easiest way to accomplish the task. Most of the instruction materials I have are on LP's or cassette tapes. Getting stuff transferred and in pitch is quite a challenge. I bought BIAB to make practice traces to replace the ones on LP’s that have steel on one side and the rhythm on the other. The ones that you turn the steel down using that stereo's balance control. I’m only interested in recording to evaluate my progress. Years ago I tried using a Quad reel to reel tape recorder. It really frustrated me because it always seem to take all my practice just trying get things working. Also by that time I wasn’t in any mood to play. That’s why I want to get this under control before I even take the steel out the case.
Chris, I look under control panel, Sound and Audio Devices, but I could find anything to change the mic. to line input. The card is called SoundMAX. Thanks guys
Henry