I have been working on some songs and was reading about recording through your PC on another thread. I got excited and bought a cable and an extension to fit into the mic port.
I am not getting any sound into the PC. I have tried testing it through the Windows mic test--nothing. I have taken out the battery to my preamp and replaced with a new one. No go. I took a good look at the housing for the battery and looked inside to check all the wires are connected properly. Still no sound:(
I have a b- band A-3 preamp that takes a 9volt battery. Is this enough? Do I need to amplify the power? Am I missing something?
please help
I should mention that I do know the preamp works, I had it plugged in to an amp just a couple of months ago
thanks
Usually computer mics are electret or condenser mics powered by the computer's board or sound card. May not be compatible with your guitar's output, even though the jack fits.
"A cheerful heart is good medicine."
It could possibly be that your input default is set to "mic" when it should be set to "line in"....check your preferences and input settings.
:D :D :D
Vic
"Sometimes the beauty of music can help us all find strength to deal with all the curves life can throw us." (D. Hodge.)
Yeah, I'd suggest trying the line in. That's what I hook my mixer up to. Same idea.
"Work hard, rock hard, eat hard, sleep hard,
grow big, wear glasses if you need 'em."
-- The Webb Wilder Credo --
I had the same problem myself when I attempted to connect my acoustic electric directly to the computer. I was connecting it to a laptop which has no true line-in port, just a mic one which you can designate to line-in. But same as you, I didn't ever get diddley out of it. When I connected it via an amp, I did get sound recorded, but it was extremely faint, even after checking that the volume and such was set correctly on the computer as well as the guitar+amp. The mic port on my Dell laptop just really really doesn't seem to appreciate being hooked up to a guitar.
Good luck getting yours to act correctly!
Thanks all for the replies so far.
I have no luck in getting to work yet. I tried setting the sound to line-in--not sure of that is done correctly though. I did notice that the extension on the chord was for stereo, so I purchased a mono extension and had no luck with that either.
I am starting to believe ricochet is correct. I am just not sure how computers could vary so much in regards to the input or frequency of the guitar's preamp. How do I know what kind of output the preamp is giving. How do I know what is acceptable either on my pc or if I bought a new sound card.
I am still open for suggestions. Could an actual sound card work better than the on board sound I am using?
If you're willing to spend some money, I think getting a USB audio interface is the way to go. Not like I'm a sound engineer, but I do know a bit about computers, and unless you want a new sound card for other reasons too, this seems a better choice to me. They're designed to accept audio input from instruments and they hook to the PC via USB.
Now, if the interface itself doesn't have a power supply, you may also need to get a USB hub that has a power supply, since it will be pulling its power over USB - but they're cheap too, like $10-$15. A couple web pages:
Line6 TonePort: http://www.line6.com/toneport/
M-Audio has lots of 'em, like this one: http://www.m-audio.com/products/en_us/FastTrackUSB-main.html
Then again, if there are sound cards that openly advertise they work for guitar recording and the price is right, go for it. But a USB interface you could also move from computer to computer and you might get some nice software with it, to boot.
-- Voidious
Thanks Voidious. Those look like what I need 70 dollars is not so bad, but like a lot of others I was hoping for a more cost effective method. I am not even sure I can get one of those where I am. I live in a consumer abyss--a 30-40% mark-up zone. :(
