I need to do some recording on my laptop. My new amps instructions say...
Headphone/Record Out
We really spent a lot of time making sure the headphone jack was studio quality and because of that with the proper adapters (Not supplied) you can use this output for recording. NOTE: SPEAKER IS MUTED WHEN HEADPHONES ARE IN USE! Master Volume (10) controls headphone level.
OK I understand I'm going to lose sound from the amp but what connection cables do I need? I know the output on the amp is stereo. I'm pretty sure the mic input on the lappy is mono. Can I use a 1/8 mono cable?
Pretty sure I will be disappointed after using my E-MU card in my desktop but need to get something going.
If your amp has a true stereo out and actually produces stereo signals (e.g. echo effects that bounce from channel to channel), then you will want to use a true stereo-to-mono adapter. A proper stereo-to-mono will contain a resistive network to combine L and R, and not just connect the L+R to form mono, as it's not usually a good idea to connect two outputs of any sort directly together. Using this adapter will make sure you grab the entire signal for your mono laptop.
If your amp phone/rec out is "stereo" only in that it feeds the same mono signal to both the tip and ring of its output jack, then use a stereo cable to avoid shorting the output of your amp phones/rec to ground -- either one or both channels, depending on how it's wired. The stereo cable will safely convey the tip signal output from the amp to the tip signal input of the laptop.
In any case, it should be safe to use a stereo cable/adapter, but in the first case, your laptop would not get the entire signal. In the second, it would.
-=tension & release=-
Greg, you are assuming that the input is mono, isn't? My laptop input is stereo. Sin City Sid, verify if your input is stereo or mono. Then if your amp is also stereo you could use a stereo-stereo cable.
I had a amp with one of those outputs, it was a Marshall. I think the output was mono but it was different to the headphones one.
Unless you have a stereo amp, I can't see how it will give you a genuine stereo signal (seeing as the input, from guitar, is mono in a normal guitar amp).
If the output is "stereo", I would suspect that it is, as gnease says, just a mono signal to both left and right channels. In that case, you could use a stereo/stereo cable and the signal, from the left channel would go to the mic input.
I started with nothing - and I've still got most of it left.
Did you know that the word "gullible" is not in any dictionary?
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Don't forget onboard effects Grey. I'm guessing we're talking about a transistor/digital amp here (why else record directly and bypass the poweramp?) and those often come with stereo effects.
Don't forget onboard effects Grey. I'm guessing we're talking about a transistor/digital amp here (why else record directly and bypass the poweramp?) and those often come with stereo effects.Good point, we oldies tend to forget these new fangled inventions
I started with nothing - and I've still got most of it left.
Did you know that the word "gullible" is not in any dictionary?
Greybeard's Pages
My Articles & Reviews on GN
Greg, you are assuming that the input is mono, isn't? My laptop input is stereo. Sin City Sid, verify if your input is stereo or mono. Then if your amp is also stereo you could use a stereo-stereo cable.
I had a amp with one of those outputs, it was a Marshall. I think the output was mono but it was different to the headphones one.
Not assuming, Nuno. Translating Sid's words: "I'm pretty sure the mic input on the lappy is mono." to mean that. And there's a good chance he's right from my recent laptop experiences:
Older Thinkpad 600 something: dual purpose, stereo mic/line (now sadly dead, loved recording into this one)
Sony Vaio: mono
Dell 1505: mono
Dell PoS from work: mono
Various Gateways: mono
(sorry for repeating, but...)
In any case, I went through the scenarios, and it's always safe to use a stereo-to-stereo. If the amp does not have a true stereo effects output, then the mono output of the amp is either connected through a resistor net to the L and R phone/rec output (the best and correct way) or simply connected to both the L and the R directly (cheap and dirty). This allows use of stereo headphones by feeding the signal to both sides. If you plug a mono connector into either amp design, it will short either L or R to ground (don't recall which is connected to "ring", but that's the one -- deducing it's R from Greybeard's response). In the cheap and dirty case, that means both channels get dead shorted to ground when a mono plug is inserted into the phones/rec jack. Not terribly useful.
If both amp and laptop are mono, no problem. Stereo-to-stereo magically works for mono systems.
If the amp is truly a stereo effects output, then spending some $$ for an adapter that will convert stereo-to-mono through a proper resistor network is worth it to get the best possible signal tranfered to a mono laptop.
-=tension & release=-
Not assuming, Nuno. Translating Sid's words: "I'm pretty sure the mic input on the lappy is mono." to mean that.
I'm sorry, Greg and everybody. I didn't read/understand that part. Just, forget my reply.
:oops:
Not assuming, Nuno. Translating Sid's words: "I'm pretty sure the mic input on the lappy is mono." to mean that.
I'm sorry, Greg and everybody. I didn't read/understand that part. Just, forget my reply.
:oops:
NP. "lappy" gave me pause, too.
-=tension & release=-
Well the stereo cable worked just fine. The sounds was fair.
