Mullertime
New member
To get a clean single-track recording from an Electric Piano output to a laptop... does the laptop need a 'Line-In' to record properly?
The reason I ask: I've currently been able to directly link the headphone output (1/4'' jack) of a Yahama Arius (no line-outs are available) to the Line-In (1/8'' blue jack) of Desktop PC's, creating a near-perfect replication of the sound I get through the headphones when playing. What I notice is that the best sound is from 'Line In' - If I connect it to 'Mic in' (which I understand is a huge no-no), the quality is abysmal.
Where my laptop lacks audio-in ports: I've tried a few 1/8'' jack-to-USB audio adaptors, but any recordings were dull and echoey (like the piano was at the end of a long tunnel). I noticed that they were treated as 'Microphone' instead of 'Line In' (in terms of Windows Audio Devices); and on testing these interfaces on the desktops, they had the same echoed effect. My guess is that the basic models only have 'Mic In' and 'Line Out' jacks - so do not handle 'Line In' (I couldn't find any that specifically had a Line-in jack)... but I'm not sure whether this is actually a problem or not.
Is my rudimentary understanding correct that I need something that will create a 'Line In' audio channel - or is 'Microphone' fine and it likely more down to low-quality sound cards on the adaptors I've tried?
If it needs Line In, am I correct in assuming that USB-based interfaces with L/R Audio RCA inputs will be treated as 'Line In' (i.e. the blue 1/8'' jack is purely a simplified mono-version of the RCA port - so is rarely used on interfaces)?
The reason I ask: I've currently been able to directly link the headphone output (1/4'' jack) of a Yahama Arius (no line-outs are available) to the Line-In (1/8'' blue jack) of Desktop PC's, creating a near-perfect replication of the sound I get through the headphones when playing. What I notice is that the best sound is from 'Line In' - If I connect it to 'Mic in' (which I understand is a huge no-no), the quality is abysmal.
Where my laptop lacks audio-in ports: I've tried a few 1/8'' jack-to-USB audio adaptors, but any recordings were dull and echoey (like the piano was at the end of a long tunnel). I noticed that they were treated as 'Microphone' instead of 'Line In' (in terms of Windows Audio Devices); and on testing these interfaces on the desktops, they had the same echoed effect. My guess is that the basic models only have 'Mic In' and 'Line Out' jacks - so do not handle 'Line In' (I couldn't find any that specifically had a Line-in jack)... but I'm not sure whether this is actually a problem or not.
Is my rudimentary understanding correct that I need something that will create a 'Line In' audio channel - or is 'Microphone' fine and it likely more down to low-quality sound cards on the adaptors I've tried?
If it needs Line In, am I correct in assuming that USB-based interfaces with L/R Audio RCA inputs will be treated as 'Line In' (i.e. the blue 1/8'' jack is purely a simplified mono-version of the RCA port - so is rarely used on interfaces)?