A simple laptop question...

Shepherd

New member
Hi all,
I'm new to the forum w/ a simple problem: I have an HP Omnibook XE2 laptop with a line in at the back, but it only seems to function as a mic input. Are there devices that can turn a mic input (1/4" jack) into a line input?

Thanks,

- Matt Shepherd
 
Check if it's really a line in or if it's a mic in. What you're lookin for is a symbol that looks something like this:

((<))-

If it's line in, all you need is a 1/4" to 1/8" conversion cable. A hefty investment at about $2. If it's a mic in, don't use it and start looking into soundcards/audio devices for laptops. You might want to do that anyway as the quality of the line in on a laptop is rather questionable.

Hmm, after reading your post a couple of more times, I'm not sure what you're trying to do. What are you trying to do?
 
Sorry, I explained things badly at the start of the thread...

I do a radio show in which I want to start pre-recording and pre-producing interviews and monologues at home on my computer.

Ideally, I would record these interviews on a small tape recorder I carry with me and then dump them onto my computer, using some sort of simple mixing software to give them a musical bed.

The problem I am having is that while my computer (an HP Omnibook XE2) is documented as having a combined mic in/line in jack, the jack only seems to work as a mic jack.

I would like to be able to dump line input into it without dickering an immense amount with the volume of the source tape recorder.

I'd like to know if there's a simple adaptor I can plug into the 1/8" mic input jack that will allow it to function as a line input jack...some sort of limiter or something.

If I can't do this -- or get the line-in jack to work -- my next option is to buy some sort of USB-compatible sound conversion unit, which looks like it would cost at least $250 US. I'd rather just use my computer, especially since my needs are so simple and this isn't "serious" recording.

Any info specific to the Omnibook XE2 and maybe a definitive answer on whether or not this really SHOULD work as a &?%$ line in, as well as any tips on how to get it to do so, would also be appreciated.

Thanks for any advice,

- Matt Shepherd
 
As a short term fix you could try disabling the 20 db mic boost in Volume control (yellow speaker icon)/ options/ properties/ select "Recording" - Click "OK"/ Click on Microphone - "advanced" Button/ uncheck 20db boost.

Disclaimer - I have no idea if this will work since I haven't tried it and the mic input probably still won't sound as good as a line in, but it might fix your level problem.

Good Luck.
 
Thanks to both of you. I found the link helpful (at least I know it's theoretically possible to do this) but I guess I'm hoping more that I can find something a little less DIY...

And I tried using vox's suggestion, but the "Advanced Options" are greyed out in the "Options" menu after I select Record. Inaccessible. I suspect HP just bundles crap sound cards in their Omnibooks...

- Matt
 
A mic input differs from a line input in that a) a mic input puts out low voltage phantom power on the tip and b) a mic input has a crappy built in preamp.

Leave it to HP to figure out a way to combine the two :) Cripes. Can I ask how you know that it only works as a mic input? Try running a stereo source into it and see if you get both left and right channels.

The reason I ask is that it sounds to me like you're having a problem with the input level being too high. You're not trying to use the headphone output of your tape recorder are you? If so, it's being boosted well above line level. You should use the line out of your tape machine if it has one, or keep the volume as low as it will go, which will probably be noisy.

Slackmaster 2000
 
I anticipate a great deal of HP-blaming in my near future.

My reasons for not thinking it picks up on "line in" are chiefly that when I use the Recording option on the volume control, it only picks up on the "mic" fader. I've also mucked about a bit in recording studios in the past, and, well, this sounds a lot like what I've experienced when I plugged a line into a mic input...I have to put the "mic" fader ALL THE WAY down and the stereo volume NEARLY all the way down to get a resonable (and very, very noisy) non-clipping level...my experience with line input is even if you run out of a headphone jack, putting the volume "kinda" low (30-40%, as compared to, like 2% in this situation) it can work, while this really, really behaves like I'm plugging a line into a mic jack.

I'm already asking for suggestions re. good external USB sound cards and etc. in anticipation of this being an insoluable problem...thanks to someone else I now know how (theoretically) to build a kind of "de-amp," but building a de-amp to foil a pre-amp really seems like it's redundant and a very bad idea, sound-wise.

Still, any and all suggestions are welcome...
 
I was looking at some spec's here http://www8.zdnet.com/products/stories/specs/0,8828,132983,00.html for the notebook in question. It says it has a line in, and a built-in microphone. This is interesting, but I don't know if it will solve your problem. Is it possible you somehow have to disable the built-in mic VIA software to use the line in? Is it possible that your machine is configured improperly? If you look in control panal, multimedia, what are your options for prefered recording device?

Also notebooks, most notably HP Compaq et al like to bundle their own software for controlling every conceivable piece of hardware in the machine. There may be a unique control panal just for the soundcard itself. You may see this as a seperate program under start>programs, or it may exist as an icon in control panal.
 
Thanks for the advice...I've done everything I can think of as possible; the software that comes with the sound card is AudioRack 32, and it only picks things up when I enable the mic line in on its recording panel; no response when I enable the line in (either in AudioRack or the Windows volume adjustment). I've also tried n-track, with the same results.

It says (the documentation) that there is a line-in and a mic-in, but there is only one jack at the back of the unit...next to the headphone jack. I haven't tried fiddling around with the built-in mic, and don't know how I'd go about disabling it. One would think it would cut off automatically (and the docs do say the built-in mic (I assume you mean the little one under the screen) turns off when you plug something into the line input).

- Matt
 
The documentation from the link Emeric gave says it has NO mic input jack.....so Im assuming when you go into AudioRack and choose microphone, it records from the built in mic....if from the built-in mic...if you wanna send a line level in, just choose line in on the AudioRack and record.....
 
It's definitely picking up from the jack at the rear of the unit, not the built-in mic. I know this because I'm plugging in from the 1/8" headphone jack on a tape player to the jack at the back of the computer with a stereo cable. There is no ambient sound in the room to be picked up by the built-in mic, and the stereo speakers shut off when you plug something into the headphone jack.

The line-in only gets picked up when you select "mic" as a recording source on AudioRack32, the Windows Record Volume window, etc. etc. Since the jack is functioning as a mic-in jack and not a line-in jack, the levels on the software have to be lowered all the way, as does the volume on the source tape recorder.

When I choose line-in as a recording source on programs such as AudioRack32 and N-Track, nothing happens. The sound card receives no signal from the line-in jack. It only receives a signal when you select "mic" as a recording source, at which point it is INCREDIBLY noisy and (as said above) both the input levels on the program and the output levels on the stereo have to be turned down to about 2% in order to get a signal that doesn't sound like clipped garbage.
 
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