Simultaneous inputs to a computer

[buk]

Hello, I'm trying to make a very cheap (in every possible mean) recording setup. The thing is that I want my inputs to be played simultaneously - A mic and a guitar, to be specific.
Checking the onboard sound card's documentation, I understood that the mic jack is stereo. Now this part might sound crazy but here goes: I bought a connector that has two female mono jack plugs and one male stereo jack plug and stuck it up the mic jack.
The only problem I have with this setup is that I'm only getting mono. I can get both sides of the connector, but they both enter the mixer on the left channel. I tried various mixers and fiddled with them, still nothing.

Obviously, somewhere along the way both stereo channels get merged down to the left one. But where and how do I solve it?

Regardless, there must be at least a slightly more professional way of having two simultaneous inputs into a digital mixer. What am I supposed to be looking for?

Thanks.

[groovyisland]

its not a bad idea at all

are you sure the 1/8" plug is stereo? if so it should work. its not a good way to get excellent sound for some reason which i don't know.

whats this mixer? outboard or software

[buk]

The plug is stereo, of course. And it's a software mixer.

Edit: Well, the plug is, I don't really have a sure way to know about the jack. From what I understood from the documentation, the jack is stereo. I don't know about standards of sound card mic jacks though, I see no reason why they'd even be stereo in the first place, so I won't be surprised if someone comes here and says there's no such thing as a stereo mic jack.

[groovyisland]

ive never recorded anything through a soundcard. ive always gone through the usb port with an interface which is sort of an outboard sound card that has inputs and mic preamps and midi in. i have a tascam us-122. alesis and m-audio and behringer make them too.

[pandamonk]

Ok I know your problem. It's the line-in that's stereo not the mic-in.

What preamplification do you have? This is a must. Even just a cheap mixer. But you'd be better off with a M-audio fasttrack

[cusebassman]

Is this a laptop or desktop, and what type? There may be a few different things at work here:

1) You could be running into the line-input instead of the mic-input, and line-in is usually mono, whereas mic inputs are generally stereo. I am also not sure why this is the casem, honestly, but it definitely exists - I mixdown from outboard gear through the stereo input on my powerBook (people can cringe and scowl all they want, but honestly, the sound that comes out my monitors from the DAT decks through my analog mixer sounds the same as what comes back out the laptop, through the board's 2track and out those same monitors)

2) The software mixer is setup improperly - you need to make sure the track you are recording to (if this is multitracking software) is set to stereo, and that the software is accepting stereo input.

Otherwise, it sounds like you have things going properly. Also, what are you recording with (i.e. what equipment is running into the computer - microphone, microphone -> preamp -> computer, etc)

[pandamonk]

Originally Posted by cusebassman

Is this a laptop or desktop, and what type? There may be a few different things at work here:

1) You could be running into the line-input instead of the mic-input, and line-in is usually mono, whereas mic inputs are generally stereo. I am also not sure why this is the casem, honestly, but it definitely exists - I mixdown from outboard gear through the stereo input on my powerBook (people can cringe and scowl all they want, but honestly, the sound that comes out my monitors from the DAT decks through my analog mixer sounds the same as what comes back out the laptop, through the board's 2track and out those same monitors)

2) The software mixer is setup improperly - you need to make sure the track you are recording to (if this is multitracking software) is set to stereo, and that the software is accepting stereo input.

Otherwise, it sounds like you have things going properly. Also, what are you recording with (i.e. what equipment is running into the computer - microphone, microphone -> preamp -> computer, etc)

The bold is wrong. line-in is usually stereo and mic mono.

[buk]

I'm not using a preamp or anything. I just connected the mic and the guitar into the mic port. I tried the line-in but it got 0 signal, I guess maybe because I do have to use a preamp like you suggest. I don't suppose that going out of a small guitar amp's headphones out is going to solve that, right?

I think I'll try this outboard sound card idea. It doesn't mixes them down to a single channel along the way though, does it? If it does I could just go out of the mono of a simple console.

Oh, and I'm using a desktop PC.

[symbi]

I had once faced the similar problem and solved it myself . Here is the way ,
step 1. select line-in ( and u will have stereo input consisting two channels then )
step 2. I built two cheap dynamic as well as condenser microphone (those used in PC ) preamplifiers using BC 547 transistor from the widely available circuit diagrams in the internet. ( Bcoz i'm always on a tight budget and dont have enough bucks to spend for costly professional mic pre amps , moreover I have to save for the medical treatment of my parents as they are very ill )

anyway, I used one of the preamplifiers for mic input and another for guitar input and thus got two different mono channels and recorded them . the quality of the circuit was satisfactory for a beginner like me

here is the schematic of my wiring
hxxp://img505.imageshack.us/img505/8908/micconnectionrp5.gif
OOOPs I tried to post the image but I'm not allowed (

I'm just a hobbyist with very limited knowledge. so
if any of u please extend a helping hand , I would appreciate it with sincereity.
thanks and regards

[Joepie]

- deleted post -
I just realized what I typed earlier was a load of bull

Like was already established, you can't record two channels through one mono mic-input, not even with a splitter

Anyways, I was going to suggest you spend that $100 on a cheap mixer or a decent soundcard with preamps. (really, it might seem like much, but in the end you'll be glad). I spent years trying to record without spending a dime. I actually went for the 'headphone output on small guitar amp'-option, but in the end it was all a waste of time and talent.

[TimOBrien]

An Emu0404, M-Audio Audiophile or Echo Mia will set you back less than $100.

Not only will that solve your problem, but you will get QUALITY 24-bit sound, something you will not get from an on-board soundcard (they're made with less than $1 worth of parts for beeps, boops and light gaming, not recording...)

[groovyisland]

the majority of computers nowadays dont have sound cards anymore. the sound is "integrated" or part of the motherboard. if you buy a soundcard like an m-audio how would you bypass the integrated sound?

i just looked at musicians friend and there are a lot of usb solutions. lexicon has a usb interface for 100 bucks and theres a refurb m-audio for 80.

[bodaddy]

You would make your new card the default. Also you can go into the setup screen before windows comes up and disable your integrated card.

[LONERANGER4X4]

just go buy a cheap berringer 802a mixer around $40 new and a cable that has 2 rca jacks on one end and a 1/8 inch stereo male connecter on the other and hook that to the tape out on the mixer and in to your line in or mic (if you don't have a line in) on your sound card. this will also give you more flexibility for mics later since it supplies phantom power and xlr inputs. then when you get to where you want more professional sounding equipment, you wont be out much money.

Originally Posted by buk

Hello, I'm trying to make a very cheap (in every possible mean) recording setup. The thing is that I want my inputs to be played simultaneously - A mic and a guitar, to be specific.
Checking the onboard sound card's documentation, I understood that the mic jack is stereo. Now this part might sound crazy but here goes: I bought a connector that has two female mono jack plugs and one male stereo jack plug and stuck it up the mic jack.
The only problem I have with this setup is that I'm only getting mono. I can get both sides of the connector, but they both enter the mixer on the left channel. I tried various mixers and fiddled with them, still nothing.

Obviously, somewhere along the way both stereo channels get merged down to the left one. But where and how do I solve it?

Regardless, there must be at least a slightly more professional way of having two simultaneous inputs into a digital mixer. What am I supposed to be looking for?

Thanks.

[buk]

Originally Posted by Joepie

Like was already established, you can't record two channels through one mono mic-input, not even with a splitter

Of course you can't get stereo out of a mono jack, it's just kind of hard to tell whether a jack is mono or stereo, and the documentation implied the latter.

As for price, I'm actually looking for less than $30 in expenses. Even if a $100 will be worth it due to quality. It's not for actual recording sessions, it's for recording of practice runs, which means quality is not an issue.
The Behringer seems nice in that regard, actually. At least on eBay, and maybe that's where I should look for such things.

[Ding Dong]

I agree with the cheap behringer mixer idea. sounds like its in your budget- i recorded like that for years. Just buy one at a local music store, not online. It seems like one out of four behringers has something wrong with it, so you might have to return it.

[cusebassman]

Originally Posted by pandamonk

The bold is wrong. line-in is usually stereo and mic mono.

Ah... good to know - granted, Im using a powerBook, and it has just the one input for audio. Since Im running line-level output from my mixer into it, I suppose one would logically call it the line input. Why this didn't occur to me I don't know.

Isn't it true that mic inputs on computers often also have a stereo input? Im not sure why they would, but still curious.

[pandamonk]

I think if you have a line and mic then the mic is usually mono, but if you just havee one, it'll be stereo.

[Joepie]

Originally Posted by buk

Of course you can't get stereo out of a mono jack, it's just kind of hard to tell whether a jack is mono or stereo, and the documentation implied the latter.

As for price, I'm actually looking for less than $30 in expenses. Even if a $100 will be worth it due to quality. It's not for actual recording sessions, it's for recording of practice runs, which means quality is not an issue.
The Behringer seems nice in that regard, actually. At least on eBay, and maybe that's where I should look for such things.

Well, in the rare case that your mic-input is actually stereo, then my earlier post (the one I deleted myself) might not have been bull after all. What I posted there was the following:

Your mic and guitar put out mono signals. If you record a mono signal into a stereo input, the mono will show up on the left channel only. When you use a splitter, it combines the two left channels into the left channel of your computer, and the two right channels into the right channel of your computer. As such, your left channel will have guitar and mic, your right channel will have nothing. The only way to solve this is by somehow rewiring your splitter, so that on one of the two inputs, the left and right are reversed.

[buk]

Originally Posted by Joepie

When you use a splitter, it combines the two left channels into the left channel of your computer, and the two right channels into the right channel of your computer.

Are you sure? That sounds quite odd. I figured it works just like an inject cable, two monos going into a single stereo.

I guess I'll somehow have to make sure it's wired right.

[Joepie]

I'm pretty sure, because the splitters are actually made for outputs, like headphones. Left and right are split so that both outputs still have left/right.

[cusebassman]

Flamed anonymously for misinformation? I asked to be corrected!

The powerBook has a stereo input. I am assuming it is line-level. However, if you buy a computer microphone, they often have stereo jacks, and not because they are a headset:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16836131024

That little guy has a TRS 1/8" jack on it. If its plugging into a microphone input that is apparently always going to be mono, why would it be on there?

Just laying out what I've seen to show what has led me to these conclusions. Happy flaming

[irishfolker]

Originally Posted by cusebassman

That little guy has a TRS 1/8" jack on it. If its plugging into a microphone input that is apparently always going to be mono, why would it be on there?

Balanced lines use a TRS or XLR. That is why it has the plug that it does.

[cusebassman]

But then the signal would be translated to unbalanced in the machine, and you wouldn't get a stereo input. At least that's how outboard gear works... I don't know. Nor do I honestly care, as my laptop serves me fine for taking in a stereo signal, and everyone spouts off about the fact that you shouldn't be using the line or mic input on your computer anyway, since usually that method ends up sounding like crap.

Which is funny because the built-in audio card on the G4 powerBook sounds pretty damn good. Ah well - my setup works fine, and Im sure with enough poking and prodding and the cables suggested above, the OP will be able to figure out what to do

[irishfolker]

According to Apple, the PowerBook G4 has a stereo line in and an integrated microphone (doesn't specify stereo or not). A balanced line mic plugged into that would give you the same thing on each channel, except it would be 180 degrees out of phase. A true stereo mic would give you stereo, but you would want it to have line level output.

Specs here: http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=75501