Audio In

[csmith23]

While recording line in (From laptap, guitar, or anything other than a microphone) my recorder barely picks up anything. It sounds good if i dont push the plug all the way into the recorder, but instead just kind of set it down into the plug. I dont understand why its doing this, because the microphones only work well when they are plugged in all the way, and they use the same plug in type. any suggestions?

Im using a Fostex-8mkII if that helps.

 

[TetraFish]

Are you plugging the mic in with XLR?

The 1/4" ins on that unit are probably line inputs. So you need a pre amp or DI box or an FX pedal to get the guitar signal up to line level.

EDIT: I see now that you can use a guitar on input A, you have to change the switch on the back to guitar.

 

[guitarplayr82]

You might either have a mono out and a stereo in or a stereo out and a mono in. This can cause the problem of having it only sound good when the plug is halfway out. You might want to check your plugs. If this isn't the problem, then TetraFish's reply is what I would check next.

 

[csmith23]

I'm not home at the moment but I think the mono vs stereo plug ins will fix it. Inever thought that it would matter.

 

[guitarplayr82]

How did that end up working out?

 

[csmith23]

it didnt. The plugs are both stereo plugs. And when its plugged all the way in its very distorted and very foggy. But when i pull it out halfway, it sounds just fine. Its real picky though, and if the cord gets bumped while its halfway out it stays distorted until i get the plug in just right again.

I dont know what could be wrong.

 

[moresound]

Then maybe it's not the cord configuration and the jack on the computer!

 

[bouldersoundguy]

it didnt. The plugs are both stereo plugs. And when its plugged all the way in its very distorted and very foggy. But when i pull it out halfway, it sounds just fine. Its real picky though, and if the cord gets bumped while its halfway out it stays distorted until i get the plug in just right again.

I dont know what could be wrong.

Most likely what's wrong is that you're using a balanced cable with unbalanced equipment. Sometimes it will work, sometimes not. Use a decent quality instrument/guitar cable to connect your guitar to the recorder's "Guitar" input.

What output of the computer are you using? If it's the headphone jack or the line output jack it is stereo. Your best bet there is to use a splitter to make the stereo into two mono plugs and connect them to the two line inputs of the recorder.