i need help!!!

  • Thread starter Thread starter guitarguy
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guitarguy

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i am trying to plug my guitar straight into the line in jack on the back of my computer to record in ACID 2.0, But I am not getting any sound(just a flat line)... what am i not doing right? thanks a lot!!!

p.s. i just started today so go easy on me:)
 
thanks for the help AlChuck.... i can now hear it, but it is very faint... i guess that means i need a directbox, huh? do you have any suggestions on an inexpensive one? also, the sound is only coming out of the right channel... what is up with that? all of the faders are in the middle... thanks again for your help...

-brad
 
Whoa, sorry, I missed the statement in your original post: "i am trying to plug my guitar straight into the line in jack on the back of my computer." Nope, that won't work, I'm surprised you can hear anything. You need to get a line level signal into the card. As you guessed, this means you need a preamp or direct box of some sort. As far as cheap ones to recommend... what kind of amp do you have? Many amps these days have a line out built in and it might be serviceable. An effects box or amp modeling device like the POD or Johnson J-Station or the Yamaha DG Stomp is a great way to do it, but this gets you up into the $300+ price range. Of course the classic approach is a Shure SM-57 mic pointed at the speaker of a roaring amp -- but of course then you need a mic preamp too.

As to the sound only coming out of one channel -- well, a typical guitar only has a mono output. If you plug it into an adapter to take it down to a stereo 1/8" miniplug, the signal will only be on one side of the plug. Or possibly you have a mono miniplug. At any rate, many of the above solutions will give you a stereo signal to work with.
 
ok, so what you are saying is that with a direct box the signal will be boosted enough to hear it better on the computer... will this also solve my problem of only hearing sound out of one channel or is there something else i need to do? on the record screen there is an option to check stereo or mono... should i leave this on mono?
thanks again Mr. AlChuck
 
you may need a mono to stereo adaptor. (Radio shack about $3) but switching it to mono should work regardless.

-jhe
 
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