Input from analog source

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LindaC

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Input from analog source--Help!

Hi, I'm new at this and hope someone can help. My brother and I have been writing and recording music on a 4-track cassette recorder. I am now trying to get that audio onto the computer from a portable stereo cassette player (the 4-track is at my brother's, the computer is at my house, so I am testing the concept).

Problem #1: there is already a wire coming from the back of one of the speakers going into the audio line input of the sound card. What is this for? If I unplug it and plug in the headphone output of my portable stereo cassette player (and then try to record), I get no sound at all. The Compaq manual says that if no sound is coming out of the speakers, make sure the green wire is plugged in (this goes to audio-in). I don't understanding what is being routed to the audio-in of the soundcard through the speakers. I would think audio-out from the soundcard would be going to the speakers (but it is going to the back of the monitor). There is also an audio-in jack on one of the speakers. The computer manual says that this is for listening to music from an external source through the speakers. I tried plugging in there as well and recording...now the music comes from the speakers, but nothing is being recorded. BTW, the sound card came with the computer (ESS Allegro).

Boy, is this frustrating. Any advice would be appreciated.

Thanks!
 
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Linda,

Are you sure the speakers are plugged into the sound card's audio in? This makes no sense, and could not work unless the jacks are mislabeled.

The sound card you describe most likely has a stereo minijack Line Out (for either headphones or to connect t external computer speakers or a stereo amplifier), another stereo minijack for a Line In (for connecting external line-level devices like a guitar amp direct out, a signal processor line out, a minidisk or cassette line out, etc.), and one more stereo minijack for a Mic In (for plugging in the cheap little mics that come with the computer or you can buy at K Mart for under $10).

If you want to get the stereo mix from the 4-track, you need a cable with a pair of RCA plugs (the kind of plug that a standard cassette or CD player uses to connect to the stereo amp/receiver) on one end, and a single stereo 1/8" miniplug on the other end (the kind of plug that Walkman-type headphones have). I'm assuming here that the stereo output of the 4-track is RCA, which is typical.

If you want to transfer the separate tracks from tracks 1-4 to separate tracks in a multitrack recording software application like Cakewalk, Cubase, n-Track, etc., you can effectively only transfer two at a time, since the sound card has only a stereo input. You could either send a pair of tracks panned hard left and hard right out the stero output of the 4-track, or if it has direct outs for each channel, connect a pair of those to the computer (if you have those they might be RCA or 1/4" jacks like guitar jacks, so you might need another adapter cable). Once in the software you can line up the tracks by moving one pair to the left or right until the timing is right. One trick to help with that is, a couple of seconds before the song starts on the 4-track tape, recoird a sharp, sudden click on all four channels at once. Then you will have a very distinctibve, easily visible peak in the waveform that you can use as a reference to line up the tracks.

Good luck, I hope that helps!

-AlChuck
 
Thanks, AlChuck. I thought I was crazy, too about the line in and out; I looked at the back of the computer and the wires about 10 times, and the pictoral hookup diagram of the computer. It doesn't make sense, does it? Suppose I make the assumption that these are mislabeled and connect the tape deck to what I think must be the input (which has the music symbol with the arrow pointing away from the jack), and connect what I think is the output to the speakers? Can I damage something?

Also, thanks for the info about recording directly from the multitrack -- this will really come in handy when we attempt to record directly from it.

Linda :)
 
Hey, guess what? I got impatient, I connected what says audio-in to the speakers and audio-out to the recorder, and it worked! The jacks on the back of the computer are indeed mismarked!

(Now I just have to fool with the volumes on the output of the portable stereo and the line-in ...first shot, it doesn't sound too bad.) Can I edit out some of the hiss? What should I use?

Thanks again!

Linda :)
 
The arow pointing away from the jack probably is the output -- pointing away indicating that's the direction the sound is going -- out from the jack... so it sounds like maybe you misinterpreted the little graphics? Gaaawd, I hate those things, why can't they just stamp the words "in" and "out" there? Oh well... one of the perils of globalizations... we're all trying to read heiroglyphics instead of words in our own languages...

Glad it worked! The secret to levels and such is in the Window Volume Control mixer apoplication. See a little yellow speaker in the lower left corner? Double-click it. It's a little wierdly laid out, so here's a link to a good write-up about it:

http://www.cakewalk.com/Support/Lessons/WindowsMixer.htm

-AlChuck

P.S. Where in Long Island are you? I grew up in Hicksville...
 
I know what you mean about the universal symbols...not always self explanatory. The back of my computer has a little picture of a music note and an arrow pointing away from the minijack. This (to my logical mind) would be the output. That is where I now have the tape recorder going. The music note with the arrow pointing toward the minijack is what I would think is the input. That is where I now have the speakers. I tell ya, I couldn"t believe my eyes!

Anyway, I fooled with the input level and it sounds pretty good. Spoke to my brother and I think he wants to bring the 4-track over one night.

Been getting together one night a week since February. Unfortunately, that's about all the time we've got between us. So far, we've written and recorded seven songs and we think four have potential. Don't really know where to go from here, but BOY! am I enjoying it.

So, you grew up in Hicksville? Grew up in Valley Stream myself, but now living in Brentwood (Suffolk County). I drive to Syosset to get to work every day (right next to Hickville). Where are you now?

Well, gotta go...thanks so much for your help. How do you know so much about this recording stuff anyway?

Linda :)
 
Yeah, from your more detailed descriptions of those little symbols, I'd conclude that somebody screwed up there at the Aureal factory!

My aunt and uncle used to live in Valley Stream for a while... I once got lost in their neighborhood when I wandered away unnoticed as a toddler.

My sister taught in the Brentwood school district for about 30 years...

I used to work in Syosset too... but from Hicksville it was a much shorter commute.

Hey! I just noticed from your profile that you're a technical publications manager! I've been a tech writer for most of the last decade; learned to program from using MS Word's VBA, and lately I've been doing web development and now I'm sort of a half-baked Perl and Java programmer...

Now I live in San Mateo, about 20 miles south of San Francisco. I moved out west about 23 years ago, lived in SF and also LA for a short time back in '80-81.

How do I know so much about this stuff? I don't really know that much, but it's been a hobby for years, and I went through the same transition you are going through about two years ago, trying to move from 4-track cassette to computer and encountering all the head-scratching confusion... back then, I didn't have this website to help, though...

Keep having fun with it! It's a great way to have fun, if nothing else...
 
It's a small world, eh? The company I work for is ADEMCO (major Mfr. of security systems (fie & burg). My department writes all the installation, programming, and user guides that go in the boxes. Been there about eight years. Actually, I was hired as a technical support specialist (helping installers troubleshoot over the phone). After about two years, they promoted me to manage the Tech Pubs group. I had some prior tech writing experience and have always had a knack for it, but had never managed people before! I was mortified, but took the job. The department has grown in the last six years from three to twelve people. A lot of transition though. We were bought by Honeywell last year and now Honeywell is being bought by GE. Had some layoffs, etc.

These are the things that try men's souls.

So, what about you? Work freelance or stuck in the 9:00-5:00 like me?

Oh, BTW, I downloaded the trial version of CoolEdit 2000. Ever work with it? I opened a .wav file and ran it through the filter. Then I went to save it, but all the save options were grayed out. When I went to the Help file, it said to save, select File\Save or Save As...as I would have expected to do. I don't get it...what am I doing wrong?

Well, gotta go back to watching the World Music Awards. Lots of good performances.

Stay well,
Linda :)
 
Ademco, eh?

My brother owns Reliable Security Systems in Long Beach.

It IS a small world!:D
 
Yes, I think I've heard of them. Funny, I lived in Long Beach once, too... :)
 
no software demo is going to let you save your work. so you aren't doing anything wrong....took me a while to figure this out...;)
 
I know a LindaC from LB

You don't have a brother named, "John" do you?
 
J-- Sorry, three brothers and none of them named John. I only lived in LB from about '79-'81.

Krakit-- Thanks, I heard some people raving about Cool Edit 2000 and that you can get it for free; the only thing that was free was the trial version...I understood the limitations to be that you could only pick two effects...nothing about not being able to save. What good is that?! I guess I'll have to purchase it, unless you (collective) know of something else that would be better for a novice(?).
 
LindaC,

I'm a nine-to-fiver too... actually more like an eight-to-fourer...

Re CoolEdit 2000, I bought it last year 'cause I wanted to be able to worrk with 24-bit files. I like it, but then this year I got to buy Sound Forge 5 (usually about $350) for only $99, and I've been using that mostly. I have no hesitation in recommending CoolEdit; at $70 or whatever, it's a terrific tool. Funny about not being able to save with the demo, you think they would tell you that up front... though that's not an unusual way to handle demo sw, crippling it in some important way...

World Music Awards... where is that? Don't think I even heard about it... (but I have the most very basic of cable services)...

-AlChuck
 
AlChuck -- The World Music Award show was on Channel 7 (held in Monaco). Some artists I 've never seen before performed from different countries (and some well known artists, too). It was pretty good.

I've heard of Sound Forge 5. Sounds like you got a good deal. That might be a little bit much (too many features) for me to start with... so, maybe I'll get the CoolEdit software and fool with that for awhile.

Well, take care-- I'll let you know how the progress goes...

Linda :)
 
if you just want to play around with recording on the pc, goldwave is shareware...i.e., you don't have to pay for it , unless you choose to...however, cool edit sounds like a fine program too, plus you can multitrack with it.
 
You can only multitrack with CoolEdit Pro or Pro LE, not CoolEdit 2000...
 
Yes, I know CoolEdit 2000 has its limitations... I am probably not ready for the Pro version and only have one stereo input in my sound card anyway. I tried to link to the Goldwave Web site the other day. I think there might have been a problem with the link or the Website that day, so I wasn't able to get it (of course, I couldn't wait).

So...here's what's happening. I now have the full version of CoolEdit 2000, as well as the Noise Reduction plug-in. I ran the music through standard hiss reduction, fooled with the EQ a bit, and the music sounds 100X better! Also, we had a song that didn't fade as early as it should have, so I figured out how to delete the end of it and fade from an earlier point. It worked great. I am a happy girl right now.

I haven't figured out how to use all the features yet, and yes, it would be better to control each track separately, but overall, it made what we have sound a whole lot better.

I'm sure I'll have more questions as I explore some of these other options...but so far, so good.

Thanks!
Linda :)
 
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