laptop line in ?

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dave_frey336

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Hi. I have a pc that I record on now that is pretty powerful and it works great. The question i have is : How can I record on a laptop ( I'm going to have a front end mixer before the computer) I've noticed that while most of them have a line out and a mic in but no line in. Are there laptops out there with a line in so I can make the audio better with a mixer, etc. ? Is the mic in a line level in? Can I use that? And will it give me hi-fidelity like a studio? Or are there laptops with line in? Thank you. -Dave
 
You're probably better off getting an audio interface. Plug your mixer into that. Or better yet, plug your mics directly into the audio interface and skip the mixer altogether. I'm guessing you're using the Line In on your PC, but that is not ideal.

No, the Mic In is not a good option. It is not line level and is meant more for computer mics.

without really knowing what your exact situation is, no one can give specific advice. we can only give what works for common set ups.
 
Onboard soundcards on all laptops and desktops are NOT made for music production.
The have 40cents worth of chips, poor drivers and are made for beeps, boops and light gaming.

As the others have said, get a asio usb audio interface.
 
" I have a pc that I record on now that is pretty powerful and it works great."

So Dave, how are you getting signals into that? The 1/8" line in I suspect and via a mixer? (which you do need in that circumstance).

But as has been said, you need an AI and the good thing about that is it can be used with both laptop and mainframe machine.

But as Jay said...More info!

Dave.
 
Without reading past the name of the thread......


.......NO.
 
On the rare occasions where to get out of trouble I have recorded with the computer standard card, when I plug into the input jack a window opens and asks me what I have plugged in, mic, line, etc, and I select which one. However on your computer you may have to open the sound card options window and select what you have plugged in?

Alan.
 
Hello all,

For the OP, unless you have a MacBook Pro which line-in/out transmits SPDIF and you are planning to use an optical/digital converter, then you can use the line in.
Otherwise as everyone else has suggested you should start looking for an audio Interface, either USB, Firewire, whatever fits your budget and your computer specifications.

Best regards,
GN
 
Line-in on a laptop will never work for quality audio. If all you're interested in doing is finding a way to get audio into a computer, then fine. If, however, you care about the quality of your music, your only option with a laptop is an external audio interface. This has been discussed in other threads. In short: laptop line-in is limited to stereo inputs only, and has neither the bit-depth, sampling rate or dynamic range of a stand-alone interface. Few new PC laptops have Firewire/1394 ports anymore (a shame, really), but there are excellent and inexpensive USB-based interfaces. If you're looking to do more than just post rough mixes done on-the-fly to Facebook, you should get an external interface to go with the new laptop. There are also a number of threads that talk about laptop specs for recording -- I'd recommend that you read them as well.
 
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