Preamplifier to Laptop Hard-drive

[jackowens]

Dear Friends,

 

I would like to record some vinyl (LP's) from a preamplifier directly to the hard-drive of my Hewlett-Packard laptop, but the only input jack I have is for a microphone.

 

My options would seem to be to:

 

1. Plug into that microphone jack,

 

2. Plug some sort of line-in adaptor into that microphone jack and then plug into that line-in adaptor, or

 

3. Plug in a sound-card that has a line-in jack into a USB port or a card slot on the laptop and then plug the preamp into it.

 

Any ideas?

 

Regards to all from,

 

Jack Owens

[sknis]

Dear Friends,

 

I would like to record some vinyl (LP's) from a preamplifier directly to the hard-drive of my Hewlett-Packard laptop, but the only input jack I have is for a microphone.

 

My options would seem to be to:

 

1. Plug into that microphone jack,

 

2. Plug some sort of line-in adaptor into that microphone jack and then plug into that line-in adaptor, or

 

3. Plug in a sound-card that has a line-in jack into a USB port or a card slot on the laptop and then plug the preamp into it.

 

Any ideas?

 

Regards to all from,

 

Jack Owens

 

Option 1) should work but start with the lowest volume output on the deck/preamp. Increase one or the other until you get the right setting. If you start too high, you could blow the audio chip. Is the mic jack a stereo mic jack - look at your owners manual? Many are mono.

 

It looks like you already have Creator 2010 Pro, perhaps all you need is this.

 

What hardware were you thinking about in 2) and 3) options (examples) ? Post a link.

 

If mp3 capture is good enough, Roxio has just come out with this product.

 

There are some USB turntables but people have had mixed results with them.

[d_deweywright]

If you do go in through your mic input, verify that you're getting a stereo recording. (Headphones are best for that.) Many mic inputs are mono, and so it may not be a satisfactory solution for you.

 

Various USB capture options are available, if you go out to buy one, look for one that has a volume control knob on it, since without it, you usually can't adjust the recording level to either bring it up to a good level, or reduce the input to avoid clipping.

 

Good luck!