Hello, I hope someone here can help me with this more technical problem.

I usually used to load prerecorded music from my E-Piano into my old Pc via audio-in slot, so that I could get the absolute original sound of the instrument recorded in the Audacity software. However, my old Pc is broken now, which means my only option is to record anything with my laptop instead. The laptop is superior to the old Pc in almost any regard, and was rightfully praised as a multimedia notebook, but the problem is, it doesn't have an audio-in slot anymore. I can still connect to the piano by inserting the audio cable into the microphone opening instead, but doing so reduces the quality by alot, in both, playback and recording.

So I wonder - what options do I have? Is there a way to maybe simulate an audio-in slot with some USB adapter? Or is there software that allows to record over a USB connection instead?(unlikely since this is more instrument dependent, but who knows?)
Can I polish the product to sound a little better atleast, or can the microphone slot be programmed to work like audio-in? (wouldn't use it otherwise anyway)

Anything that can help in such a situation. I really don't want to throw away money, but if nothing helps, I will be pressed to buy a very cheap tower pc for just the sake of recording alone.:\

Get an external USB soundcard with an audio-in slot, I am pretty sure there are those meant for recording (Just dun wanna name any)

Hmmm, thanks, I will research that matter.

hello there

does your microphone input have things like echo and noise cancelation in the settings of your sound device, if so turn them off and it should solve the problem (i think) and it should sound like a normal line input.

cheers

Hey, no, that was not the problem. The real issue is that the sound comes out being somewhat dull and dampened. This is overstated, but it feels like I have to assemble the whole recording in a flat range of 24 dB or something. ..It looses all the high and low.
However, I think I know by now which kind of device I need to fix this, so I can say this question is solved.

ah ok

i hope you get it working.

cheers

Hello, I hope someone here can help me with this more technical problem.

I usually used to load prerecorded music from my E-Piano into my old Pc via audio-in slot, so that I could get the absolute original sound of the instrument recorded in the Audacity software. However, my old Pc is broken now, which means my only option is to record anything with my laptop instead. The laptop is superior to the old Pc in almost any regard, and was rightfully praised as a multimedia notebook, but the problem is, it doesn't have an audio-in slot anymore. I can still connect to the piano by inserting the audio cable into the microphone opening instead, but doing so reduces the quality by alot, in both, playback and recording.

So I wonder - what options do I have? Is there a way to maybe simulate an audio-in slot with some USB adapter? Or is there software that allows to record over a USB connection instead?(unlikely since this is more instrument dependent, but who knows?)
Can I polish the product to sound a little better atleast, or can the microphone slot be programmed to work like audio-in? (wouldn't use it otherwise anyway)

Anything that can help in such a situation. I really don't want to throw away money, but if nothing helps, I will be pressed to buy a very cheap tower pc for just the sake of recording alone.:\


Line-ins ports and Mic ports are like apples and oranges. The Line-in is fed audio without any amplification, which means the volume you obtain from it is at the reference's volume level from it's DAC. Now the microphone port is just the opposite, it is amped, which means the audio will be either louder or quieter than the source, depending on how to set the ADC's mic value at. It's really hard to find the reference value on a microphone port, as it allows for overamplifcation (such as a +20dB boost), which results in that lovely hissing noise when you hit a note though the maximum level.

The stock audio cards in Laptops, multimedia grade or not, generally suck. Additionally, the only other integrated route is to use a Xcard slot and purchase a second party sound card. This works for most, but if you're looking to be a bit more professional, I'd recommend a dedicated ADC for your recordings. A good mid-grade ADC goes for around 100-150 USD, which is only double you'd pay for an Xcard for your laptop and a third more than a card for your computer. I'd recommend getting the EMU 0404 (http://www.amazon.com/Creative-Labs-70EM876106000-E-MU-0404/dp/B000IXNE3E/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1372535310&sr=8-1&keywords=EMU+0404) and grow from there. This guy has multiple inputs and outputs that are likely not found on your PC that you could use at a later date, has a monitor loopback, and converts it all into a USB audio source and back again. Just note that you may have some additional work to do (http://social.technet.microsoft.com/Forums/windows/en-US/c5dd92ce-7d90-460a-8d89-ba6b6c464460/windows-7-and-emu-0404-pci-soundcard) with it if you're running Windows 7. I think they've sorted out all of the kinks with the latest driver, but it's a good read to go though none-the-less.

Thank you alot for these concentrated competent informations. After reading what is the cause of the fuzzieness in the mic slot, I kind of have to wonder why they still build them. ..Is there some secret advantage that the line-in does not provide?
Anyways, for the converter, I already got a tip from someone to buy this device (http://www.amazon.com/Focusrite-2i2-USB-Recording-Interface/dp/B005OZE9SA/), and I was going to check that in a music store this week. It is just the same as your suggestion, but I will have a look at anything of that kind anyway before buying.(guess I will bring my laptop to eliminate any chance of mistakes)