Re: Recording Level

"MIG" <> wrote in message
news:d418821d-a40e-49ea-bbee-...


> The laptop has only earphone and
> microphone sockets, so I plug it into the microphone socket and it
> records successfully, but horribly distorted, like the recording level
> it much too high.

As you now realise, the signal from your input is overloading the microphone
input circuitry in your laptop. Even if you reduce the microphone gain, it
will still almost certainly be distorted because the clipping is probably
coming from the input stage of the electronics.

You could buy a posh sound card, but a far simpler solution would be to use
a couple of resistors (or a potentiometer) to reduce the signal level to
something appropriate for the mic input.

It will be a trivial job, but as I don't know the input impedance or
sensitivity of a typical mic input, or the actual level of the cassette
output, I can't calculate the resistor values. But somebody will be able to
help you - perhaps a local electronics hobbyist, or a computer technician.

If you can't find one, buy a 1K pot and try that. Connect the input signal
to the two outer terminals. Connect the laptop mic input to the centre
terminal and whichever terminal has the cassette player's "earth" wire.

On the laptop, make sure there is no "boost" set on the microphone input.
Set the level slider to about half way, and then turn the knob on the
potentiometer one way or the other. In your recording software, you'll see
the incoming signal level rising and falling as you turn the knob (although
it may all happen near one end of the travel), and should be able to find a
position that just gives just the right signal level for the recording
software (peaking at about -3dB).

Important: remember a laptop mic input is almost certainly mono-only. It's
a bit of a bodge, but if your recording is in stereo, you can connect the
wires from the left and right channels together before soldering them to the
pot. It usually works fine.

SteveT