Re: Using Headphones to hear 'Line in' sound

Michael Chare wrote:

> I have connected the line in, speaker and headphone sockets on my PC
> to external devices. I can use the 'Sound Recorder' applet to record
> the line in to a wma file which I can then play and listen to with
> the headphones. - So sound is coming into the PC and can come out!
>
>
> What I would like to be able to do is to use the headphones to
> listen to the line in.
>
>
> Following the 'Help' instructions if I open 'Sound' in the Contrl
> Panel Click the Playback tab, click headphones (or Speakers), click
> Properties and then Click the Levels tab.
>
> I just get one volume control adjustment tool. I don't get a volume
> control for each of the possible inputs, such as line in and
> microphone as shown in the Help.
>
> How do I add the volume controls for for each of the inputs?
> Presumably if there was a control I could turn it up and then I would
> be able to hear the line in with the headphones.

What you are looking to do is called monitoring. The standard onboard
sound included with laptops and PCs cannot do that.

Options that will give you some monitoring capabilities:

Add a mixer. Plug all your inputs to the mixer and send the output to
the PC for recording. The mixer will allow for monitoring of any
individual or combination of inputs.

Basic inexpensive mixers would be the Behringer 502 or 802
<http://www.zzounds.com/item--BEHXENTX502>
<http://www.zzounds.com/item--BEHXENTX802>

Or get an audio interface that allows for monitoring of inputs.
Fancier audio interfaces also allow for flexible routing of signals to
give you more flexibility in recording or playback.

A basic one would be the Behringer UCA202
<http://www.zzounds.com/item--BEHUCA202>
<http://www.behringer.com/UCA202/index.cfm?lang=eng>
It will allow for monitoring the input on the headphone.
Be aware that it comes with no software and relies on the basic USB
sound drivers included with the OS (Vista has the necessary support
built in).

Fancier audio interfaces would be the ones listed at Zzounds
<http://www.zzounds.com/cat--Audio-Interfaces--2418>

Vista support is hit and miss at the moment. The manufacturers are
working on Vista support. Some already have released Vista drivers
others have beta drivers. Visit the manufacturer web pages to find out
the status of available drivers.

Recording quality and playback quality from the fancier audio
interfaces is much better than what you get from the onboard audio
included on a laptop or PC. They get in to "audiophile" quality
territory.

"FrobozzCo" <A white house> wrote in message
news:...
> Michael Chare wrote:
>
>>
>> What I would like to be able to do is to use the headphones to
>> listen to the line in.
>
> What you are looking to do is called monitoring. The standard onboard
> sound included with laptops and PCs cannot do that.
>

Thanks for you help
You would think they could as there are tow sockets!

>
> Recording quality and playback quality from the fancier audio
> interfaces is much better than what you get from the onboard audio
> included on a laptop or PC. They get in to "audiophile" quality
> territory.


My Asus P5B-V mobo use a Soundmax AD1988 High Definition Audio Codec.
There are many outputs but I don't know how good it is in comparison to what
else there is.

> Vista support is hit and miss at the moment. The manufacturers are
> working on Vista support. Some already have released Vista drivers
> others have beta drivers. Visit the manufacturer web pages to find out
> the status of available drivers.

That maybe my problem. Vista is not shown on the Soundmax web site!


--
Michael Chare

Michael Chare wrote:

> "FrobozzCo" <A white house> wrote in message
> news:...
> > Michael Chare wrote:
> >
> > >
> > > What I would like to be able to do is to use the headphones to
> > > listen to the line in.
> >
> > What you are looking to do is called monitoring. The standard
> > onboard sound included with laptops and PCs cannot do that.
> >
>
> Thanks for you help
> You would think they could as there are tow sockets!

Just having two sockets doesn't mean one can be used for monitoring the
other. It's a limitation of the hardware circuit design. It can't be
fixed in software. Audio monitoring of the input is not something that
is important for most people so it's not surprising that it isn't part
of the HD Audio spec.


> >
> > Recording quality and playback quality from the fancier audio
> > interfaces is much better than what you get from the onboard audio
> > included on a laptop or PC. They get in to "audiophile" quality
> > territory.
>
>
> My Asus P5B-V mobo use a Soundmax AD1988 High Definition Audio Codec.
> There are many outputs but I don't know how good it is in comparison
> to what else there is.

The digital outputs are going to be fine in comparison. The HD Audio
spec does better in that regard and supports more sample rates.

The analog input and outputs will be of lower sound quality compared
the the analog outputs on higher quality gear. Whether you can hear or
even care about those differences is another matter.

> > Vista support is hit and miss at the moment. The manufacturers are
> > working on Vista support. Some already have released Vista drivers
> > others have beta drivers. Visit the manufacturer web pages to find
> > out the status of available drivers.
>
> That maybe my problem. Vista is not shown on the Soundmax web site!

The Soundmax drivers are all integrated in Vista. It's already well
supported by the OS.

The onboard HD Audio is just fine for basic audio, 5.1 surround sound,
digital output to a home theater receiver, basic microphone setup for
VOIP or audio chat (online games and such).

If you want to do more than that then you'll need to look at other
options. Being fussy about recording is one area where you'll need to
look at other options. Doing a high quality podcast recording is an
area where you'll need to look at other options. High quality
recording of vinyl records is also something that will benefit from
better recording equipment. Being able to plug in a high quality
microphone is also something where you'll need either an external mixer
or a suitable home studio style sound interface.

What is it that you are wanting to record and monitor?

"FrobozzCo" wrote:

> Michael Chare wrote:
>
> > I have connected the line in, speaker and headphone sockets on my PC
> > to external devices. I can use the 'Sound Recorder' applet to record
> > the line in to a wma file which I can then play and listen to with
> > the headphones. - So sound is coming into the PC and can come out!
> >
> >
> > What I would like to be able to do is to use the headphones to
> > listen to the line in.
> >
> >
> > Following the 'Help' instructions if I open 'Sound' in the Contrl
> > Panel Click the Playback tab, click headphones (or Speakers), click
> > Properties and then Click the Levels tab.
> >
> > I just get one volume control adjustment tool. I don't get a volume
> > control for each of the possible inputs, such as line in and
> > microphone as shown in the Help.
> >
> > How do I add the volume controls for for each of the inputs?
> > Presumably if there was a control I could turn it up and then I would
> > be able to hear the line in with the headphones.
>
> What you are looking to do is called monitoring. The standard onboard
> sound included with laptops and PCs cannot do that.
>

This is in no way true. In XP it was quite easy to monitor the line in. As
soon as I installed vista i was no longer able to do this. Its an OS issue
not a hardware issue. Besides it's a computer, that is capable of inputing
audio in realtime and is capable of outputing audio in realtime. there is no
reason why the computer can't output the input.

i have a computer and an xbox 360. The two devices share my LCD monitor and
speakers. this works fine normally since the monitor has twon inputs and the
speaker system has multiple inputs, the problem arises when i want to use
head phones at night to play on my xbox. the speaker system does not have a
headphone jack, so i have to use the headphone jack on my computer. in order
to do this i have the analog audio of the xbox connected to the line in of
the computer.

with XP i was able to hear the audio through the speakers (when the speaker
system was set to the computers output) and when i plugged in the headphones.
when i installed Vista on the same machine i was no longer able to do this
and am only able to hear the xbox when the speaker system is set to xbox
output, leaving me without the ability to use headphones.