My video card on my laptop decided that it didn’t need the fan on anymore. Bad decision, computer. Well, now my computer is in a box being sent back to HP for a free repair. Thank goodness for warrantys. Also, I must say that although I had to wait 20 minutes on hold for an actual person, the man I spoke with answered all of my questions and helped me out a lot. Thanks HP Technical Support!
There are many ways to record this to and from your computer. There are also limits on every computer. Some setups are better than others. Taking all of these statements for their true value, let’s analyze what most computers have. Most computers come stock with an audio card with a stereo (2 track) output. You probably refer to this jack as the headphone jack. Most computers also come with a microphone jack. Almost all microphone jacks record just one (mono) channel. If you are a serious recorder, this will not get the job done.
So how do you get around this problem? My solution was to record from my USB port. Some new audio boards have USB cords that you can plug directly into your computer, but these boards can be expensive and may take up too much room. Also, if you already have a board, you don’t want to shell out the money if you don’t need to. My USB to RCA cord came from CyberGuys. It works fine with Apple Mac, PC, and Ubuntu (all tested by myself). Technical details are on their site. Also, using the USB port to record audio gives you an added bonus; no noise! If you have a quiet audio source and you amplify the heck out of it, you may notice that some noise comes in to the recording. For a professional sounding recording, use USB, trust me.
I already had an audio board before I wanted to record onto my computer, since I was in a band in high school. It is an MG102C made by Yamaha. All you really need is RCA in an out for the bare minimum. If you want to record from a microphone, I recommend using XLR. It’s the best and what the pro’s use. My board has more than enough inputs on it, which means that what I use is too expensive for what I need, but at the time of it’s purchase, every port was in use. Also make sure if you are recording from microphone that you have Phantom Power. Some microphones need this to work.
Putting all of these components together requires two (2) RCA cables (male to male). Hook up both cables to the USB adapter. Hook up the other ends of the RCA cables to your audio mixer-board.
If you have more questions or you have troubles getting the USB to RCA adapter to work (because there are some troubles doing so) let me know via email at lange.j.r{at}gmail.com
