Hard Light Productions Forums
Off-Topic Discussion => General Discussion => Topic started by: kasperl on March 12, 2005, 08:32:19 am
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I've got an acoustic bass guitar with a mic inside of it, outputting to a standard jack, which works pretty well with an amp. Unfortunately, I have no amp, and I want to be able to record from the thing anyway. Is there a cheap way of converting the signal from that mic to something a computer's line-in can take?
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You can get direct big to small plugs that'll plug into your microphone slot. My brother has one somewhere I use every so often.
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I've got the plug, but I'm not sure the signal is meant for something a computer can take. I'd hate to blow up a mobo by trying.....
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Worked for me. I was using an electric bass, but I very much doubt there'll be any difference.
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OK, I'll try it on some old computer first, just to be sure.....
Any other tips for a newbie bassist?
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try using Line In and if thats too quiet then try the Mic jack. The signal should not be too powerful to destroy a sound card.
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Shouldn't or can't?
I'm just really nervous about both the guitar's mic and the computers' mobo.
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As long as you are DI'ing the guitar you cannot hurt your computer. In fact, there is a higher risk (which is still minute) of placing one of those little vocals mics too close to a magnetic source and blowing a speaker with feedback.
You need to use Line-In if at all possible, Mic sockets tend to add amplification which can cause distortion. Remember to use your volume control to un-mute the input channels as well, that one caught me out any number of times ;)
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DI?
And yeah, the volume mute thing has borked many a multiplayer voice system over here, too.
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DI = Direct Input, either you are plugging the guitar directly into the computer input socket or Micing up an amp and plugging the Mic into the computers input.
The only thing I wouldn't recommend is conecting an Amp's Headphone socket to your computer's Mic-in socket, since that signal is being amplified, but even then, there is only a very slight risk to your audio equipment and none to your computer.
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I haven't got an amp, so I'll just run a wire. I'll report back when I get it to work.
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Well, that didn't work. I tried running a wire from my guitar to my computer's line in, and it doesn't record a thing. First I thought it was recording a bit, but it turned out that was the mic I've got buried between a couple of layers of books and stuff, accidentily selected. Once I've got the input selected for the guitar, nothing happens.
I'm going to try the mic port now....
EDIT:
Nope, nothing there either. :(
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Hmmmmmmmm.... Well, all I can suggest is that (a) you make sure the volume is up at full on both the guitar and the line-in port (guitar signals are actually pretty weak) and (b) you make sure you've got 'Line-in' selected as your recording source, though that'll depend on what program you are using etc.
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you can use a hi-fi as an amp too.
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I'm using the standard windows audio recorder and the standard windows soundpanel thingy. And yeah, all volumes are turned up to full.
EDIT: The wires are fine, I can run sound from one PC to another trough them, I can't test the jack-->minijack plug though.
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Originally posted by Roanoke
you can use a hi-fi as an amp too.
If I had one, yeah....
My current audio setup is having my laptop connect to a set of 2.1 speakers using a 5 meter standard audio cable, or, alternatively, plugging my MP3 discman into the same set of speakers. Aside from that, all I have is another old discman and the desktop computer I just tried this on.
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get a berhinger combo and use the DI plug, works awesome
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Has the bass got a preamp built-in, or is it a pure acoustic with a mic?
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You need to check the mic.
Most mic signals are very low - much too low in fact to work with line-level input.
Also the mic *may* need phantom power which is a dc supply and will be a number of different voltages depending on type (12, 24, or 48V)
There are line-level mics, but they are usually specific like the Apple one which only plugged into a specific active port that provided power.
If it's a bog standard 'passive' mic, then you'll almost certainly need a preamp of some kind - you can get small, cheapish, battery-powered ones from Radio Shack or similar places.
But you do really need to know where you are starting from....
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Yeah, it probably needs to be preamped.
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It's normally an acoustic bass, and it doesn't have a battery or anything in it. It worked perfectly on a normal electric guitar amp.
How much would an amp cost?
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It depends on the quality. I think you can get pocket amps for $50, but a good-quality guitar amp will range in the hundreds of dollars.
A preamp should be much cheaper though.
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You could probably make a basic pre-amp for very little money.
I know nothing of bass amps, but I've got a Marshall MG30, which is a great little guitar amp. Cost about £130 IIRC.
The best thing to do is probably to ask in your local music shop - they'll know what will be good for you. :)