[narlus]

ok -

my old tried and true IBM thinkpad died, and i've had to press into service another laptop for those lp -> wav -> mp3 conversions. the toshiba's crappy soundcard appeared as though it wouldn't even support recording, so i tried the HP instead.

...just a word on setup:

2 RCA (tape output from preamp) -> 1/8" coax, which i plug into the mic symbol of the laptop. i use cooledit pro 2 as a capture program, and record to redbook standards (44.1 kHz, 16 bit stereo).

the problem is that the sound (even in wav) is crap. here's a sample mp3 (compressed using LAME to VBR apx):


http://www.sendspace.com/file/52v4vu

sounds horribly compressed and tinny; even the wav sounds like that.


could it be that my laptop's got a horribly dodgy soundcard? what next, look for an external soundcard? any ideas? :cry:

here's a screengrab of the spectral view of the wav file...you can see that everything over 8KHz is cut off. weird.

 

[binary visions]

Well, first off, double click on the speaker icon on the taskbar. Go to Options, then Properties. Select Recording. Check off all the options there. Make sure the volume for the appropriate one is turned up.

Seems odd even for a lousy sound card. What sound card are you using?

I've got an external USB card (a very nice one - M-Audio Transit) that isn't in use at the moment if we can't get this sorted. Could lend it to you for a while.

 

[Quo Fan]

Sounds like the input is being overdriven, causing your loss above 8k.

 

[Kornphlake]

Try pluggin the 1/8" jack into the line in port rather than the mic in, the mic input is a lot more sensitive than the line in, or bypass your preamp and get a RCA to 1/8" mini plug patch cord and connect the turntable directly to the mic input on your sound card. Phono levels and mic levels are pretty close to the same, levels for any other device are a lot higher so they don't require as much amplification, like Quo Fan suggests it sounds like you are overdriving the input and clipping the signal.

 

[narlus]

where's the line-in?

and i think i found a setting on my soundcard software which *may* solve it, though i've not tested it yet.

 

[Kornphlake]

I don't know where the line in is, on my desk top it's one of the jacks that isn't a line out, isn't a for the mic and isn't for speakers, a laptop might not have a line in jack.

 

[narlus]

Well, first off, double click on the speaker icon on the taskbar. Go to Options, then Properties. Select Recording. Check off all the options there. Make sure the volume for the appropriate one is turned up.

Seems odd even for a lousy sound card. What sound card are you using?

I've got an external USB card (a very nice one - M-Audio Transit) that isn't in use at the moment if we can't get this sorted. Could lend it to you for a while.

thanks for the suggestion of checking the settings of the soundcard...there was some sort of 'voice recognition' box checked off, which must key for frequencies under 8K. i changed that and voila, instant goodness. well, about as good as my onboard soundcard can manage...i might look into an external one at some point, esp as then i can use line in and modify the settings...right now, i need to go the mic slider each to normalize the recording level...the IBM must have a line-in i was using, as the volume knob on the pre-amp would do this.