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Thread: Dedicated ADC vs Laptop mic in

  1. #1

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    Default Dedicated ADC vs Laptop mic in

    Doing my first recording over the weekend, I was surprised how low I had to set my mixer to get clean audio into the laptop.

    Initially I balanced the music and mic so that the level indicator on the mixer output was was peaking at the zero db level but not clipping, which the manual suggested was the correct level for the output.

    But piping this into the laptop and recording in Audacity, it was constantly clipping and I ended up having to drop the output level to almost nothing to get a clean recording level in Audacity.

    Reading elsewhere, mic inputs on laptops and the ADC chips behind them are apparently less than fantastic for audio. Could this be what is giving the input limited headroom?

    I had in mind to get an outboard ADC at some point anyway, probably the Behringer UCA202, is this likely to make quite a difference to my recordings?
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  2. #2

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    Yes the laptop input is going to be inferior to a converter. I would recommend you look at focusrite stuff. I have the Focusrite Saffire Pro 40, it is a firewire interface with 8 channels, 2 of which are designed for instrument direct inputs.


    For your recording setup I would suggest a small USB interface. Maybe one of the Focusrite Scarlett series. such as the Scarlett 2i2. Or the Tascam US-800 which is on sale from $250 to $99

    You just need a converter that is usb or firewire. And while firewire is technically better, the only difference it makes is how many channels you can input at the same time with out any struggle.
    -Steven

  3. #3

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    Quote Originally Posted by Zeta View Post
    Yes the laptop input is going to be inferior to a converter. I would recommend you look at focusrite stuff. I have the Focusrite Saffire Pro 40, it is a firewire interface with 8 channels, 2 of which are designed for instrument direct inputs.
    I own the same interface and have zero complaints - I record on my iMac and it was simple as pie to set up and get rolling. Tons of headroom with the preamps, zero latency - just a nice setup all around.

    This thread is interesting because it comes right on the heels of my nephew having issues trying to do almost the same thing to record his guitar. He was borrowing on of my small mixers and tried to go into the mic input and record with Audacity, but his problem was an undue amount of latency.
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  4. #4

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    Hmm, the Behringer can be had for about £20 (circa $30), I doubt my budget can stretch to three or more times that any time soon. Is that going to be good enough to make any difference from the mic in?

    With regards latency, it was pretty bad on the laptop, but as I did all the mixing and monitoring on the mixer it didn't get in the way.
    You know the very powerful and the very stupid have one thing in common:
    they don't alter their views to fit the facts, they alter the facts to fit their views,
    which can be uncomfortable if you happen to be one of the facts that needs altering.

  5. #5

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    Quote Originally Posted by TPO View Post
    Hmm, the Behringer can be had for about £20 (circa $30), I doubt my budget can stretch to three or more times that any time soon. Is that going to be good enough to make any difference from the mic in?

    With regards latency, it was pretty bad on the laptop, but as I did all the mixing and monitoring on the mixer it didn't get in the way.
    My vote is always spend more than behringer lol. If you want it right away then that will be 100x better than the direct in. but tascam, m audio, focusrite, mackie, ect will all be 100x the behringer.
    -Steven

  6. #6

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    Default Re: Dedicated ADC vs Laptop mic in

    Use your line-in not your mic in.

  7. #7

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    Quote Originally Posted by Northern Redneck View Post
    Use your line-in not your mic in.
    Laptop doesn't have one unfortunately.
    You know the very powerful and the very stupid have one thing in common:
    they don't alter their views to fit the facts, they alter the facts to fit their views,
    which can be uncomfortable if you happen to be one of the facts that needs altering.

  8. #8

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    Quote Originally Posted by TPO View Post
    Laptop doesn't have one unfortunately.
    That sux. Ive used audacity and a mixing board into my line in and gotten some great results.

  9. #9

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    Quote Originally Posted by Northern Redneck View Post
    That sux. Ive used audacity and a mixing board into my line in and gotten some great results.
    If I used a docking station it presents one, that's what I have at the office but it's wired into the desk. The docking station is significantly more expensive than a USB ADC though!

    I've just managed to get a £20 Paypal voucher and there's an auction ending soon, so I beleive there may be a Behringer in my immediate future! £20 is cheap enough that I won't be upset if I have to replace it with a better one in the future. But to be honest I was pretty pleased with the quality I already got with just the mic in (see the Gimmie all your lovin thread in the video forum), so will probably be fairly content with the Behringer. I don't need pro quality, just the best I can do on a reasonable budget.
    You know the very powerful and the very stupid have one thing in common:
    they don't alter their views to fit the facts, they alter the facts to fit their views,
    which can be uncomfortable if you happen to be one of the facts that needs altering.

  10. #10

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    Behringer 202 was delivered today, which I'll play with this weekend. My 1002FX mixer has both main out and aux out, which would be a more appropriate connection or does it not make difference?
    You know the very powerful and the very stupid have one thing in common:
    they don't alter their views to fit the facts, they alter the facts to fit their views,
    which can be uncomfortable if you happen to be one of the facts that needs altering.

  11. #11

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    Default Re: Dedicated ADC vs Laptop mic in

    Quote Originally Posted by TPO View Post
    Behringer 202 was delivered today, which I'll play with this weekend. My 1002FX mixer has both main out and aux out, which would be a more appropriate connection or does it not make difference?
    do the main out. I dont know how much of a difference it would make. but seeing as auxiliary means secondary it would typically go to your monitoring speakers.
    -Steven

  12. #12

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    Default Re: Dedicated ADC vs Laptop mic in

    Quick update on this. When I first used the UCA202 I was really disappointed with the results. It presented as a microphone in Windows (64bit W7) and when taken into Audacity had the same problems I had with the onboard mic connection that the output level from the mixer had to be really low to avoid clipping. In fact it was worse than the onboard and you could hear the drop in quality in the recording, I was quite gutted in fact as it looked like I'd totally wasted my money.

    However, despite the box claiming that the drivers are built into Windows and will install automatically, there is a driver update on the Behringer website. It's an odd one as it binds to a particular USB socket, so you can only ever plug the 202 in there, and you can't then plug any other audio device into that USB socket (!?). But, once it was installed the 202 presented as a line in instead of microphone and immediately worked way, way better for recording than before. I can now output proper levels from the mixer without clipping and the general quality is much improved.

    For an amateur recorder like me this is an excellent solution and was relatively inexpensive second hand. Definitely a good investment.

    In terms of which output to use, I actually contacted Behringer and asked which they would recommend. They said that any of the three outputs (Main, control room and aux) could be fed into the 202, but they recommended the Aux connection. But I got the impression it didn't really make any difference and that was just 'the way its usually done'.

    Need to record some more stuff now!
    You know the very powerful and the very stupid have one thing in common:
    they don't alter their views to fit the facts, they alter the facts to fit their views,
    which can be uncomfortable if you happen to be one of the facts that needs altering.

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