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quick noob question!

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Submitted by anonymous on

i'm trying to record guitars on my laptop. I'm using Audacity. using a mic with a 1/4 jack converted to stereo 1/8th and directly plugged into my recording jack on the computer. problem is.. when i go to record it only picks up one side of the stereo track. i'm not sure what the problem is here so if anyone can help i'd greatly appreciate it.

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natural

One of your many possible problems could be the 1/8" jack.

Usually these stereo jacks are looking for a stereo input.

Make sure it's a true mono to stereo conversion. In which case the mono gtr would be sent to both tip and ring of the 1/8" plug. This would then get recorded to 2 tracks (or a stereo track)

If you've plugged in a mono 1/4" plug into a jack looking for stereo, you would be shorting the ring (left side) to ground and you'll lose half of your signal.

Tue, 12/16/2008 - 05:24 Permalink
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RemyRAD

Its always operator error. They're probably listening to 2 channels of mono and think it's stereo now. And yeah, microphone inputs on 1/8" jacks are generally TRS so that the ring carries some DC to power multimedia headstone microphones. So not stereo but 3 connections.



In this is precisely why you should purchase an inexpensive USB 1.1 audio device at your local music store. For around $100 you get something that is entry-level semi-professional. You need more than just a toy. You need a specialized interface for specialized production purposes. It's not an option. It's an adventure.



Lots of options but no cash

Ms. Remy Ann David

Wed, 12/17/2008 - 16:26 Permalink