Re: Adding external sound card to laptop

There is another factor that you might not be taking into account.

The output from a microphone or cassette tape deck is "flat" ... each frequency appears at the "correct" level.

However, when a phonograph recording is made, the recoding on the vinyl is NOT "flat" ... it goes through a process called RIAA pre-emphasis in which the recording is intentionally "distorted" before recording on the vinyl, and then when the record is played back, the playback device (normally the phono pre-amp, or the phono inputs of a modern stereo receiver) introduce an exactly opposite distortion so that the overall results of the recording "distortion" and the playback "distortion" are a "flat" overall response.

But if you feed a phono cartridge into a straight, flat amplifier (for example, the microphone inputs of anything), it's going to sound like crap, because the recording "pre-emphasis" will not have been undone by the playback "de-emphasis".

You may be treating a turntable as a flat, albeit low-level audio source. It is not; it is a custom device that MUST be processed through an amplifier or preamplifier that, in the process, properly applies playback "de-emphasis" to the signal. The PHONO inputs of phono pre-amps and "receivers" does this, but other inputs do not, and, in particular, NO inputs of ANY computer sound card do this. You need to drive a sound card from the output of a pre-amp or receiver that has a proper phono input, you cannot just connect a turntable to a sound card's low-level input and record it. It will sound like crap.


bastXXXette@xxxxxxxxx wrote:
Barry Watzman <WatzmanNOSPAM@xxxxxxxxxx> wrote:

> The quality of playback undoubtedly has more to do with the speakers > than with the sound card.

> However, per your indication that you wanted to record, the internal > sound card probably has a poor signal-to-noise ratio, and also no line > input jacks. For both of those reasons, an external sound card is not > inappropriate. Alternatively, since the purpose of the recording is to > convert vinyl to digital audio, you might want to look into a USB > turntable. Woot.com has had some of the ion models very inexpensively > recently ($59.95).

This is the software I'm using: http://www.mp3mymp3.com

I can play a vinyl album (or cassette tape) and the software records
whatever one can hear through the computer's speakers.

Unfortunately, what I hear on my laptop sounds like crap. It's not
hissing, as someone else mentioned - the music is just very lacking in
depth. It's kind of like listening to a transistor radio or something.
Everything works, but why bother?

I set up the same thing on a desktop PC having a much better internal
sound card (Intel Integrated Audio), and the mp3s produced by mp3mymp3
software were very good quality. I wasn't recording a vinyl album, I
was testing one of the mp3s I brought with me on a thumb
drive. So I was just making a duplicate of the mp3 I'd brought along.
The copy sounded as good as the original. If I do this on my laptop,
the copy sounds bad. (Also, the nice desktop doesn't belong to me so
I can't use it very regularly.)

When I went searching for affordable external sound cards, many people
reviewing the different models made the comment that on-board sound chips/
cards that come with laptops are generally poor quality as far as really
good sound reproduction is concerned. I can't argue, since that is also my
experience, and now I know it's not just because I have a low-end laptop.

I'm not looking for professional quality, as I'm not making CDs of a live
performance, or DJ mixes, etc. I just want a good listening *and recording*
experience.

Thanks,
J.
.

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