Re: Old laptop as audio "analyzer"
- From: donald@xxxxxxxxxxxxx (Don Pearce)
- Date: Mon, 30 Jan 2006 15:27:07 GMT
On 30 Jan 2006 07:15:17 -0800, electronic_dave@xxxxxxxxxxx wrote:
>Hi all. I'm pretty good with electronics and audio, but I'm somewhere
>between novice and intermediate when it comes to PCs, so please be
>gentle. I did try to find the answer to my question on the web, but
>most of the data out there seems to be compiled for the benefit of
>users who are more interested in euphonic sound for games and movies.
>
>At my job, there's an ancient Dell Inspiron 7000 PPI laptop sitting
>around. I would like to use this (along with the very cool and free
>"Rightmark Audio Analyzer" software) as a sort of poor man's Audio
>Precision, if you will, since the bean counters here will not consent
>to buy me a proper analyzer. Right now, I get by with an old-school
>setup of manually-nulled THD meter, H-P sine oscillators and AC
>millivoltmeters, calibrated attenuators and "gain sets" etc. This is
>fine--albeit tedious--for bench work, but field testing is incredibly
>inconvenient.
>
>Problem is, according to a loopback test with Rightmark, the internal
>sound on this laptop is absolute garbage. And I'm sure all the settings
>are correct (e.g., ONLY wave output is turned on for playback, and ONLY
>line input for record, etc.). But I notice that there is what appears
>to be a USB port on the rear of the laptop. I didn't even know that USB
>was available when this thing was made (circa late '90s). I'm thinking
>that some sort of external USB interface could be the way to go.
>
>So if you're still with me, my question is: can you recommend a
>low-cost (preferably under a couple hundred US dollars) USB audio
>interface that will work with this ancient laptop? I just need a stereo
>line out, stereo line in, good frequency response and reasonably low
>distortion. (Residuals under 0.1% would be acceptable for most of what
>I do). Unbalanced and "IHF" signal levels are OK. The laptop is running
>Windows 2000, SP2.
>
>Thanks in advance for your advice.
>
>--Dave
Probably better to get a PCMCIA sound card - you will find something
very nice for $200. Just Google. The Echo Indigo gives you 24/96 and
comes in right on the mark.
http://www.sonicstate.com/news/shownews.cfm?newsid=1143
d
Pearce Consulting
http://www.pearce.uk.com
.
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