Line-In Recording Tips

Connecting audio devices to your computer

You need the proper cables to connect an external audio device to your sound card's jacks. Most sound cards use 1/8" stereo jacks. Many audio devices, such as tape decks and stereo amplifiers have two RCA type phono plugs, one for each channel. In this case, get a converter from an electronics store like Radio Shack, which will convert the two phono plugs into one 1/8" stereo plug. If your device has a line out or headphone 1/8" jack, buy a cable with an 1/8" stereo plug at both ends and connect one end to the device, the other end to the line or aux jack on your sound card.

Microphones should always be connected to the Mic jack on the sound card. The mic sound level is much lower than line level so the input at the microphone jack is amplified relative to the line jack. For this reason, you should never connect line level devices to the microphone jack. If your microphone has a 1/4" plug, you can buy a converter to reduce it to a 1/8" plug. Be aware that many sound card drivers have a "Microphone boost" feature that amplifies the level from the microphone jack. Try turning this on if you can't get adequate recording volume, or turn it off if you are getting excessive distortion in your recordings. You can control the boost feature in the Windows volume control panel - there's usually an Advanced button for the microphone, which gets you to this feature.

If you are recording LP's, it is not recommended to run the output from a turntable directly into the sound card. The level is too low, but more importantly LP's were recorded with a special equalization that needs to be corrected with a pre-amp with a complementary equalization curve. Simply run the turntable cables into the phono input of a stereo amplifier and then run a cable from the Tape-out jacks on the amp to your sound card.

You need to select the recording source that corresponds to the jack that you plugged into on the sound card. This is done in the Tools > Advanced Tools > Record Sound > Options > Recorder Settings. If you are plugged into a jack labeled "Line" or "Aux", choose the Line-in source. If the jack is labeled "Mic", choose the microphone source. Sometimes an input jack on the sound card is fed to the CD recording source so try that if the others don't work.

Volume setting

One of the most important determinants of final sound quality is the volume setting while recording is taking place. Too high and there will be unpleasant distortion in the sound, too low and background noise will overwhelm the signal. First, you set the output volume on your external audio device. Usually you can just set this to a comfortable listening volume. Then you set the recording input volume in Media Center. For most situations you can simply use the "Auto" volume setting button under Tools > Advanced Tools > Record Sound > Options > Recorder. It will instruct you to start playing a relatively loud section of the material you are recording before pressing the Start Test button. After 30 to 60 seconds of testing the input signal, the best volume will be automatically selected. If the output level from your external audio device is too low or high, it will instruct you to raise or lower the volume and rerun the test.

Track Splitting

This feature automatically splits songs into separate music files rather than record the entire cassette or LP as one file. It is selected or deselected in Tools > Advanced Tools > Record Sound > Options > Recorder Settings. When enabled, this feature detects quiet sections in the music while recording. When it finds one of a certain minimum length, it considers the current track completed and waits for the beginning of the next track. With most rock/pop music, you can leave the defaults as they are and the track splitting will work just fine. However if the material you are recording has very short silences between tracks or if the tracks have silent sections within them (such as on some classical and jazz recordings), you may need to take special measures to ensure that track splitting works correctly. These are some factors that determine how well this feature will work:

• Option setting: Recording volume level. Use the automatic volume setting feature to ensure you have optimum recording volume. If it is set too high, the program may never detect silent spaces between tracks. If set too low, the program may confuse quiet sections in the music with inter-track gaps. You may also need to adjust the volume on your external audio device.
• Option setting: Minimum gap between tracks. Usually, a value between 2000 and 3000 works best here (2200 is default). Try increasing this if the program is creating too many tracks. Decrease this value if the program is creating too few tracks.
• Option setting: Maximum gap level. Usually a value between 5 and 10 percent works best here (7% is default). If your source material has a lot of background noise, you should increase this value. If your source material is very quiet (such as a CD or DAT), you should decrease this value (try 2%).
• Entering Track Durations Manually. With certain source material, especially classical, it may be impossible to get the tracks to automatically split where you want them. This is because there are quiet sections within the music that are misinterpreted as spaces between tracks. In this case, use the Track Names button in the recorder window to enter the names and durations of the tracks to be recorded. When this is done, Media Center will not end a track until at least the duration of time you entered has been recorded for a track.

Example

You have a cassette tape you want to record. Here are the steps to take:

1. Load the tape into a portable tape player and listen on headphones while adjusting the volume to a comfortable listening level. Then search for one of the louder sections of the music. Leave the tape positioned at the beginning of this section.
2. Connect a cable from the headphone jack on the tape player to the "line" or "aux" jack on the sound card.
3. Go to Tools > Advanced Tools > Record Sound
4. Click the Options button, and select Recorder Settings in the tree. Make sure "Line-In" is selected as the recording source and that the track splitting option is selected. Click the Auto volume setting button, start the tape playing and click the Start Test button. When the test is complete, stop the tape and rewind to the beginning. Advance it slightly to get past any "clicks" or "pops" at the very beginning of the tape. Click "OK" on the Options menu to get back to the main recording screen.
5. Type in an artist name and album name. This is optional.
6. If you think it will be simpler to type in the individual track names now rather than rename the default names later, click on the Tracks button and then use the Add button multiple times to enter all track names on this side of the tape.
7. Now you're back at the main recorder screen. Start the tape playing and click the Start button to start the recorder. Look at the level meters in the upper right to verify that there is a signal being recorded.
8. For best results, avoid doing a lot of other processing on your computer while it is recording. When the source material ends, the recorder will automatically stop.
9. Go to Recently Imported to find your recording.