my new workstation has a TV a s monitor connected with a HDMI-ARC cable; I connect a 3.5 from the headphone output of the TV to the MIC input of the PC and prepare it as per the attached figures, but the sound is really bad: instruments are missing, the voice is dominant, but why?
The mic input is “wrong”… A line-level or headphone level signal is about 100 stronger (or more) than a microphone signal. Plus, the mic input is also usually mono, and the mic preamp is usually poor quality (often noisy).
You can use the line input on a regular soundcard (normally blue) or if you have a laptop with only mic-in and headphone-out you can get a USB audio interface with line inputs. (The Behringer UCA202 is popular and inexpensive (it doesn’t have a recording level control) or there are lots of higher end audio interfaces with switchable “pro microphone” or line inputs. (They don’t work with “computer mics”.)
Great DVDdoug! I had intuited something and for some time, I would say even from the previous PC, but I had never understood what you are telling me and I have to thank you for this. Speaking pathically, however, I have to point out what outputs and inputs I am dealing with now. I attach a photo of the back of the TV. As for the new PC, I have to say that it is an HP Z2Mini G9. It has 3 free mini HDMI, a large USB input/output, three USB C (the small ones), 1 3.5 socket that works for both headphones and a microphone. I had the blue/light blue and green sockets on the old PC, now I don’t have them anymore. How should I make the connections in this context? I will immediately try to insert the line that comes from the headphones of the TV into the USB I/O (I have the adapter and we’ll see what happens. But in case I take a USB audio interface with line inputs, how do I connect it from the TV to the PC?
You’ll need the appropriate adapter/cables.
The Behringer UCA202 has RCA jacks so you’d need a cable like this to connect the TV’s headphone output.
Or if your TV has left & right RCA output jacks you can use a cable with RCA connectors on both ends.
This interface takes 1/4-inch plugs like this (like a the plugs on a guitar cable) with line-level signals or XLR microphone connectors.
I did, but after some difficulty in understanding how to listen and record I only got recordings of less than optimal quality (voice in the foreground, other instruments partially cut or completely non-existent)