Recording issues

I’ve got quite the issue that I’ve been trying to track down for weeks. Recently, I upgraded from an old PC to a newer one. One of the things to go was the dedicated PCI sound card (new computer’s mobo only had PCIe slots, side note: Do y’all recommend a dedicated sound card?). On that old PC, I successfully was able to record from line-in receiving input from both L and R channels. Fast forward to the new desktop: plugging the line-in in the mobo’s built in line-in port produced input from only one channel. I was thinking that maybe this was a cheap mobo issue, so I went out and bought a cheap USB ‘sound card’ that had a line-in on it. I go to plug the line-in and loo and behold I’m only getting input from the right channel, just like before. Great. Being the inexperienced audio guy I am, I decided to try out purchasing some 3.5mm stereo female to 3.5mm male mono adapters. With or without this little gadget that cost me under 5$ off ebay, I’m still only getting the right channel from both the on-board and USB line-in recording.

One thing that was weird about the original setup was that there was a mono, cable plugged into the black 5.1 port, and a green stereo cable plugged into the the green port (of course, the line in was plugged into the line in port). The on board audio isn’t 5.1, so I couldn’t mirror the previous setup but the USB one was 5.1, and even after plugging things in precisely how they were plugged in before, I only get the right channel. Is this a mobo issue? Bad coincidence? Incompetence?

plugging the line-in in the mobo’s built in line-in port produced input from only one channel.

Let’s pause right there. Where is the sound coming from? It’s unusual for a sound channel cross to give you Right. Do you have the 1/8" cable plugged all the way in?

Either this:

or this:

That error will fail to connect Left and put sound only on the Right. Plug the cable in firmly and twist it quarter turn.

Do you know how to get to the Windows Control Panel > Sound? Dig down there and see if the little sound meter works. Depending on your connections, can you lift one at a time or reverse them?

Koz

Do y’all recommend a dedicated sound card?).

It depends on what you’re doing. If you’re recording line-level signals, motherboard sound is often fine. If you’re not getting excessive noise the sound quality is probably adequate. Distortion and frequency response are usually better than human hearing with any soundcard/interface so noise is the only thing to worry about.

The line input is stereo (on a motherboard or soundcard). The mic input on most laptops is mono. I’m not sure about soundcards & motherboards.

The same goes for playback… If you’re not having noise problems the sound quality is probably fine.

If you are getting noise, an external USB audio interface is usually the best option. For line inputs the Behringer UCA202 is popular and inexpensive. If you are recording from stage/studio microphones there are lots of USB audio interfaces with XLR mic inputs. (Sometimes USB powered interfaces can pick-noise from the computer’s USB power so it’s usually “safer” to get an interface with it’s own power supply.)

so I went out and bought a cheap USB ‘sound card’ that had a line-in on it.

Most “USB soundcards” are like laptops with only mic-in and headphone-out, and sometimes they claim the input can work as a mic or line input.

…It doesn’t hurt to have an extra USB soundcard on-hand. I keep one around for “troubleshooting purposes”.

I go to plug the line-in and loo and behold I’m only getting input from the right channel, just like before.

Are you using the same cable? The same audio source? (If you have separate right & left RCA connections you can swap left & right to help track-down the problem.)

…If you try to record in stereo from a mono laptop mic-input, you normally get sound in the left channel.

I decided to try out purchasing some 3.5mm stereo female to 3.5mm male mono adapters.

Mono connections are unlikely to help and they could “cause trouble”. (It’s OK to short left & right inputs together, but you should never short outputs together.)

One thing that was weird about the original setup was that there was a mono, cable plugged into the black 5.1 port

That’s the subwoofer output. It’s probably a 3-conductor (TRS) jack but a mono (TS) plug might work.

Ok, I just figured this out. Thank you everybody for helping. The problem was…dumb. I only noticed it by chance. While I was unplugging the line-in (cable management, not related to troubleshooting the issue, although it was on my mind), and I kid you not, out of the corner of my eye I saw the both channels giving input. I did a double take and fiddled with the connector and … voila: both channels. It seems I was pressing the jack in too far, and in hindsight it did feel a bit weird, not as tactile plugging in a 3.5mm jack should be, but nothing too out of the ordinary. No need for the 5.1 USB Sound Card, no need to hook up those extra inputs from before. Thanks again for the quick response!