No line/mic In on laptop, so can't record in Audacity

[Veerstryngh Thynner]

Hello all,

Normally, I'm using Audacity on my desktop for music production. But sometimes I have to resort to Audacity (2.05, from the Software Manager) on my KDE Mint laptop. The problem is that it doesn't have Line/Mic In.

I tried to work around this with a 3D USB to Audio Model PD552 Line In adapter (see below)

Selection_052.png (56.01 KiB) Viewed 894 times

that ought to operate through one of three USB ports on board. Only it doesn't.

The system recognizes the adapter. But Audacity not, so I suppose some settings should be changed. I have no idea where to start though, so some advice would be welcome.

Thanks very much in advance.

tnob

[Gale Andrews]

Normally, I'm using Audacity on my desktop for music production. But sometimes I have to resort to Audacity (2.05, from the Software Manager) on my KDE Mint laptop. The problem is that it doesn't have Line/Mic In.

I tried to work around this with a 3D USB to Audio Model PD552 Line In adapter (see below)
that ought to operate through one of three USB ports on board. Only it doesn't.

What exactly are you trying to record? That PD552 is a microphone input, not a line-in input. It's only suitable for low level signals from a computer microphone, not for strong line-level input.

The system recognizes the adapter. But Audacity not, so I suppose some settings should be changed. I have no idea where to start though, so some advice would be welcome.

Audacity does not automatically recognise external inputs plugged in after Audacity was launched.

Try restarting Audacity or using Transport > Rescan Audio Devices.


Gale

[Veerstryngh Thynner]

Hi Gale,

Thank you for replying.

Gale wrote:

What exactly are you trying to record? That PD552 is a microphone input, not a line-in input. It's only suitable for low level signals from a computer microphone, not for strong line-level input.

On my Lenovo desktop, digitalizing my audio cassette archive (four-track as well as plain stereo) has been going well. A RCA-to-minijack audio cable between cassette player and desktop preamp - and Bob's your uncle! Without a hitch. But with a couple of hundred more tapes awaiting similar 'treatment', I thought of my laptop as a way of ramping up capacity. That, however, hasn't washed as smoothly yet, obviously...

Gale wrote:

Try restarting Audacity or using Transport > Rescan Audio Devices.

Attempted that several times. Transport >Rescan Audio Devices, that is. Nothing at all happening.

Anything else I might try...? Or some alternative for this PD552, perhaps?

tnob

[Gale Andrews]

As I said, the PD552 is a microphone input. So it is not suitable for recording cassette tapes, even if it worked.

You can try these alternatives http://wiki.audacityteam.org/wiki/Recom ... Interfaces.

The UCA 202 usually works on Linux.


Gale