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Sending signal from a laptop to an amp
YosemiteSam
Registered User regular
Registered User regular
I've made some recordings in Audacity by plugging a cable from my electric bass into an adapter that converts the stereo output on the cable into a smaller headphone output (a 3.5 mm output I think). I plug the adapter into the microphone input on the computer. By turning up the preamp in the computer and the volume knob on my bass, I get a distortion that I really like. I'd like to send the live, distorted signal as output to my bass amp. If I were to get another 3.5 mm to stereo adapter, plug it into my headphone output, and run a cable to the bass amp, would that work?
If it would, my only problem is that with my sound card, I don't know how to make my computer play the signal coming from the microphone input live. On my last computer, I had Realtek AC'97 and I knew how to go into one of the menus to turn on the microphone and adjust the volume level. On this computer I have SigmaTel High Definition Audio and I can't figure it out. Thanks.
If it would, my only problem is that with my sound card, I don't know how to make my computer play the signal coming from the microphone input live. On my last computer, I had Realtek AC'97 and I knew how to go into one of the menus to turn on the microphone and adjust the volume level. On this computer I have SigmaTel High Definition Audio and I can't figure it out. Thanks.
YosemiteSam on
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There are mixers you can use that will do distortion, wa-wa peddles, probably software (after plugging your guitar into a Direct Input box)... Though whether any of those things will give you exactly the same distortion, I don't know.
distortion from overloading the input is bad, be cause you are directly overloading a piece of hardware in your computer. then possibly more distortion from the speakers. seeing as these are internal components not designed for this, you are potentially blowing alot of money that can be better spent on a distortion pedal. a pedal will get the sound you want at an input level that will not physically damage your computer.
also, you might want to find a di box, or something similar. theres the guitarport from line6 for ~100 which just plugs into a usb port and lets you tweak the sound in software. or there is an alesis mixer with a 2 channel usb out that will plug right in, no problem. this way you can controll the amount of input, and since it is not directly pushing into a mic input you have very little to fear.
also, check out proco rat pedals. they have a hideous solid state clip that probably sounds similar to what you have.
First, you're probably not *hurting* anything by running your bass directly to your microphone input. There's probably some clipping due to the impedance mismatch (which is where your distortion is coming from), which is then being amplified by the sound card's "loudness" function. If clipping was enough to blow your sound card, anyone who dropped or yelled into a PC microphone would be replacing their Soundblasters.
Second, if you're looking for that Debbie Googe sound, a Russian-model Big Muff Pi (around $70 new, less used. It's the black one with yellow lettering) will get you in the ballpark pretty quickly. Dial down a lot of the highs on your amp a *lot*, push the sustain up on the Big Muff, and keep the tone on the Big Muff relatively low. That got me pretty damn close to that throbbing "Feed Me With Your Kiss" bass tone.
An alternate method would be to use two (or more) cheap distortion boxes in sequence, but that's alchemy at best; depending on the pedals, settings, order in your signal chain, and how they tickle your amp, you could end up with anything from puny, garbage-can sounding distortion to demonic, spooky fuzz to feedback squalls and white noise.
"Oh that's fine, Alan Moulder uses that technique all the fuckin' time."
Alan Moulder was one of MBV's engineers of choice.
So there you go.
Though, I'm not incredibly knowledgeable in this area, so I could just be paranoid.
It's not that I'm going specifically for a Debbie Googe sound as much as I'm interested in really really high distortion. I'm happy that right now I can get that for free on my computer, and I'm just wondering if I can get the output to my amp with just a cable and an adapter.
Regarding the specific sound I want, however, I'd kind of like the crunchier distortion on Loveless (like on "Sometimes"). But if I can get the sound I have now to an amp by just buying a cable and an adapter, versus getting the exact sound I want with a pedal I have to buy, I'll go with the sound I have now.
So I guess I'm back to my original question.
A mic input, as is standard in studios the world 'round? Those kind that are on mixing boards? Or a computer mic-input on a $10 built-in soundcard?
I sincerely doubt that any serious audio engineer uses a shitty soundcard's mic-input as an audio effect.
As for the OP, you need to install some sort of full-duplex, low latency driver for your soundcard. The ASIO4ALL driver should work, and you would just need to then patch the input to the output. One thing you should note is that the sound will have a slight delay from the time you play it to the time it comes out of your amp, due to the digital-to-analog conversion (DAC) on your soundcard. The latency settings you set will determine how much of a delay there is, times two (since it's going in and then coming out again). On a cheap soundcard, this will likely be in the 100-200ms range, so you will notice it.
What you could also do is just record what you play, and then play it back out through the amp. But I imagine you want to do all of this so you can actually play something and hear it. There's no way you'll be able to avoid the latency introduced from the DAC, so even though the option is free, it's not very "playable."
The OP is happy with the effect he's getting, so why does that matter? The uncertainty in this thread was whether or not a microphone input (regardless of what it is attached to) can take an instrument-level signal, and the answer is that it's fine, and not an unheard of technique.
EDIT: Also, running a headphone (amplified) signal to a guitar or bass amp is a questionable idea. It should theoretically work, but keep the output volume as low as humanly possible.
You also need to keep in mind that an amplifier isn't like a PA, insomuch as it will gleefully color your tone. The effect isn't going to sound the same through your amp as it does on your PC.
It matters in that you're telling him "Engineers do it all the time" when it's not the case. While I agree with the idea that if he likes the sound he's getting, great, more power to him, the fundamental electronics in question are quite different. A mic input on a mixing board is attached to, well, the mixer. It's made to handle overloading and so on. A computer's mic-in is a different beast, and while I do doubt that he would actually damage his computer, he could blow his cheapy soundcard's mic-in.
But, as you point out, he may end up liking that sound even more. If it makes him happy, so be it. But what he's doing is not "done by [engineer] all the fuckin' time."
Agreed -- if anything, he should really just pipe it out to his computer speakers as-is, since that's the sound he's hearing and liking. Sending it out to the amp may get more volume or low-end, but it will definitely make it sound different from what he's hearing currently. And with a slight delay at that.
How?
Regarding amplification, it seems like just using speakers would be an easier option. Then the problem becomes the fact that I don't know how to listen to my line-in input on my speakers, without making a recording and playing it back. Like I said in the OP, I remember on my old computer I could find the volume level for the microphone, un-mute it, and adjust it where I wanted and it would be fine. On this computer, though, I can't find the volume level for the microphone. Does anyone else have SigmaTel and know how to do this, or is anyone good with sound cards in general? It was the default with my Dell laptop with Vista.
I mean, once on my old computer I accidentally deleted the software for the soundcard, so I went to the website and just downloaded AC'97 again and it worked. So I was kind of wondering if I could do that for this computer. But I bet I have to use the software that comes with the computer, right? I guess I should contact SigmaTel.
guitar amps..... guitar amps are built to color sounds. plus, you will be feeding a full range signal into it. which may be fine for the head (probably sound bassy or muddy) but not so much for the speakers. you run the risk of serious speaker excursion and mechanical break down.
and again, what you are doing is probably fine. and "engineers do it all the fucking time" is probably right too. but they have the cash to replace things if it isn;t fine. esp if you have integrated audio. do you really want to run the risk of blowing up a small piece of your motherboard? plus musical equipment is made to handle this stuff, and handle it for years. cheap audio inputs are made to be thrown out after a year or two.
watch the musicians friend stupid deal of the day. on the 24th it will be this thing:
http://img3.musiciansfriend.com/dbase/graphics/landingpage/stupid_deals/070924_yes.jpg
which should be fairly cheap and do exactly what you want. once you have a clean signal in, you can add distortion all day long.