I am recording audio from my iPhone to my computer using the line in on my computer and the headphone jack on the phone. I use audacity to capture the sound. My question is would it be better to go through my receiver first and then to the computer using the receivers line out? I always get distortion in my recordings even though I don't let the record meter get higher than about -6db. Is it better to have the iPhone volume all the way up and the recording levels down or recording levels high and the phone volume low? Does it matter either way?
I don't think it will help. The mic and cell phone processer are probably 'phone quality' which is very low quality, a third the quality of AM radio which is very low-fidelity. You don't notice the quality because the phone speaker is matched in quality. It is when you upgrade the listening device, that you can hear how bad it really is. That said, record in the mid range. Do not preamp the signal. I would try boosting the volume with audacity. It just upps the volume setting without changing the audio. This is much cleaner than boosting the amplification of the input till it is that loud. There are some fine points to digital audio.
