Hey guys, I am a bedroom DJ and I am looking to record some of my mixes, and I am a bit lost on how I can do so on my PC. My mixer has stereo RCA output and my laptop has no obvious sound card (I don't want to use my mic input). I have looked into USB sound cards, but I am still confused, and a little pressed for cash (I don't want to spend more than 40-50 for the sound card, if I need one). Can someone help? Thanks.
yeah if you're laptop does not have a line-in, then most likely the only audio input to your laptop is your microphone jack, which you don't want to use. unless you have access to another computer that would have a line-in port on it, you're stuck having to purchase a audio card. but good news is that most external USB audio cards have a little better recording quality than internal ones because they avoid interference from other components. you don't need a super high quality or high bitrate surround sound card, just a basic decent one to capture audio. they're not too expensive. tigerdirect has one here for $25: http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=4115644&CatId=4261 you can then use a free program such as audacity to record, edit, and export your mixes. http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=4115644&CatId=4261 export them to an uncompressed file (wave) then burn to an audio CD.
Just as a second opinion, why don't you want to use your mic jack? What djscoop stated is correct but I suspect the quality of they little jack far exceeds your expectations. I am not saying don't buy a better card what I am saying is TRY what you have just for grins. You might save your self a great deal of trouble. What you pay for is not Analog-> digital and digital -> Analog conversions. That technology was perfected in the 80s. Every one uses the same technology (chip) and it is dirt cheap. What you are paying for is the amplification of the output. Clean amplification has always been expensive. The more you can boost the signal the more you need to pay. Spending $100 more on a sound card can save you hundreds in the next stage on amplification. You do not amplify in comming signals. I bet you will not see a 1% improvement if you had the proper equipment and software to measure the difference. This is only a guess.
