Stereo INPUT on laptop?

I know the only input I have is a mono microphone jack. And all the searching I've done for stereo audio "input" does
not seem to grab the concept of input in the search and I find lots of USB audio dongles that have stereo outputs and
one mono jack input. As I see it they would be used if my current audio hardware broke and USB still functioned.

Does anyone know of a way to get stereo input on a laptop or does a laptop actually have stereo in circuitry if I got
the data in?

Using a Dell Inspiron N5110.

On 6/28/2015 9:02 AM, Big_Al wrote:
I know the only input I have is a mono microphone jack. And all the
searching I've done for stereo audio "input" does not seem to grab the
concept of input in the search and I find lots of USB audio dongles that
have stereo outputs and one mono jack input. As I see it they would be
used if my current audio hardware broke and USB still functioned.

Does anyone know of a way to get stereo input on a laptop or does a
laptop actually have stereo in circuitry if I got the data in?

Using a Dell Inspiron N5110.

Have you checked the specification of your computer?

The stereo plug and mono plug on a cursory view cane look the same.
However there are actually two parts to the Stereo plug so it can carry
the stereo signal.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phone_...or_%28audio%29

On Sun, 28 Jun 2015 09:02:44 -0400, Big_Al wrote:
I know the only input I have is a mono microphone jack.


Are you certain it's monophone? Both my present computer and my
previous one have single audio input jacks, but they are stereo. You
use a y-cable if the source has separate right and left channels.

--
Stan Brown, Oak Road Systems, Tompkins County, New York, USA
http://OakRoadSystems.com
Shikata ga nai...

Stormin' Norman wrote on 6/28/2015 9:16 AM:
On Sun, 28 Jun 2015 09:02:44 -0400, Big_Al wrote:

I know the only input I have is a mono microphone jack. And all the searching I've done for stereo audio "input" does
not seem to grab the concept of input in the search and I find lots of USB audio dongles that have stereo outputs and
one mono jack input. As I see it they would be used if my current audio hardware broke and USB still functioned.

Does anyone know of a way to get stereo input on a laptop or does a laptop actually have stereo in circuitry if I got
the data in?

Using a Dell Inspiron N5110.

Something like this?

http://www.amazon.com/M-Audio-M-Trac...ywords=m-track

A bit overkill but it might solve the issue. I look into some more on reviews of it. Thanks.

Keith Nuttle wrote on 6/28/2015 9:14 AM:
On 6/28/2015 9:02 AM, Big_Al wrote:
I know the only input I have is a mono microphone jack. And all the
searching I've done for stereo audio "input" does not seem to grab the
concept of input in the search and I find lots of USB audio dongles that
have stereo outputs and one mono jack input. As I see it they would be
used if my current audio hardware broke and USB still functioned.

Does anyone know of a way to get stereo input on a laptop or does a
laptop actually have stereo in circuitry if I got the data in?

Using a Dell Inspiron N5110.

Have you checked the specification of your computer?

The stereo plug and mono plug on a cursory view cane look the same. However there are actually two parts to the Stereo
plug so it can carry the stereo signal.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phone_...or_%28audio%29
Nowhere in the manuals does it specifically call the microphone mono or stereo. It just refers to it as microphone
input. Reading between the lines it's singular form of mic. and input.
Same with device manager.

In article , says...

I know the only input I have is a mono microphone jack. And all the searching I've done for stereo audio "input" does
not seem to grab the concept of input in the search and I find lots of USB audio dongles that have stereo outputs and
one mono jack input. As I see it they would be used if my current audio hardware broke and USB still functioned.

Does anyone know of a way to get stereo input on a laptop or does a laptop actually have stereo in circuitry if I got
the data in?

Using a Dell Inspiron N5110.

Most pc and laptop setups I've seen (in fact perhaps ALL) besides having
a mic input also have both a Line-Out (what drives you speakers) and a
Line-In connection. These can be treated the same as an Input/Output
stereo pair same as on the back of a stereo amplifier.

You want to record stereo using mics you'll need a mixer to
combine/create the stereo sound from the two mics. Feed the mixer thru
to the line-in on the pc as it's a stereo input.

I have a pc here is connected via composite tv-out to an analog tv and
the stereo out of the pc goes into a stereo input on the amp. That same
"Aux" channel on the amp is also wired with it's output going back to
the pc's line-in. From the stereos perspective the pc is just another
tape deck. From the pcs perspective it has speakers attached to line-out
and a tape deck (or similar) attached to it's line-in. That's in order
to record something can't rip instead, e.g. digitize cassettes, vinyl,
reel-to-reel tapes etc.

I've a number of analog mics. I've found the sound recorded depends to
some extent on the quality of the sound card in the system. I also have
a USB mic and I've found the recorded sound stays the same regardless of
the sound card used.

I think of it as - for USB the pc just gets a number and that's the same
for every pc. For analog the sound card does the digitiizing (creates
the number) and it's likely even the same model card doesn't create the
exact same number as it digitizes the input.

"Big_Al" wrote in message
...
I know the only input I have is a mono microphone jack. And all the
searching I've done for stereo audio "input" does not seem to grab the
concept of input in the search and I find lots of USB audio dongles that
have stereo outputs and one mono jack input. As I see it they would be
used if my current audio hardware broke and USB still functioned.

Does anyone know of a way to get stereo input on a laptop or does a laptop
actually have stereo in circuitry if I got the data in?

Laptops a few years ago (eg Windows XP and Windows Vista vintage) used to
have *three* sockets: mic in, line in and line out. Nowadays it seems that
few laptops have line in - goodness knows why because it means you cannot
record from a cassette deck, LP turntable, VCR, radio etc.

It is not just a case of plugging a line-level (several hundred mV) signal
into the mic input (a few mV: maybe 100x less than line level) and turning
the laptop's mic volume input right down, because in my experience the input
stage gets grossly overloaded and then you adjust the level of that
overloaded signal :-(

So if you want to input a line-level signal you need an external sound
adaptor that plugs into USB - and you need one that has a line-in socket.
Fortunately I bought one a few years ago when I thought that the sound card
in the laptop I had at the time had failed (though it later came back to
life spontaneously and worked right up until the laptop died due to
CPU/motherboard failure). Now this "surplus" adaptor has proved very useful
because my present Win 7 laptop has no line-in socket.

On 6/28/2015 11:02 AM, pjp wrote:
In article , says...

I know the only input I have is a mono microphone jack. And all the searching I've done for stereo audio "input" does
not seem to grab the concept of input in the search and I find lots of USB audio dongles that have stereo outputs and
one mono jack input. As I see it they would be used if my current audio hardware broke and USB still functioned.

Does anyone know of a way to get stereo input on a laptop or does a laptop actually have stereo in circuitry if I got
the data in?

Using a Dell Inspiron N5110.

Most pc and laptop setups I've seen (in fact perhaps ALL) besides having
a mic input also have both a Line-Out (what drives you speakers) and a
Line-In connection. These can be treated the same as an Input/Output
stereo pair same as on the back of a stereo amplifier.

You want to record stereo using mics you'll need a mixer to
combine/create the stereo sound from the two mics. Feed the mixer thru
to the line-in on the pc as it's a stereo input.

I have a pc here is connected via composite tv-out to an analog tv and
the stereo out of the pc goes into a stereo input on the amp. That same
"Aux" channel on the amp is also wired with it's output going back to
the pc's line-in. From the stereos perspective the pc is just another
tape deck. From the pcs perspective it has speakers attached to line-out
and a tape deck (or similar) attached to it's line-in. That's in order
to record something can't rip instead, e.g. digitize cassettes, vinyl,
reel-to-reel tapes etc.

I've a number of analog mics. I've found the sound recorded depends to
some extent on the quality of the sound card in the system. I also have
a USB mic and I've found the recorded sound stays the same regardless of
the sound card used.

I think of it as - for USB the pc just gets a number and that's the same
for every pc. For analog the sound card does the digitiizing (creates
the number) and it's likely even the same model card doesn't create the
exact same number as it digitizes the input.

Has the OP contacted Dell and ask them the question he asked here.

I have not had a Dell but computer but all of the ones I have had have
had the eight inch stereo input on the computer.

Big_Al wrote:
I know the only input I have is a mono microphone jack. And all the
searching I've done for stereo audio "input" does not seem to grab the
concept of input in the search and I find lots of USB audio dongles that
have stereo outputs and one mono jack input. As I see it they would be
used if my current audio hardware broke and USB still functioned.

Does anyone know of a way to get stereo input on a laptop or does a
laptop actually have stereo in circuitry if I got the data in?

Using a Dell Inspiron N5110.

IDT 92HD87B1

There's a good chance this is HDAudio.

HDAudio, one of the features, is jack retasking.
This means the Headphone and Microphone jacks on
the laptop, can be swapped for one another. If a
microphone is plugged into the Headphone jack, a
dialog box is supposed to pop up asking for
verification you're using a microphone. And then
you can record from it.

This means then, by induction, that stereo is
needed for both, so they can have identical feature
sets.

You can use Audacity, a male 1/8" to male 1/8" audio
cable (one of my favorite audio debugging cables),
then simply set Audacity to record, touching each
of the metal contacts with your finger to insert
some "hum" into the channel. In no time at all,
you'll have confirmation of stereo. (Tip=Left
Ring=Right, Sleeve=ground)

Paul

On 6/28/2015 9:02 AM, Big_Al wrote:
I know the only input I have is a mono microphone jack. And all the
searching I've done for stereo audio "input" does not seem to grab the
concept of input in the search and I find lots of USB audio dongles that
have stereo outputs and one mono jack input. As I see it they would be
used if my current audio hardware broke and USB still functioned.

Does anyone know of a way to get stereo input on a laptop or does a
laptop actually have stereo in circuitry if I got the data in?

Using a Dell Inspiron N5110.

If you find that your mic input is not stereo, and you don't need the
complexity of the M-Audio device that was suggested by Keith, there are
a slew of simple units available, like:

http://www.amazon.com/Syba-SD-CM-UAU...udio+interface

--
Best regards,

Neil

Stormin' Norman wrote on 6/28/2015 10:29 AM:
On Sun, 28 Jun 2015 10:19:24 -0400, Big_Al wrote:

Stormin' Norman wrote on 6/28/2015 9:16 AM:
On Sun, 28 Jun 2015 09:02:44 -0400, Big_Al wrote:

I know the only input I have is a mono microphone jack. And all the searching I've done for stereo audio "input" does
not seem to grab the concept of input in the search and I find lots of USB audio dongles that have stereo outputs and
one mono jack input. As I see it they would be used if my current audio hardware broke and USB still functioned.

Does anyone know of a way to get stereo input on a laptop or does a laptop actually have stereo in circuitry if I got
the data in?

Using a Dell Inspiron N5110.

Something like this?

http://www.amazon.com/M-Audio-M-Trac...ywords=m-track

A bit overkill but it might solve the issue. I look into some more on reviews of it. Thanks.

I will be curious to read the final solution to your requirement, especially if
you are able to find something less expensive or complex.

Please post back when you have satisfied your need.

Found this:
http://www.amazon.com/3-5Mm-Audio-Ca.../dp/B00NV29FNW
Seems to cover all the bases. Not sure about signal level issues but I want to capture some cassette tapes so the
record output of the deck should work.

In article ,
says...

"Big_Al" wrote in message
...
I know the only input I have is a mono microphone jack. And all the
searching I've done for stereo audio "input" does not seem to grab the
concept of input in the search and I find lots of USB audio dongles that
have stereo outputs and one mono jack input. As I see it they would be
used if my current audio hardware broke and USB still functioned.

Does anyone know of a way to get stereo input on a laptop or does a laptop
actually have stereo in circuitry if I got the data in?

Laptops a few years ago (eg Windows XP and Windows Vista vintage) used to
have *three* sockets: mic in, line in and line out. Nowadays it seems that
few laptops have line in - goodness knows why because it means you cannot
record from a cassette deck, LP turntable, VCR, radio etc.

It is not just a case of plugging a line-level (several hundred mV) signal
into the mic input (a few mV: maybe 100x less than line level) and turning
the laptop's mic volume input right down, because in my experience the input
stage gets grossly overloaded and then you adjust the level of that
overloaded signal :-(

So if you want to input a line-level signal you need an external sound
adaptor that plugs into USB - and you need one that has a line-in socket.
Fortunately I bought one a few years ago when I thought that the sound card
in the laptop I had at the time had failed (though it later came back to
life spontaneously and worked right up until the laptop died due to
CPU/motherboard failure). Now this "surplus" adaptor has proved very useful
because my present Win 7 laptop has no line-in socket.

The lack of laptops including the line-in input doesn't really faze me.
If it's offsite then it's live and the usb mic works very well else it's
at home and I've yet to see a desktop without a line-in connection. The
sound card because it's doing the actual digitization is the poorest
link. That said years ago I did all my vinyl and people have since heard
a cd made from those rips and couldn't notice the difference until the
odd little "pop" was noticed and that was only after actually listening
for it. Vinyl is pristine condition btw, covers not so much have cats

You are right, the mic uses a different voltage level than line-in. You
can't just plug a mic into the back of a stereo (Aux as an example) and
expect it to work well, it won't. What is nice is at least line-in's on
a pc are equivalent to line-in's on a stereo so they can be directly
connected. What I've also noticed is stereos now seem to come without a
"turntable" input. Without that special "phono pre-amp" circuit you need
a turntable has a built-in pre-amp for it to work (or a preamp inline
between turntable and stereo). That kind of setup also can be directly
connected to a pc's line-in, same as a cassette or cd/dvd player as
voltage is more or less the same (it varies even among same type of
gear, e.g. cassette deck).

Big_Al wrote:
I know the only input I have is a mono microphone jack. And all the
searching I've done for stereo audio "input" does not seem to grab
the concept of input in the search and I find lots of USB audio
dongles that have stereo outputs and one mono jack input. As I see
it they would be used if my current audio hardware broke and USB
still functioned.
Does anyone know of a way to get stereo input on a laptop or does a
laptop actually have stereo in circuitry if I got the data in?

What exactly do you want to do?

If you get stereo data in (in the form of a file), you'll get stereo when
you play it. Of course, the file has to have been recorded in stereo.

Just for jollys, I tried recording (using Windows Sound Recorder) on my Acer
laptop. There is no choice of bit rate or file type when saving, everything
gets saved as 96 bit wma. Seems too high for mono, chintzy for stereo..

In message , Keith Nuttle
writes:
[]
Have you checked the specification of your computer?

The stereo plug and mono plug on a cursory view cane look the same.
However there are actually two parts to the Stereo plug so it can carry
the stereo signal.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phone_...or_%28audio%29

The mic. input often uses the same type of _connector_ - three
connection, tip ring sleeve - as a stereo plug; however, the circuitry
inside the PC often uses the third terminal to supply the bias voltage
that "electret"/"condenser" microphone elements require.

There is a standard colour code (the plastic ring around the connector):
green is stereo out, which will drive some headphones (the 35 or more
ohm ones), or external amplified speakers. (On _very_ old sound cards,
it might even drive non-amplified speakers, but we're talking original
soundblaster era, possibly predating the colour code.) Pink is mono
microphone input. Light blue is stereo line in.

I haven't seen a _laptop_ with line in for a while. It's usually there
on a desktop. The cheapest form of USB external "soundcard" - of which
there are many - also have only stereo line out (green) and mono mic. in
(pink). You _can_ get ones that _do_ have line in: the more expensive
ones have a breakout box that might even have phono sockets, possibly
even two mic. sockets and/or a phono preamplifier (for use with a naked
turntable cartridge). You don't have to go for very expensive though;
I've seen ones with stereo line in for about 7 pounds, as well as around
20, 45, and even more. (You could also look at the video capture
devices: those usually have dual audio input channels. I don't know how
well the software they come with handles audio-only use though. They
also can be very cheap; I've seen them for under a fiver, for which I'd
expect grotty, but if used for audio alone - if they can be - they might
be perfectly OK!)

However, on many laptops, if you create a recording using the mic.
input, it will produce a file that appears to be stereo: it's only when
you listen to it (or ideally, play it on something with an X-Y display
like GoldWave) that you realise it's put the same thing on both
channels.
--
J. P. Gilliver. UMRA: 1960/1985 MB++G()AL-IS-Ch++(p)Ar@T+H+Sh0!:`)DNAf

"When _I_ saw him, he was dead." "uh, he looked exactly the same when he was
alive, except he was vertical." (The Trouble with Harry)

In message , pjp
writes:
[]
Most pc and laptop setups I've seen (in fact perhaps ALL) besides having
a mic input also have both a Line-Out (what drives you speakers) and a
Line-In connection. These can be treated the same as an Input/Output
stereo pair same as on the back of a stereo amplifier.

I think you've not looked at laptops lately (-:. I haven't seen (a new)
one of those with a line in (blue) connector for some years, only the
line out (green) and (mono) mic. input (pink). The line in (blue) _is_
still fairly common on desktop systems, whether they have a separate
soundcard or on-motherboard sound.

(I'm guessing the prevalence of line-out-and-mic-in-only kit may have
something to do with the increased existence of Skype-type headsets.)
[]
--
J. P. Gilliver. UMRA: 1960/1985 MB++G()AL-IS-Ch++(p)Ar@T+H+Sh0!:`)DNAf

"When _I_ saw him, he was dead." "uh, he looked exactly the same when he was
alive, except he was vertical." (The Trouble with Harry)