Putting Bass Through PC

iKettles · 12 Jan 2008 at 20:44

I want to start recording my bass through the PC and I'm unsure how to go about it. I have a Jack-3.5mm Adapter and I also have an amp. How would I go about recording? What should I put my bass through? Does it need to go through my amp aswell? If so what connects the amp to my PC? I use integrated 7.1 sound on my eVGA 650i. My integrated sound has the following ports -

What should it be plugged in through?

Munkeh · 12 Jan 2008 at 21:13

Do you have a pre-out from your amp? If so plug that into the line in on the motherboard and that should work fine.

iKettles · 12 Jan 2008 at 23:06

My amp only has an Input 1/2, Headphones and External Speaker. What colour is Line-In on my motherboard?

Leporello · 13 Jan 2008 at 14:17

Surely the answer lies in your motherbard manual?

edgedemon · 13 Jan 2008 at 14:20

Leporello said:
Surely the answer lies in your motherbard manual?

just had a look through mine - all it lists is the connectors. Motherboard manuals are great for BIOS explanations, but not that hot for anything else...

dovey · 13 Jan 2008 at 14:53

Get an x-fi with a front breakout box! Plugs straight in and works.

iKettles · 13 Jan 2008 at 20:17

Not interested in a new sound card just a way to put my bass through my PC. If I really feel the need to I will pick up an X-Fi but not now.

nicmcv · 15 Jan 2008 at 12:21

You can plug your bass into the microphone socket, it's unorthodox but will do it.
You could always buy a DI box, which you can plug the bass into and then plug the DI into you PC.
Or you could buy a pre amp, microphone and audio interface for great recordings.
It depends if you just want to get it down or have the cash.

Munkeh · 15 Jan 2008 at 12:49

What you can do is run the headphones out from your amp into the line in on your motherboard. Normally you can configure any of the sound I/O ports to be any using say the Realtek Audio Manager. Although I think generally it is the light blue port.

OzZie · 15 Jan 2008 at 15:59

Depends on your requirments for sound and quality.

Like mentioned, you can take a line out of the amp or direct out straight into the soundcard, but sound levels are very low, and the quality won't be at all great. To get a better quality signal, you can get IK stealthplug USB or a Line 6 Toneport GX for around £50 which has a single 1/4 jack for guitar inputs, and then use the software to generate the effects for recording. You will need a half decent pair of speakers though for this as will be what you monitor through. However, you will get latency and quite badly as you don't have an ASIO driver that reduces this.

If you can go to around £100, you can get a firewire soundcard with a couple of line/mic ins for future recording which have ASIO drivers and full studio quality specifications.

Rebelius · 16 Jan 2008 at 03:43

If you've got active pickups on your bass, couldn't you just plug it straight into the mic-in on your motherboard?

I do this with my Stingray and X-Fi - my amp's still sitting in my parents' house.