Hope 68k question'll be ok here.

I used to use my 840av to record music from my pc from a pc program that has a file format that nothing else can read.

I only just realised (Duh) that although not av, my 650 and my newly acquired PowerBook 540c, both have audio in sockets.

I'd use the PowerBook if I could for ease of use, ie:- I don't need to stretch a cable from one room to another, just move the PowerBook closer.

But would the PowerBook be up to the job? or would my 650 make a better job of it?

Hmm, just looked at everymac.com, 650 has (omni) sound in???
Powerbook has (Line level) sound in

Whats the difference? what does this mean in a practicle sense to me?

Seems like you're in a bit of a catch-22 situation to me. What sort of audio source will you be recording from? If you're recording from a microphone, a mic-level audio input, like the one on the 650, will be of better use to you. However, if you're recording from stereo equipment, then you will want a line-level signal, like the one on the PowerBook. However, the PowerBook doesn't have as much grunt as the 650.
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The source is the speaker output from my pc.

There's no labelling, just a picture, hmmm,.... the picture has sound lines, going out from the centre in two directions (The headaches of having to describe a small icon!)

I think I'll just have to experiment.

I'll report my results next week.

Line-level input would be your best option in that case.
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"I mean, how hard can it be?" - Jeremy Clarkson

The Infamous LCGuy - Now back with Amazing Working iMac Action™!

i have done recording on my 540c with the internal mic and with line in. the results with the mic are actually pretty good considering - you do need volume though.

line in, is well line in - the biggest problem for me to begin with was the software and lack of memory.
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The absolute best solution would be digital all the way - which you could achieve with a cheap soundcard or USB device for the PC with S/PDIF (aka digital, optical, TOSlink) out, and a Digidesign Audiomedia I or II Nubus card in the 650. They're reasonably cheap if you get one on the right phase of the ebay moon. It's coax S/PDIF only, so you need a PC card with coax out too, or a converter (not cheap or make your own)

Barring that, either machine will do line level analogue recording, and either will have enough grunt to record two channels (ie stereo) at 16 bits and 44kHz (CD quality). "Omni" means that it can record at line or mic level (mic is a lot quieter) and there should be a control panel to adjust the input gain.

If you can meter the inputs visually to check for gain and clipping, that would be good. I don't recall if you can do that from the control panel, but you can do it within most audio programs (Sound Designer, Deck II for example). You want minimum gain on the 650 and the signal from the PC should be near the top, but not clipping, on the Mac, when you play the file.

Beyond that, it's just a question of disk space.

Oh, I'm not entirely sure if the AM-I has S/PDIF, but I know the II does - I have one. And there's a PCI version, so make sure you're getting a Nubus one.

I posted in ppcmla whilst these forums were down.

I need to use a mac to record audio, usually I'd use my 840av, but my 840av has died (So did my pc's power supply just a couple of days ago, I need to clean my computers more (clean dust from fans/power supply's) and try to keep them cooler perhaps is the key).

I'd just given up and was waiting for another 840av to come along.

I got the PowerMac 6500/300 which I couldn't get audio through and none of the 68k programs would run and it took about 4 mins or longer to start up and os9 is just a misery and it keeps making stupid noises when you open windows and stuff (I must keep away from powermacs)........

So then it occured to me, my 650 and my 540c both have audio in.

So thanks for the advice from lcguy.

Well I tried both computers, first using VideoMonitorPro (my fav app from my 840av!), which didn't want to run cos my 650 and my 540c arn't av macs!, but I did manage to trick it!!! [] , but the results wern't great.

So i looked up other programs and settled on using Coaster. I tried Coaster on my 650 and it runs, but I had a problem saving the file, who knows why.

so I tried to run Coaster on my 540c....... "You need to have appearance 1.0.1 installed"

My 540c has system 7.5.3, my 650 has system 8.1

I don't understand having less than 8.1 (I only use Quadra's), let me just say that my PowerBook took a long time to load, using 7.5.3, whereas my 650 loads quick using 8.1!

So I needed to get appearance, which is about 3 or 4 Mb's in size!

Can you believe it?

So getting a file that large onto my PowerBook would've been a mission in itself.

I managed to find an earlier version of Coaster which would load on my PowerBook without the need for appearance.

My PowerBook still didn't manage the job too well, the subsequent recording kept "jumping"/"skipping", and or just wasn't recording the whole thing.

So I went back to my 650, and this time I managed to save the file.

My 650 would only record in 16 bit mono/ 22.2Khz

But the job is done!

http://www.icompositions.com/music/song.php?sid=62078

This discussion belongs in the One Off forum.

Peace,
Drew
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Always turn virtual memory off - it can cause skipping because it has to access the hard drive