Need help capturing audio using a laptop (with Audicity)

[jimcornetet]

I have a High School Musical I'm recording for the School..... and I want to capture the audio directly off the soundboard digitally...... and I want to use my laptop.

On the soundboard = left+right RCA output jacks
On my laptop = 1/8th inch MIC input jack

If I use AUDICITY and a RCA to 1/8th headphone cable (from RadioShack).......will this worK? Or do you have a better idea?

I have not tested what I think might work but wanted everyone's opinion if I'm going down the right road.

Please help....

[mats.hogberg]

Should work, yes, but it won't be a digital connection between mixer and laptop.

/Mats

[jimcornetet]

Should work, yes, but it won't be a digital connection between mixer and laptop.

/Mats

the School's soundboard only has RCA audio outputs....but its good enough to capture clear voices off the mic'ed actors in the Musical

[neumannu47]

It may work, but the quality will not be good for a couple of reasons. First, the output level of the sound board is line level; the input level of the mic input is mic level. You may be able to adjust the output and input levels such that they don't distort, but that is not always true.

Second, the mic preamps (input) on a computer sound card are the worst possible way that you can record audio. The noise and distortion are terrible. These inputs are designed for communications, not music. Are you absolutely sure that there is not an auxillary input on the computer? If there is, the RCA-to-miniplug adapter is just the ticket.

There are external audio input interfaces available that bring the audio in on the USB port, and they are not expensive. I have the Griffin iMic, which does a decent job for a non-critical application. Someone in your school will probably loan you one if you don't want to buy one.

After all this, you may be perfectly fine with the quality you get using the mic input, but you're not going to win any Grammy Engineering Awards!

Audacity will work with the cheapest to the most expensive sound capture devices.