Is there any way to get good audio quality using just the 3.5mm mic input on my laptop? I want to be able record but the desktop i used to use failed because of a hardware issue. I don't have a sound card on my computer either. it doesen't have to be studio quality, but just pretty good is O.K. any advice would be appreciated! :)
I would suggest that you try the 3.5mm input. If it is not good enough for you then the easiest thing to do is to get a USB sound card. Creative make some USB sound cards with recording inputs for around $75.
It sometimes matters what you are recording from. If you get a low frequency hum then sometimes running the laptop on battery instead of mains helps.
You may find the input level on a "mic" jack is too sensitive for a line-in signal - I have known a laptop soundcard get fried from oveloading a mic in from a line-level source.
USB converters to laptops can have problems of their own depending on the quality and config of the USB sub-system.
As already stated, the quality of the sound recording you want to get may determine what is worth trying.
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