Can I save audio directly to a Laptop

[Richard_Cranium72]

I'm wanting to directly save audio from a microphone(stereo) to a laptop. Can these be converted to wav. files easily. Any thoughts on the ohms resistance on the mics? Any input appreciated. I'm capturing various birds and hope to save them without the background hiss that magnetic particle tape has. DrVette

[Dominus]

Depends on the quality of the soundcard that your laptop has. If it has a cheap one, then you may get some hiss.

If you plan on buying a new laptop for this purpose, then take a look at a Sony VAIO. These machines are specially designed to have excellent quality audio.

Why not try simple recording your voice into it first to see what kind of quality it gets before taking it into the field.

The program "Sound Recorder" that comes with windows will record to .wav easily, but it will not edit any sounds. For that I recommend a program called "Goldwave". It is a simple, and cheap audio editing program with a full array of features. Should do what you need just fine.

[Warthog]

I found a shareware program called "Total Recorder". I can edit portions out of sound and record from many sources (modem, mic, sound card, etc.). You can search for it at www.download.com (http://www.download.com) Quick download too.

Warthog

[akizum]

Yes you can record with your laptop .
The problem with laptos for audio solutions the hard drive .
if you want to edit and play back your recordings more then 12 tracks you need at least 7200 rpm ata/100 hard drive and i dont think laptop hds going that high

[Hans Svetty]

Akizum has been making a study of the subject recently, and he is planning a new computer just for recording sounds. (Music. We work in the same building.)

Hello again Dr. Vette. The printer you recommended is still going strong. Good luck with the birding.

hans :)