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Sunday, June 25, 2017

Sound Question

Trying to record from an Audio-Technica PRO24 stereo microphone into my wife's Lenovo ThinkPad, plugged into the audio jack.  Using the Y-splitter cable because Lenovo has stopped using separate input and output jacks.  From Manage Audio Devices, Recording tab, I can see the Realtek Microphone, the one built into the laptop and it shows sound coming in (at least the sound level thingie is going up and down).  But the external microphone does not appear.  Worse, when I run Sound Recorder, it hears no sound at all.  I have tried this external microphone on my Lenovo X140e and it works fine.  Any suggestions?  Realtek HD Audio Manager, Microphone tab gives me nothing useful to try.

Actually on the X140e, it is the builtin mike recording, not the external.

Beginning to think I should buy a USB stereo mike for this.  Any recommendations?  Of course this won't fix the problem with my wife's ThinkPad--it won't record from even the built-in mike which shows a signal in Manage Audio Devices, Recording tab.  This must be a driver of configuration issue.

6 comments:

  1. Microphone is not being detected. You may need Audio-Technica ATR2USB 3.5mm to USB Audio Adapter or something similar.

    Good news, they are not expensive but I cannot vouch for the quality of the sound but it may beat buying a new mike with USB cable.

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  2. Even the built-in microphone, while detected, will not pass data to applications.

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  3. Check drivers? Try Control Panel> Hardaware & Sound> Sound > Manage Audio Devices

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  4. Clayton, have a look at Tunedog's post here:

    https://forums.lenovo.com/t5/ThinkPad-T400-T500-and-newer-T/Audio-combo-jack-vs-headphone-earphone-with-mic-and-speaker/tac-p/1868531#M197

    Looks to me like you're running into the same problem, and the only real answer is to look at either USB mics or USB external soundcards.

    (The ease of plugging things in, and having things work, is one reason I've hung onto my old HP; it has separate mic & headphone jacks.)

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  5. Eskyman: Thanks. It looks like the newer Lenovos just can't do microphone input. I will have my wife record on my Lenovo, which has both inputs.

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