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Is the Line-in Jack On the Verge of Extinction?

Posted by timothy on from the erasing-the-analog-hole dept.

SlashD0tter writes "Many older sound cards were shipped with line-out, microphone-in, and a line-in jacks. For years I've used such a line-in jack on an old Windows 2000 dinosaur desktop that I bought in 2000 (600 Mhz PIII) to capture the stereo audio signal from an old Technics receiver. I've used this arrangement to recover the audio from a slew of old vinyl LPs and even a few cassettes using some simple audio manipulating software from a small shop in Australia. I've noticed only recently, unfortunately, that all of the four laptops I've bought since then have omitted a line-in jack, forcing me to continue keeping this old desktop on life support. I've looked around for USB sound cards that include a line-in jack, but I haven't been too impressed by the selection. Is the line-in jack doomed to extinction, possibly due to lobbying from vested interests, or are there better thinking-outside-the-box alternatives available?"

10 of 411 comments (clear)

  1. I Don't Know What You're Talking About by eldavojohn · · Score: 5, Insightful
    My netbook (months old) has a line in jack. My motherboard (1 year old) has a line in jack. In fact, the software drivers for my motherboard allow me to decide what I plug into each of the three jacks even though it's Realtek crap software. Hell, I think I could have three line-in 1/8" jacks if I wanted to. From what I can tell, the most popular Dell desktop is the Inspiron 560. I hate to sound like a salesman but not only do you get 7.1 surround sound at $350 but you also get a line in jack. They even suggest you "Use the (blue) line-in connector to attach a record/playback device such as a cassette player, CD player, or VCR. On computers with a sound card, use the connector on the card."

    So that leaves us with some interesting cases:
    1. Something is very rotten in the state of Australia and their recent Think of the Children campaign has gone to new lengths to prevent people from transmitting sexy audio.
    2. You are very adept at selecting some models of computers that have no line-in jacks from a sea of computers with line-in jacks.
    3. You actually have a line-in jack, you just are confused with the colors (please don't take this as an insult, I've helped family members through this before). You also might have better drivers allowing you to make one of the jacks a line-in jack but you don't realize it.
    4. Look closer at your sound card. Does it say "Sorny" or "Panaphonics" on it? Buying computers from a kangaroo in an alleyway will get you what you pay for.
    5. Your tinfoil hat is on so tight you can't see the back ports on your computer.

    Look, if you could give us more information like what operating system you use and what motherboards you're using, I'd be willing to track down the manuals on them and verify there's no line-in jack and take a boomerang to the head if I'm mistaken. But couldn't this problem have been solved with a couple bucks? My eeePC netbook has a line-in. I really don't see them disappearing at all.

    P.S. If you're looking for something a little more professional, external Audigys and M-Audio Pre USBs are useful for what you're doing though they are pricey ($200 USD).

    --
    My work here is dung.
    1. Re:I Don't Know What You're Talking About by TemporalBeing · · Score: 4, Insightful

      There's a lot of SoundBlaster cards that have them - Awe64 Gold, SBLive!, Audigy2, just to name a few series.

      --
      Truth is like the sun. You can shut it out for a time, but it ain't goin' away. - Elvis Presley (source: imdb.com)
    2. Re:I Don't Know What You're Talking About by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Insightful

      He said outputs in the same room, not speakers. Also, it was a joke.

  2. Uh no... by Anrego · · Score: 2, Insightful

    More likely, line-in is just not a feature used by enough mobile users to make it worth putting on a laptop.

    Most laptops don't come with 7.1 surround sound output either.. and it's not because surround sound is fading into the sunset..

    Any desktop motherboard with integrated sound will probably have one though.. and just about any add-on sound card will as well.

    _AND_ any decent external sound "card" will probably have one.. have a look at terratec's produce line. The DMX 6Fire USB has a whole plethora of inputs.

    Even cheap mini-itx boards (MSI Wind for instance) have line in.. just get yourself one o` those...

  3. Re:Yes, it's dying by phliar · · Score: 4, Insightful

    Honestly, unless you're a DJ, it's pretty unlikely that you have any audio that doesn't exist as something digital (MP3, AAC, WAV, etc.)

    Well, you know, there are still a couple of people around that play musical instruments (you know, those expensive things you don't have to plug in), and we sometimes like to record the sounds that we make. And others sometimes go to listen to people playing these instrument things, and they sometimes like to record the sounds. Craziness!

    --
    Unlimited growth == Cancer.
  4. Re:Yes, it's dying by Midnight+Thunder · · Score: 3, Insightful

    The line-in jack will disappear with physical audio. Honestly, unless you're a DJ, it's pretty unlikely that you have any audio that doesn't exist as something digital (MP3, AAC, WAV, etc.)

    Why drop it? Its not as if it is any major cost to the machine these days. I don't use my line-in that often but it is certainly useful and it would be a pain to have to go an get a USB adapter for something so basic.

    I suspect that the models that don't have them are low end computers where the manufacture tries to cut costs in the most extreme ways.

    --
    Jumpstart the tartan drive.
  5. My question is by proxima · · Score: 4, Insightful

    Why don't all car radio setups come with a line-in jack? Even many of the aftermarket ones don't have them (on the front, at least). Such a cheap part, and yet so many people use their ipods via FM tuner or tape adapter.

    --
    "The universe seems neither benign nor hostile, merely indifferent." --Carl Sagan
  6. Reason: why no line-in by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Insightful

    Many older sound cards were shipped with line-out, microphone-in, and a line-in jacks. For years I've used such a line-in jack on an old Windows 2000 dinosaur desktop that I bought in 2000 (600 Mhz PIII) to capture the stereo audio signal from an old Technics receiver.

    We've arranged this with hardware manufacturers, so that you stop pirating music, Johnny.
    regards,
    RIAA

  7. Re:Yes, it's dying by dgatwood · · Score: 2, Insightful

    Mod parent up. That's the real reason why the inputs are disappearing from laptops. If you're trying to record something of any quality, the audio hardware built into computers doesn't even begin to cut it. The latency alone will make you want to throw your machine across the room. So:

    • People trying to do any real recording are going to buy a decent outboard interface with decent preamps.
    • People who don't care about quality will likely use the built-in mic on the laptop's bezel.
    • People who want better isolation for things like video chat but aren't very serious about quality can pick up a cheap USB mic or headset.

    Either way, the audio input jack sits there unused.

    --

    Check out my sci-fi/humor trilogy at PatriotsBooks.

  8. Almost always the rule when correcting others. by chaboud · · Score: 4, Insightful

    I know that it's an age-old rule of correcting others that one makes a mistake of the same nature in the corrective statement (I'm likely to suffer a few), but those phone jacks that you list (typically called TS for tip-sleeve when mono or TRS for tip-ring-sleeve when stereo or balanced mono) are most commonly sized in 1/4", 3.5mm, and 2.5mm. 1/2" would be awesome, but I've never seen one.