Connecting Pickup to Line-In?

[WhiteRose]

So, I have a pick-up on my cello. It has a built-in preamp and what-not, so I know that's not the problem. I use a cable with a 1/8 in jack on one end that plugs into my laptop's Mic In, and a 1/4 in on the other end that plugs into the pick-up. However, when I try and record anything, it is VERY quiet. I know a few of you have experience in this kind of thing *coughKarpKarpcough*, so I figured I'd post this and see if anyone can help me out. Anyone know a way to make input louder? I could, of course, just increase the volume of the recording once it's all finished, but that would also increase static and feedback, would it not? I've made sure that my Mic input in the Volume Control panel is at 100, so I'm sure that's not the problem. I'm running Windows 7 and using Audacity to record.

[Ryex]

have you tried going in to your system audio mixer and messing with line in volume?

[WhiteRose]

So, I have a pick-up on my cello. It has a built-in preamp and what-not, so I know that's not the problem. I use a cable with a 1/8 in jack on one end that plugs into my laptop's Mic In, and a 1/4 in on the other end that plugs into the pick-up. However, when I try and record anything, it is VERY quiet. I know a few of you have experience in this kind of thing *coughKarpKarpcough*, so I figured I'd post this and see if anyone can help me out. Anyone know a way to make input louder? I could, of course, just increase the volume of the recording once it's all finished, but that would also increase static and feedback, would it not? I've made sure that my Mic input in the Volume Control panel is at 100, so I'm sure that's not the problem. I'm running Windows 7 and using Audacity to record.

But thanks for the suggestion.

[Subsonic_Noise]

Well, being a pickup without any external power source, it naturally only gives a very low signal and therefore would require an amp. You could use an external hardware preamp (those can be expensive, though) or a software amp (probably a vst plugin) to make up for that, that's what I do anyways.
Why don't you use a microphone, btw? Pickups mostly fail at recreating the fbeautiful sound of a cello.
EDIT: Don't get me wrong, I know it already has a preamp built in, my bass pickup has one, too, but the signal is still low.

[WhiteRose]

Well, being a pickup without any external power source, it naturally only gives a very low signal and therefore would require an amp. You could use an external hardware preamp (those can be expensive, though) or a software amp (probably a vst plugin) to make up for that, that's what I do anyways.
Why don't you use a microphone, btw? Pickups mostly fail at recreating the fbeautiful sound of a cello.
EDIT: Don't get me wrong, I know it already has a preamp built in, my bass pickup has one, too, but the signal is still low.

It's an active pickup with a built-in preamp, and is battery powered, so I don't think that's the problem. I think I may just go pick up a microphone, though; this is turning out to be more trouble than it's worth.

[Subsonic_Noise]

Well, being a pickup without any external power source, it naturally only gives a very low signal and therefore would require an amp. You could use an external hardware preamp (those can be expensive, though) or a software amp (probably a vst plugin) to make up for that, that's what I do anyways.
Why don't you use a microphone, btw? Pickups mostly fail at recreating the fbeautiful sound of a cello.
EDIT: Don't get me wrong, I know it already has a preamp built in, my bass pickup has one, too, but the signal is still low.

It's an active pickup with a built-in preamp, and is battery powered, so I don't think that's the problem. I think I may just go pick up a microphone, though; this is turning out to be more trouble than it's worth.

Well, my bass pickup is battery powered and active, too, but that doesn't really do much, the volume still is pretty low.
But if you use a mic, make sure you find out the right place for it. 1 metre from the cello should work, getting too close to it will result in a very dry sound and expose even the smallest mistakes (tis what happened to me, lol) while putting it too far from it will get too much sound reflection.
The professional way would be two mics, one very close to the cello and the other 1-2 metres away, but I doubt you want to do that, lol.
Anyways, good luck with the recordings!

[WhiteRose]

Well, being a pickup without any external power source, it naturally only gives a very low signal and therefore would require an amp. You could use an external hardware preamp (those can be expensive, though) or a software amp (probably a vst plugin) to make up for that, that's what I do anyways.
Why don't you use a microphone, btw? Pickups mostly fail at recreating the fbeautiful sound of a cello.
EDIT: Don't get me wrong, I know it already has a preamp built in, my bass pickup has one, too, but the signal is still low.

It's an active pickup with a built-in preamp, and is battery powered, so I don't think that's the problem. I think I may just go pick up a microphone, though; this is turning out to be more trouble than it's worth.

Well, my bass pickup is battery powered and active, too, but that doesn't really do much, the volume still is pretty low.
But if you use a mic, make sure you find out the right place for it. 1 metre from the cello should work, getting too close to it will result in a very dry sound and expose even the smallest mistakes (tis what happened to me, lol) while putting it too far from it will get too much sound reflection.
The professional way would be two mics, one very close to the cello and the other 1-2 metres away, but I doubt you want to do that, lol.
Anyways, good luck with the recordings!

Alright, I found a computer mic in my basement. I'm not sure how good the quality is, but it's a mic, at least; it should do fine for at least a few test recordings. I'll upload a few samples in a bit and you can let me know what you think.