Low Signal into PC from Acou. Guitar

[pilot7770]

I'm new to these forums and new to recording in general.

I picked up guitar less than a year ago and I've got a new Takamine Acoustic/Electric that I've been trying to play through my computer.

I'm running on a Dell Inspiron 9300 laptop with an Aduigy 2 ZS sound card.

I've plugged my guitar into the sound card but I have to crank the speakers up almost full to get any signal, to the point where the hiss of the speakers significantly lowers the sound quality.

I have the same problem when I record, and after I record I have tried amplifying the track and I still get the hissing.

I was wondering if there is an easy (and inexpensive) way to amplify the signal so I can have a clean sound without having to raise my speaker volume so high.

Sorry if I was unclear, I'm still new to music.

thanks

[5454stevef]

I'm new to these forums and new to recording in general.

I picked up guitar less than a year ago and I've got a new Takamine Acoustic/Electric that I've been trying to play through my computer.

I'm running on a Dell Inspiron 9300 laptop with an Aduigy 2 ZS sound card.

I've plugged my guitar into the sound card but I have to crank the speakers up almost full to get any signal, to the point where the hiss of the speakers significantly lowers the sound quality.

I have the same problem when I record, and after I record I have tried amplifying the track and I still get the hissing.

I was wondering if there is an easy (and inexpensive) way to amplify the signal so I can have a clean sound without having to raise my speaker volume so high.

Sorry if I was unclear, I'm still new to music.

thanks

Not unclear at all. It sounds like you are plugged into line-level inputs, which as you have probably already figured out, require a stronger signal to get up above the noise of the electronics. Any kind of preamp will help, preferably one with level controls for input gain and output.

This one will do what you want, I believe, and is not very expensive, under 50 bucks. There are probably cheaper things around made by companies like Rolls, but this is cheap enough and sounds decent for the money. I've got a couple of them and they make effective d.i. boxes. The "tube" designation on these is a bit of a crock, most of the circuit is solid-state. But you can't beat the price, plus if you get a microphone at some point it will work with that too.

http://www.sweetwater.com/store/detail/TubeMP/

You would need some cables with the correct connectors on them to go from the 1/4" jacks on the preamp to whatever is on the Audigy, and to connect the guitar to the preamp if it doesn't have a 1/4" connector on it. Easily done, though.

SF