Under saddle piezo pickup into Laptop mic input

[kiwigeo]

I've got a piezeo pickup with a 2.5mm TS (tip and shield) plug on the end of the lead. I need to go into a 3.5mm mic input on my HP G250 laptop. Anyone know what sort of plug I need for this to work? Will a 3.5mm TS wired exactly as the old plug work or do I need a plug with extra rings on it (ie TRS etc) to make things work. I'm aware that most laptop mic inputs are mono but a few newer machines are set up for stereo mic input.

[charangohabsburg]

Martin, wiring (mono-stereo) is not a problem, and if the impedance is far off there are no great chances that your laptop would have a melt down. Just in case it would have one please don't forget to press the "REC" button on your video camera before plugging in, thank you.

[kiwigeo]

Martin, wiring (mono-stereo) is not a problem, and if the impedance is far off there are no great chances that your laptop would have a melt down. Just in case it would have one please don't forget to press the "REC" button on your video camera before plugging in, thank you.

No problems if I blow the laptop up....its a $500 cheapie I bought at the Post Office purely for workshop use. My main computers are Macs.

Ive pulled apart a Skype headphone/mic set I had lying around and the mic plug is TRS but there are only two leads coming off the plug...I assume theyre wired to the tip and the shield of the TRS plug (ie ring is unconnected). I'll wire the piezeo to the tip and shield of the bigger plug and in theory it should work.

[charangohabsburg]

Sounds good Martin. Having only two wires greatly reduces the risk of connecting the wrong ones.
Although over the decades I have "tried" many times, I never managed to damage a speaker or amplifier by plugging in a wrong sound source. In the worst cases it just did not work or the output was very faint. But I once managed to ruin a very accurate multimeter (one of those nice ones with a needle indicator) by attempting to measure voltage (expecting +/- 220V AC) while it was still in its Ohm measuring mode...

[scripsit]

Martin

I think you'll get crap recording with the combination of impedance mismatch directly from a piezo pickup and the soundcard in a cheap computer.

Much better to get a cheap preamp with a USB interface that bypasses the computer soundcard altogether.

Kym

[kiwigeo]

Martin

I think you'll get crap recording with the combination of impedance mismatch directly from a piezo pickup and the soundcard in a cheap computer.

Much better to get a cheap preamp with a USB interface that bypasses the computer soundcard altogether.

Kym

All I need is a signal to measure the frequency of the plucked note....is for use on a string tension jig.

[scripsit]

I stand corrected.

In that case, I'd recommend a quick trip to Jaycar and look at their range of converter plugs: I've had to do that when swapping different generations of headphones between hifi amplifiers and PC boxes.

Kym

[kiwigeo]

I stand corrected.

In that case, I'd recommend a quick trip to Jaycar and look at their range of converter plugs: I've had to do that when swapping different generations of headphones between hifi amplifiers and PC boxes.

Kym

Ive checked everywhere.....I cant find a 2.5m TS female to 3.5mm TS or TRS male converter. Ive whacked a 3.5mm TRS plug off the Skype headset and Ill just solder the pickup wire onto that.