[Hardware] Playstation Portable And Guitar Recording

[Joel Van]

The SONY PSP and Recording Guitar

Written By Joel Van

Well, Basically, i came across a few articles (threads for the record) that were created by one of our fellow QJ.NET members Art. Art has been a pretty important person to me, regarding the PSP audio scene, As you can tell, i'm into digital recording and guitar (haha, look at my releases for further evidence) And Art was the developer who created Audio Mechanica which is basically a digital recorder that records audio through a SOCOM compatible headset, now unfortunately, Art and I both live in australia and for god know's why the headset was kind've hard to come by, especially on its own, again, to my delight Art released a general guide on making a lteixeira Boom Headset So using this as a rough guide, i went out and bought a 4 conductor 1/8 inch plug.(from ****smith electronics australia for $2 AUD)

FURTHER CONSTRUCTION OF THE PLUG WRITTEN BY ME


THE 4 CONDUCTOR 1/8 INCH PLUG


Now using his guide, i wired up this 4 conduct as the resources showed, however instead of using a headset, i used a stereo 1/8 jack, for the sound output (headphones, Amplifier, etc) and instead of a microphone i used a MONO XLR input so that i could plug a: P.A, Guitar, Guitar Amp, Microphone, heck even a record player.

How i Set the Audio Adapter (based on Arts headset) up.


Now i just had to plug it all up. So the 1/8 inch input goes into the PSP remote controller (because it has a 4 conductor JACK and tell the psp that a microphone in) and i've just plugged the stereo-output into a little Amplifier i made, this is why the audio qualitys so dodgy, (i'll post the video later, my broadband's capped.) and i've made myself a MONO 1/4 plug that has a MONO XLR output so now i can hook my guitar up to the INPUT (like the microphone section).

How i plugged up the system


Now at this point i simply put the 1/4 inch plug into the 1/4 jack in my guitar, just as a note, these plugs are both mono, however, even using a guitar through stereo effects or using a stereo guitar (if there is such a thing) the PSP's audio input seems to be ONLY mono, i'll keep researching on this however, and in the future, recording may become more then mono .

Plug the guitar in! and everythings plugged up


Now, i am ready to record, so just start AUDIO Mechanica, it works fine on 3.03 OE-C and 1.5, but i haven't tested it on any other firmwares, Probably go to the thread for more compatibility.


AUDIO MECHANICA


Now at this point, all you simply have to do, is go into your desired recording mode, wether its yak back, or Just the standard tape recorder, and then strum away, IN theory, you could plug the XLR into a RCA converter and record TV audio or even convert your old LP records! So anyway, i just strummed away, i took some photos of the visual signal. and i'll post a video in just a few days! (the videos recorded, but i'm not uploading at 12 kbs. But i'll get my cap back in 2 days, so i'll do it then.)

And the Audio's coming through


NOTES:

• Setting the tape recorder to the highest quality setting means you can make CD quality recordings (44.1khz / 16 bit).
• Essentially, you can run in through your amp for more gain, but make sure you don't blow whatever speakers you have on your output. Just keep volume 0 and raise gradually

And really it is as simple as that. If people are having trouble with electronics in ARTS headset guide, i'll probably post up a how to make a "UNIVERSAL INPUT ADAPTER" guide in a few days! Also check out my guitar helper program!

Cheers to Art and guitar!

VIDEO:

AND an Audio 27 seconds of blackbird that i recorded on my acoustic (to show quality)

AUDIO: AUDIO DOWNLOAD (806kb RAR)

[ChrisK]

Thats awsome. I wish their was a more simple way.

[Joel Van]

i'm glad you think so, the psp has so much Audio potential, This is also means, people can convert there records to .wav and therefore convert there records to CD!

(not that many people actually still have records, but hey, i love the concept).

The other thing is, if your in a band and you own a P.A technically, you could plug the XLR cable into your FX send (and i've tried this), and RECORD your band, this means you can make CD quality demos at home for practically NOTHING!

The beauty of using the XLR cable, is that its easy to make adapters for it, but technically, you could make a straight to 1/4 inch, if you just want to record your guitar,. i'll probably post some recordings off my acoustic and electric in a few days so you can hear the AMAZING quality!

[ChrisK]

Actually that was exactly what I was thinking, I have a reggae band. Seriously thought try and put together this and the guitar helper.
edit: and you should have developer =(.

[eldiablov]

dev status isnt handed out as much as it used to be.

[SuperBatXS]

Cool.

[ChrisK]

I remember back in the day like last year, if you made like a lua pong you got dev.

[adrahil]

Bleh. Audio quality is limited on PSP... Now, try to make it stream audio as a "radio" server with a possibility to mix in music "PSP Shoutcast" LOL
Anyway, nice stuff

[Joel Van]

Originally Posted by adrahil

Bleh. Audio quality is limited on PSP... Now, try to make it stream audio as a "radio" server with a possibility to mix in music "PSP Shoutcast" LOL
Anyway, nice stuff

Thats what i though, Audio quality is limited, but in C++ created programs, its not really, the MONO recording that this can record in at 44.1 KHZ and 16 BIT so essentially., this means it has the theoretical possibility to sound just as good as a CD. And if you've got a decent mixer, and all the level are right, your band will have themselves a NICE demo, and to take it to the next, you could put the "reel.wav" through a mastering program and BOOM! you have a pretty amazing sounding CD!

i'll post some audio samples and that video tomorrow!