2010-07-26, 09:29 PM
I'm assuming your sound card is from the past decade, so it probably shouldn't be your laptop. The worst I've had is a laptop integrated sound card which couldn't capture frequencies of around 100 Hz and below. That doesn't sound like your case.
However, you can test out if your sound card has issues if you have a 3.5 mm male-male cable hanging around. (One of these. I got a couple from monitors or something. I'm not sure if you might have one hanging around.)
If you do have that, plug one end into your sound output and the other end in your sound input. Open up some sort of sound recording software (I use Audacity) and hit record. Play a song on a media player. You might need to adjust levels. After you're done recording, unplug and take a listen. If it sounds noticeably worse, then it's something wrong with your sound card. Otherwise you just need a decent mic.
However, you can test out if your sound card has issues if you have a 3.5 mm male-male cable hanging around. (One of these. I got a couple from monitors or something. I'm not sure if you might have one hanging around.)
If you do have that, plug one end into your sound output and the other end in your sound input. Open up some sort of sound recording software (I use Audacity) and hit record. Play a song on a media player. You might need to adjust levels. After you're done recording, unplug and take a listen. If it sounds noticeably worse, then it's something wrong with your sound card. Otherwise you just need a decent mic.