Recordinging to laptop via mic-in‏ port

[dllive]

Hi,
I have a Vamp, bass and laptop. Basically: I want to record my bass into my laptop. My laptop doesnt have a Line In port - only a Mic port. I can plug my bass directly into the Mic port and record fine there - but I cant here what Im playing. If I plug the bass into the Vamp, and then have a cable going from my Vamp into the laptop's Mic port, the signal is completely distorted. This is obviously because the Mic port is expecting a very weak signal (as opposed to a Line In port which is expecting a stronger signal from a sound source). Ive tried turning the laptop's Mic input right down, the Vamp's volume right down etc..., but all I get is a distorted signal. Do you know of a way I can achieve this, or a bit of kit that will reduce the signal from my Vamp to the Mic port? A friend said that I could buy this from them: ART Tube MP - Project Series w/ USB . Would that do the job?
Thanks

[miiitch]

I can plug my bass directly into the Mic port and record fine there - but I cant here what Im playing.

you should be able to turn up / activate the playback in system options

i use that setup nearly every day for practising, as i dont have a small combo or such, but a home stereo plugged to my laptop :P

[dllive]

hi miiitch: I heard that plugging a bass directly into the mic port woudl damage the sound card. Any truth in that? (obviously not if you do this every day).

Can you expand on your comment "you should be able to turn up / activate the playback in system options"? Do you mean turn up the volume on the laptop? (Ive tried that and it only increase the volume of whatever song Im playing along to - but not my bass!)

Im using Audacity for the software.

[miiitch]

i have no idea what it´s called in english, so i´m just referring to it as system options
looking at the bottom right of my monitor, there´s a clock and some little symbols ... i got a speaker symbol there
that opens a menu, where i can activate (un-mute) the "mic" playback, and adjust its volume

the result is a nice clean signal without distortion, so i´d say it won´t hurt
you would only cause damage, if you tried to plug in a 1/4" jack into that 1/8" ... but I guess you knew

and btw, that works without any program, the signal´s pretty much going the direct way to the output

[dllive]

Thanks! Im using Windows 7, so will click on things until I find the setting!