Audio Connections and Hardware

Hardware and connections which are most commonly used for getting audio in and out of your computer.

Motherboard Sound Cards

Most computers are sold with sound cards - I’ve never come across one that wasn’t.! So, what does a soundcard actually look like? Well, there are a few different types. Soundcards built onto the motherboard are most popular, especially in laptops – where space is tight.

Internal Separate Sound Cards

Internal soundcards are individual components which can be installed by yourself inside your PC. Of course, there are many soundcards of varying quality and features and of course – price. It all depends on the users requirements. Although, since this is a specifically an article for musicians I’m going to assume you, as a reader are of the musician-type origin. Get yourself a soundcard with high quality audio features and, if possible, a seperate MIDI Input if you’re recording in a MIDI setup. See basic MIDI connections for all info on MIDI setup.

One of the best audio soundcards I ever bought was an M-Audio 24/96 Audiophile card. It fitted very easily into the back of my computer, recorded at 24bit (16bit is CD quality) and had attachable MIDI In and MIDI out Ports.

External Audio Interfaces (External Sound Cards)

If you’re really serious about recording high quality audio like an acoustic guitar, microphone, live band situation then get a mixing desk and external audio interface. Being able to control the volume, tone or even effects (fx) before an audio signal reaches your computer greatly enhances the quality of your end result recording.

With some of these options we’ll need to look at the connections on the back of your computer, laptop or external equipment we want to connect up with.

Connections

Mini-Jack Input / Output – At the back of the PC computer, or sometimes the front., the most common type of connection is described as – Mini Jacks or RCA Jack Inputs and Outputs. This is where you connect your audio source – Audio Input. If you want to connect external speakers for listening back to audio then connect speakers to the Phono Jack – audio output.

1. The Green Connection is usually for Line Output. This should be connected to external speakers or even headphones. This is a stereo output. See sound card adaptors below for more info.
2. The Blue Connection is usually for Line Input. So, plug in your mixer, guitar – anything you want to record. Not microphones unless you have additional power to boost their signal.
3. The Red Connection is for recording microphones.

Sound Card Cables & Adaptors

Mini-Jack Connector Cable

The Mini-Jack to Phono Cable is a popular cable that will connect your computer to external equipment like speakers, mixing desks, stereo sound systems etc for listening to music from your computer. Connect the single mini-jack to the audio output of your soundcard – the other pair to your speakers.

If you want to record a stereo sound source connect the red and black cables to your source and the single cable to the audio input of your soundcard.

Instead of switching cables from recording to monitoring – you may want to buy an extra cable so that you can record and monitor without the hassle of changing cables.

Mini-Jack to Phono Adaptor

This adaptor is also useful for connecting to your computer although I would not recommend it because when you plug it into your soundcard and then connect cables, the weight of the cables can sometimes bend it out of the horizontal position and could damage your soundcard.

Phono to 1/4¨ Jack Adaptor

Using this adaptor will allow you to connect to more regular sized fittings of musical instruments or mixing desks. This is a fairly robust connector and is useful for connecting external audio interfaces to mixing desks, the computer to your mixing desk, or in combination with the mini-jack connectors.

Firewire

Using Firewire for recording audio is one of the fastest, highest quality methods of getting audio into your computer. Of course, you’re computer will have to have a firewire port. There is the mini-firewire port and the larger one. Don’t forget to power off your computer first though before you connect firewire – that’s the recommendation from most manufacturers. I’ve actually tried connecting firewire with the computer on and it didn’t work for me.

1/4¨ Jack to 1/4¨ Jack

The industry-standard for connecting guitars, keyboards etc to mixers and professional audio equipment. Not the kind of cable you want to try and configure for your soundcard using various adaptors. If you’re using 1/4¨ jack cables then you’re probably already quite serious about music and should pursue a setup with a mixing desk and external audio interface.