Reference Guide

62 Introduction
Setup
To connect an electric guitar or keyboard to your computer
• If your sound card has a 1/8 inch input jack (built-in sound cards that come with your computer
usually do), plug your 1/4 inch mono guitar or audio cable into a 1/8 inch stereo adapter, and then
plug the 1/8 inch adapter into the microphone input or line input jack on your computer sound
card. If you are connecting a keyboard, the audio cable must go from the keyboard’s audio out or
line out jack to the sound card input jack. 1/8 inch stereo adapters are available at consumer
electronic supply stores.
Or
• If you use a professional or “prosumer” sound card, there is probably a 1/4 inch input jack on your
sound card or audio hardware interface that you can plug your guitar cable or audio cable into.
To connect a microphone to your computer
• If your sound card has a 1/8 inch input jack (built-in sound cards that come with your computer
usually do), and your microphone cable has a 1/4 inch plug on the end, plug the mic cable into a
1/8 inch stereo adapter, and then plug the 1/8 inch adapter into the microphone input jack on your
computer sound card. 1/8 inch stereo adapters are available at consumer electronic supply
stores.
• If you use a professional or “prosumer” sound card, there is probably a 1/4 inch input jack on your
sound card or audio hardware interface that you can plug your mic cable into.
• If your mic has a cable with an XLR plug on the end, and your sound card or audio hardware
interface has a 1/4 inch input jack, plug the mic cable into an XLR-to-quarter inch adapter, and
then plug your mic cable into your audio hardware. If your audio hardware has an XLR input, of
course it’s better to use that.
• You can also plug your mic into a mixer or pre-amp, and connect the mixer or pre-amp to an input
jack on your audio hardware. This is usually the best method.
Guitar
Computer Sound Card
(or external audio interface)
Headphones or Speakers
DI Box