Hardware Reference
In-Depth Information
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Stereo line in or audio in connector (light blue)
—With the line in connector, you
can record or mix sound signals from an external source, such as a stereo system cam-
corder, to the computer's hard disk. In place of a dedicated line in jack, some sound
cards use a multipurpose jack (Creative calls it a “FlexiJack”) to support line in, mi-
crophonein,andopticalout.Seetheaudiocardormotherboarddocumentationforde-
tails.
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Rear out and subwoofer/center or speaker connectors (no standard color)
—Vir-
tually all modern soundcards anddesktop systems with integrated audio include jacks
that support rear, center, and subwoofer output for use in 5.1 and greater surround au-
dio systems. Systems that support 5.1 audio use three jacks: one for front (stereo) au-
dio, one for rear audio, and one for center/subwoofer audio. Systems that support 6.1
or7.1audiomightfeatureadditionaljacksormightreassignrearandcenter/subwoofer
jacks with software to provide additional output. Depending on your software driver,
you might need to run a setup program provided with your sound card or motherboard
to enable surround audio. Alternatively, selecting the surround audio setup you use
through your OS's speaker configuration utility might be sufficient.
Note
If you have only a single speaker/line out connector, you must carefully adjust your mixer
volume control and the volume control on your amplified speakers to find the best quality
sound. Don't use powered speakers with an already-amplified sound if you can avoid it.
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Microphoneinormonoinconnector(pink)
—Themonoinconnectorisusedtocon-
nect a microphone for recording your voice or other sounds to disk. This microphone
jack records in mono—not in stereo—and is therefore not suitable for high-quality
music recordings. To record in stereo, use the line in jack. Many audio adapter cards
useAutomatic GainControl(AGC)toimproverecordings.Thisfeatureadjuststhere-
cording levels on the fly. A 600ohm—10,000ohm dynamic or condenser microphone
works best with this jack. Some inexpensive audio adapters use the line in connector
instead of a separate microphone jack. Some sound cards use a multipurpose jack in
place of a dedicated microphone jack.
Although it was once necessary to connect analog or digital audio cables between an op-
tical drive and a sound card to play audio CDs, current sound hardware and versions of
Windows Media Player and other media player programs support digital playback.
In addition to these connectors for analog audio I/O, many systems also have provision
for digital audio output:
