Plugging guitar into sound card

Posted on May 20, 2004 09:53 am
Rick
Member Since: May 24, 2002

This is a simple question to which I should know the answer to, but anyway, here it is. I use Roxio Easy CD Creator for burning cd-r's, which lately I've been burning from a component cd player by plugging a stereo 1/8" plug into my sound card. What happens if you plug a mono 1/8" plug coming from a guitar preamp into a stereo sound card? Will I get audio in one channel only? Reason I'm asking, is I'd like to plug my guitar in and use the Sound Editor to just record simple solo things (no multi-tracking).

[ Back to Top ]

flame
...bringing sexy back
Member
Since: Jul 01, 2002

May 20, 2004 10:33 am

itll work, but the sound'll be pretty poor, very thin and hissy probably...though not always, ive heard some examples of this working. mcing a cabinet will generally be the best bet though, and theres some stuff about that in our recording tips section (look left)

dbmasters
Administrator
Since: Apr 03, 2002

May 20, 2004 10:35 am

Oh, I dunno, if he plugs runs the guitar through a preamp into the sound card as he stated it should be OK...but yeah, you'll only get one channel.

flame
...bringing sexy back
Member
Since: Jul 01, 2002

May 20, 2004 10:39 am

if i read things properly id look less stoopid, thats for sure. however, id still say miking a cabinet will sound better myself....though that wasnt the question...

drake
Member
Since: Apr 13, 2004

May 20, 2004 10:26 pm

yeah man. you can totally do that! i still remember back a few years ago that is how i first got interested in recording. I plugged right into the 1/8" mic input in my SB live sound card its a primitive sound, but a sound nonetheless. (now, a couple thousand dollars later, i'm still trying to fine tune the sound i get!!). If you have some kind of simple EQ editing software, you can probably get rid of unwanted hiss and create a simple but nice sounding guitar track.

As far as micing a cabinet... that is the best bet, but only if you have a mic that can handle it. using a PC mic just wont cut it.

Good luck to ya!!

sestes
Member
Since: May 22, 2004

May 22, 2004 01:06 am

Yea, you can. I plug directly in and use Cakewalk's Guitar Pro and Amplitube and get some pretty good sounds. No pre-amp.

May not be great but it's cheap and fun.

Here is a sample
www.mookisoft.com/music/12BarUpTempoG.mp3