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Joined: Jan 2007
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Journeyman
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Journeyman
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Why do they place those little holes at the back of sound cards so close together?
Finding 1/8th Jacks small enough to be neighbours is tough. How does everybody manage their line in, line out etc. ...Hank
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The jacks may be tiny, but they are also usually color coded.
Many also have a little icon next to them that indicates its purpose.
Check that out and make a note of which color is which connection for future reference.
--Mac
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There are three increasingly expensive solutions to this problem, which I dispatched in about 2001 in my setup.
1. Once you've followed Mac's advice, go to Radio Shack and buy extension cables for each of the audio ports that you use from your card and bring them around to the front of your computer. You might have to use some ingenuity in connector selection and so forth, but actually, a simple headphone extension cable should work for 3.5mm stereo connections that are the norm for headphone and mic jacks.
2. If you are using Win XP that has an empty 5.25" drive bay and blank panel in the case, consider picking up one of the 'platinum' series of SB Live or Audigy cards that have a front panel that mounts in a drive bay. I used an SB Live Platinum card for 5 or 6 years regularly, with perfectly fine sound quality - always connected on the front drive bay connector panel.
3. Ditch the PCI card based sound card or MOBO connections for a USB or FireWire (I would recommend USB these days - Firewire becomes increasingly rare) external audio/midi device.
That was my journey. Now I use a Tascam US-800, which after working out the kinks with the drivers, has turned out to be quite a very nice piece of gear. I use it with a Laptop. I've found that you can actually get a more usable combo out of a laptop and one of these kinds of devices. Make recordings just about anywhere. Not locked into the 'studio'. My laptop I got on clearance at Best Buy for under $450 and the US 800 was $99. I would be hard pressed to get the same combination in a desktop configuration as the US 800 has 6 nice and clean mic preamps on board. I also know that I need to plan on the laptop dying an early death compared to a desktop. That seems to be a trend.
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Joined: Jan 2007
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Journeyman
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Thanks for replies
I understand the color coding ok Mac, & I understand they use 3.5 mm plugs.It's just that the part you hold to plug in or out is so big on all my plugs & the sound card holes are so close to each other on every sound card I have ever owned (usually Creative)that it is difficult to get two plugs in side by side. I keep loosing stereo sound because line in is pushing sideways on line out causing a poor connection....Hank
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Joined: May 2000
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Quote:
Thanks for replies
I understand the color coding ok Mac, & I understand they use 3.5 mm plugs.It's just that the part you hold to plug in or out is so big on all my plugs & the sound card holes are so close to each other on every sound card I have ever owned (usually Creative)that it is difficult to get two plugs in side by side. I keep loosing stereo sound because line in is pushing sideways on line out causing a poor connection....Hank
You need to PIGTAIL those connections pronto.
Use of plugs aht are too large for the holes will damage the connections sooner or later. Too much moment angle on the plastic pcb mounted jacks.
You should obtain proper audio shielded pigtail cables that fit the jacks and area around them, that smaller short pigtail cable extends a short length and the other end should have a female jack on it to accept your larger plugs.
One should also avoid repeated plugging/unplugging at those jack points, as they are not designed for that kind of use/abuse.
--Mac
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Rutabago - the issue you describe should not be the case. It could be that you are using too high of a quality of a cable. Yes, I did type that.
What I mean is that one of the distinguishing features of higher end cables is that they put more meat on the 'grab' surfaces of the plug. These can interfere with each other if the hole spacing is tight. I have some Monster brand headphone extension cables that I inherited that have a grab handle diameter of 14 mm! (I just measured them with some calipers) These would be unusable in the SB Live card holes.
What you need is a cable where they've skimped on this thickness. Cheaper is better for this in most cases.
-Scott
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Joined: Jan 2007
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Journeyman
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Great replies, I will go to the pig butcher Ha, ha. The local Radio shack or as it is now called, The Source. Thank's all...Hank
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Yes, but why? The built in sound of your motherboard is not designed for this anyway. It's for regular folks to plug in a pair of cheapo headphones, a ten dollar computer mic and other basic consumer type stuff not for semi pro musicians trying to do home recording. For under a $100 get a good external USB interface with 1/4 XLR combo plugs, a 1/4 headphone out with it's own volume and much, much better electronics than what's included for free with your computer. Why are you messing around with these super cheap little mini plugs when you've spent $3-500 for Biab and other software and who knows what else for your musical hobby? If your hobby was building model wooden boats would you cut the wood pieces with a kitchen knife or would you have the proper, precise tools for the job?
Bob
Biab/RB latest build, Win 11 Pro, Ryzen 5 5600 G, 512 Gig SSD, 16 Gigs Ram, Steinberg UR22 MkII, Roland Sonic Cell, Kurzweil PC3, Hammond SK1, Korg PA3XPro, Garritan JABB, Hypercanvas, Sampletank 3, more.
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Quote:
If your hobby was building model wooden boats would you cut the wood pieces with a kitchen knife or would you have the proper, precise tools for the job?
hey, that's a pretty good analogy. It is surprising to me how many people will invest heavily in one aspect of a hobby, then go the cheapest route possible in another aspect... (oftentimes the one that would provide the higher benefit)
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