Connecting Your Equipment - CAKEWALK sonar x3 User Manual

Connecting your equipment

There are several types of audio interfaces (sound cards). CardBus (PCI), USB/USB2 and
FireWire are the most common. Laptops can use an audio PCMCIA card (PC Card). Many
audio interfaces also have MIDI inputs and some have built in MIDI synthesizers as well. This
section covers the various audio connection options.
Analog and digital audio inputs
There are two basic types of audio inputs:
• Analog. Analog inputs allow you to connect a guitar, microphone or other instrument,
either directly to your computer (if you computer has analog audio inputs) or via an audio
interface. The audio interface takes the signal from your mic or guitar and converts the
analog input to digital. Analog inputs are very common and are standard in virtually all
consumer sound cards that are included with most PC desktop and laptop computers.
• Digital. Digital inputs allow you to connect other digital devices, such as the optical output
of a CD player or MP3 player, either directly to your computer (if your computer has digital
audio inputs) or to an audio interface. Common digital inputs include external analog to
digital converters, popular guitar processors like the Line 6 POD and other digital sources.
Installation, registration and basic setup

Connecting your equipment

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