Reply To: A bit of trouble with my guitar

You want me to “proof” [sic] it for you, michi? Really? Okay.

The MIC IN is really no different than the imput of a guitar amp. It can be anywhere from 50 to, oh, about 80mV — that’s millivolts. Fortunately, PCs work at very low voltage, but you still need to alter the signal to whatever level the computer wants to see. Add a treble boost or other boost, such as a distortion box, into the chain and who knows what voltage we are then dealing with! So, aside from the PC having to deal with conversion of an analog signal into digital, there are now potentially heavy voltage issues for it to deal with. More work.

Now, in the case of a LINE IN, we are usually dealing with a -20dB jack or a similar animal. Guitar amps often have these in the form of a line in to send a preamp signal from another amp into the amp with line in, direct to the power amp stage and/or a send/return loop for effects or other uses. These are normally hotter, somewhat more balanced affairs. It’s not as heavily affected by some fuzz box added to the chain. This also explains why putting the common floor pedal effect into the send/returns loop without a “volume” adjustment or line level control as were common on earlier amps, will overload that device, creating bizarre results — unwanted distortion, popping sounds, and possibly even frying the effect pedal.

Again, the PC will have to deal with voltage issues from a line in, but ideally, since the line in’s value is set by the PC designer, it should be a value that the PC wants to “see.” No guarantees, of course, but theoretically this is supposed to be what happens. Therefore, by using line in, infinitoar should be bypassing at least one stage of signal modification. There’s simply no telling what is destined for a Mic In signal (volume mixer, voice or music enhancement, EQ, who knows?) without looking at his computer’s specs, but it is safe to assume that line is should be more direct. That’s why it’s called a “line in,” michi.

The whole point is that the more processing and signal shaping required, the more work a PC has to do — a real no brainer. Does it also mean lower latency for line in? Again, who knows, but, yes, maybe. Read my posts more carefully: That’s why I stated, “Line in may be better for lower latency,” as opposed to a mic in. Perhaps you missed that disclaimer in my post — I said, MAY — but all of this is worth explaining anyway. HILARIOUS? Yes, in the sense that I would have assumed you were already familiar with how all this stuff works. I normally only need to explain things like this to folks who are pretty new to digital recording. Weren’t you the user in that other thread that was getting Podium’s “Mix” metering numbers at the bottom right corner of Arranger view confused with the PC’s CPU rate?