--- You wrote: About the Wings card. I'm not a studio engineer but just a guy who would like to have the ability to edit some video or do a voice recording to make files for a book on tape or CD. I read where some record their band using a Mac G3 and free downloaded software, such as "Coaster". Is it all that hard? Could someone provide a simpler explanation of this card. Do I need to voice mic's to get stero? Does it have to be digital stero? Is analog stero acceptable to the average person, and will anyone, except the dog, know the difference? --- end of quote --- If your personality card has only audio or that's all you want to use at first, plug it in and see if it works. Go to the sound control panel in 9.1 and see what selections are offered for "input'. You may have "RCA" which are the big round plugs on the card, left and right. You may have "sound in" which is the 1/8th inch socket that accepts a stereo plug. You should also see "mic input" which uses the same 1/8th inch socket as the "inputs" but the mic has a slightly longer plug than the standard 1/8" stereo plug.
If none of this stuff appears in the sound control panel, you should reinstall with the card present. I think the mic input is mono only, and the plug propriatary to Apple, but I'm not sure. The RCA inputs and the 1/8" inputs are "line-level" inputs that would work off the earphone outputs of your Walkman or similar sources. Outboard mixers put out "line-level" audio, as do microphone preamps. If you use a mic on the long plug, the Mac takes the low level output of the microphone and does its own preamplification. Maybe someone can clarify whether Mac actually supplies a stereo mic for this input. So if you want to record stereo sound from a microphone on the Mac, I think you need to get a stereo microphone (which is actually two mics in a single case) or a matched pair of mics, and a mic preamplifier or a mixer with mic inputs. Either one would then be plugged into the line level inputs of your card (either the RCA jacks or the 1/8" socket using a stereo plug.) It isn't clear to me what you mean by analog stereo or digital stereo. Analog sound is what is put out of the earphone jack of a walkman or other source. Microphones put out analog audio too. In an analog audio signal the electrical signal varies with the pitch and volume of the sound. Digital audio is represented by a lot of zeros and ones, the digital language of computers. When you input analog sound into your computer, it digitizes it. It is then saved as a file on a hard disk, just like a word processor document. When you want to listen to it, the computer must convert the digital file on your disk to an analog audio signal, which is output at your wings card to an amplifier and then to speakers, or if nothing else is attached to your card, the computer's speaker. Any sound work you do on the computer is "digital." If you never digitize your audio, but use only tapes to edit (we used to cut tapes with a razor blade) then the sound has never left the analog relm. But no one can really tell the difference between sound that has been digitally processed and sound that has only been analog (assuming you use the best analog equipment.) Digital audio is a miricle! It can be extremely high quality, even with inexpensive equipment. It is amazingly easier to work with than sound on analog equipment. You already have most of what you need, I think. Experiment! Hope this helps. Rich -- G-List is sponsored by <http://lowendmac.com/> and... Small Dog Electronics http://www.smalldog.com | Refurbished Drives | -- We have Apple Refurbished Monitors in stock! | & CDRWs on Sale! | Support Low End Mac <http://lowendmac.com/lists/support.html> G-List list info: <http://lowendmac.com/lists/g-list.shtml> --> AOL users, remove "mailto:"; Send list messages to: <mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To unsubscribe, email: <mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]> For digest mode, email: <mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Subscription questions: <mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Archive: <http://www.mail-archive.com/g-list%40mail.maclaunch.com/> Using a Mac? Free email & more at Applelinks! http://www.applelinks.com
