What types of connectors are there on a sound card in a computer and what are they for?

Built-in sound cards

You should know that all 3.5 mm jack connector slots are color coded. Reassigning their functions is impossible in most cases, therefore, for the system to work correctly, you must immediately connect everything correctly.

Most often, the built-in audio speaker has three connectors:

• Line input – blue connector, which is used to connect external audio devices (for example, a CD player or electric guitar);
• Microphone input – a red or pink slot that is used to connect a monaural microphone.
• Line output – light green or green socket. Used to connect 2.0 or 2.1 speaker systems, as well as headphones.

Since the sound card is located directly on the motherboard, you can find them on the back cover of the system unit, usually at the bottom. In the case of a laptop or netbook, there are only two connectors - a stereo output and a microphone input, and they are usually located on the left side of the case.

They are not color coded, but there are schematic images of connected devices printed next to them on the plastic, so it is difficult to confuse which is which.

Connectors and adapters - all types

External devices

The above connectors are always present in discrete sound cards - both those connected via a PCI slot and those adapted for USB. However, this is not limited to this matter - there can be more of them, up to 6 connectors. What is this for?

For connecting a speaker system with a large number of satellites - for example, 5.1 format. Such sockets are marked as follows:

• Gray (Side) – side speakers in 8.1 systems;
• Black – rear speakers in quad systems;
• Lime or green (Front) – front speakers in systems with the number of satellites from 4;
• Orange – central monitor or subwoofer in systems with 6 or more speakers.

Also, such a sound card may have a software-controlled Flex port, which is usually marked white. A system that supports the AC'97 codec version 2.3 and higher, when connecting a device, asks how exactly such a port will be used - for audio input or output and to what type of equipment.

However, analog outputs do not always satisfy the needs of true audio connoisseurs. For this reason, an external sound card can be equipped with additional ports:

• S/PDIF is a digital interface to which you can connect a home theater or a powerful audio system. There are two varieties: optical and coaxial.

• MIDI/gameport – a slot for connecting digital musical instruments or a game controller.

For expensive sound card models, the number of ports of a certain type may not be limited to one, so you should read the specification before purchasing. For example, a professional musician may need several MIDI ports - to connect a sampler, sequencer and synthesizer.

BI-AMPING

Bi-amping is a speaker wiring method that uses two channels of amplification to power a single speaker. For a two-channel amplifier to operate, each speaker must have two sets of input terminals. This feature is available on some floorstanding and bookshelf speakers.

Bi-amping doubles the power the speaker receives. It can improve audio performance by separately controlling bass and treble frequencies. Bi-amping is an option on receivers that have assignable amplification channels, such as home theater AV receivers. Read more about bi-amping here.