How to connect a guitar?

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To connect a guitar to a computer it is necessary in thatIf you want to record the songs on a PC or deal with sound processing. To do this, you will need an instrument cable with jack plugs and a 3.5mm mini-jack adapter. Consider how to connect the guitar to the computer with their help.

Connecting the guitar to the PC: Instruction

To connect a guitar, it is better to have a computer witha good discrete and sound card - then the records created with it will be of good quality. The very process of connecting the instrument to a PC consists of these stages:

Plug one end of the instrument cable into the appropriate socket into the guitar. It is usually located at the bottom of the instrument on the right.
At the other end of the cable, fixpreviously prepared adapter to mini-jack. Connect it to the front panel of your PC in the audio jack. If it is not there, connect the cable to the MIC In connector (pink) on the back of the system unit. You can also connect it to the Line In input (it's blue), but keep in mind that then the guitar will sound muffled, but then, if necessary, you can adjust this nuance.
If you managed to successfully connect the guitar, a window will appear on the PC screen, where it will be written that the system has detected new equipment. You need to click on the "OK" button.
Now in the same window, go to theMic in at rear panel ". In it, set the desired volume level for the instrument, without forgetting to turn it on at the same time. If the sound is not enough for you, then you can increase it with the "Microphone amplification" button. There you will need to adjust the volume level in decibels.

Installing software and drivers

After you managed to connect the guitar andperform basic settings, you will hear a "raw" sound from your speakers. To make it as close as possible to "live", you will need to download the program (Guitar Rig 5 and ASIO drivers.) All this is installed in the usual mode on the PC.

Run the program Guitar Rig 5, then you will have a window where you can perform audio settings. You need to click on the Audio tab.
Oppose the "Drive" item to "ASIO".
Near the "Device" line, select the value "ASIO4ALL v2" from the options in the drop-down menu.
Opposite the "Status" item, set the value to "Running".
Near the line "Sample Rate" you will need to select the value "44100".
Now in the same window click on the button "ASIOConfig ", then a tab will appear to configure the installed drivers. They need to include a linear output and an input, then a clear sound will appear. To do this, you need to select the items "Realtek HD Audio output" and "Line in at rear".
Then pay attention to the left side of the settings window. In it you can choose different effects for a more original guitar sound at your own discretion.

Alternative options

The first method was to connect a guitarwithout additional equipment. But you can also do this with special devices, such as preamps or direct boxes. The guitar in them is connected via a cable to a special connector. To the computer, a direct box or preamplifier is connected using a special cable that comes with it. It is set to the line input of the card. It is important to note that you still need to install the ASIO driver, as only with it you can achieve the highest quality sound and use special effects when composing songs.

Also you can be useful materials from the Guitar section, in particular, these articles: