PCTech Forums

Most of onboard sound systems have separate Line In & Mic In ports. To my understanding Line In has better S/N ratio as compared to Mic In and is more appropriate to connect external sources like TV Tuner Card Output or even musical instruments like electric guitar to PC and record the source.

I notice that there's a shared Line In and Mic In port on some of the sound cards designed for PCI or PCI-e slots. In this case where it is single port, how does it perform while recording using external sources.
Thanks.

Using a soundblaster X-Fi Xtreme Audio 7.1 card, i record guitar via the shared mic/line input and its records quite clear. I have no complaints about it. The SNR to me has been dependent upon the software your recording with, I use Acid and it does well.