What is an external sound card? How to connect an external sound card to a mobile phone

Understanding External Sound Cards

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An external sound card, also known as a USB sound card, is a device that serves as an alternative to the built-in sound card integrated into a computer’s motherboard. Unlike built-in sound cards, which are connected directly to the motherboard through interfaces such as PCI, ISA, or PCI-E, external sound cards are connected via a USB port.

External sound cards, like internal ones, can be categorized into two types: soft sound cards and hard sound cards.

• Soft Sound Card: An external soft sound card functions similarly to an integrated soft sound card on a motherboard. However, external sound cards can offer better sound quality and additional features because they often use a higher-quality CODEC (Coder-Decoder) and may incorporate new circuitry.
• Hard Sound Card: An external hard sound card is equipped with its own independent audio control chip, just like an internal hard sound card connected via PCI. The main difference is that the external hard sound card requires a separate system interface program to transmit audio data through the USB bus.

Connecting an External Sound Card to a Mobile Phone

1. Connect the External Sound Card: Insert the left plug into the 3.5mm headphone jack of your phone.
2. Set Up the Adapter Cable: Use a 3.5mm cable to connect the input port of the adapter cable to the external sound card. Then, connect the sound card’s output port.
3. Headphone Monitoring (Optional): If you are monitoring audio through headphones, connect them to the sound card’s output port. If not, you can leave this connection unplugged.
4. Prepare the Necessary Cables:
   • Get a 3.5mm 4-segment headphone plug for the recording cable.
   • Obtain a 3.5mm to 3.5mm recording cable with an audio 3-segment headphone plug. These cables are typically available at computer repair shops.
5. Complete the Connections:
   • Plug the 3.5mm 4-segment headphone plug into the mobile phone.
   • Connect the 3.5mm to 3.5mm recording cable: one end goes into the headphone output of the sound card, while the other end plugs into the red port of a one-to-two adapter cable.
   • Insert your headphones into the green port of the one-to-two adapter.
   • Finally, plug the black 4-segment connector from the one-to-two adapter into the mobile phone’s headphone jack.

With this setup, you don’t need to install any additional drivers on your computer. Simply power on the external sound card, and you’re ready to start singing karaoke or recording audio.