PC Audio Cable - Connecting Your Computer To Your Speakers

When you need to connect your personal computer to speakers or maybe to a microphone, you will use a PC audio cable.

The most common connector out from a PC is a 3.5 mm audio connector, which you might recognize as the connector at the end of your audio headset. Into that female jack on your computer, where you normally would plug in your headset, you can plug in a set of speakers to improve and increase the sound reproduced by your personal computer. This jack is commonly defined as an audio OUT jack, marked with the symbol of a headset, because the sound travels out from the computer into either a headset or a set of speakers. External speakers which are designed to be used with PC’s come in two varieties: speakers which have minimal amplification capacity and are usually powered by batteries if they are powered at all beyond the power they may drain from your computer, an speakers which plug into the wall and provide very powerful amplification. The latter, naturally, cost significantly more than the former. No matter how good your PC audio cables are, if the speakers are of limited quality, the sound reproduction will disappoint you.

If your computer is equipped with an audio IN jack, usually denoted by the image of a microphone, this is where you would plug in an external microphone. The sounds you pick up with the microphone will then enter your computer through that IN jack. This jack is also commonly a 3.5 mm connector. Do not confuse the jacks.

Other cabling is possible to and from your personal computer, through cables which connect to equipment which uses other kinds of plugs. This is the case, for example, with most professional quality equipment, which often uses RCA connectors or 4 pin mini-DIN connectors. For this purpose, PC audio cables exist which convert the common audio OUT 3.5 mm connector into a connector which works with one of these other connections standards.

Many PC audio cables come combined with a video cable. This additional plug commonly uses the external monitor multi-pin SVGA slot. You may or may not need to connect the video for your purposes. The cost and quality of PC audio cables is as varied as the models and companies that produce them, and PC audio cables are carried by most retailers who sell audio and video equipment.

Most audio cables are not very long, so be sure to position or arrange your personal computer in such a way as to have enough cable for your needs. Be aware that some cables are specifically for IBM-compatible personal computers, while others are strictly for use with Apple Mac computers.

You can connect your personal computer to your speaker system and even to your TV, in order to take advantage of the quality of those speakers. If you are connecting your PC to your TV, you might even decide to connect the video cable also, and then you can see on the TV what you are displaying on your screen.