Recording Techniques

[nathan123654]

Im kinda new to audacity, so i have a couple of quick question. I tried recording earlier today, and everything was great. However when I tried recording again, everything was considerably quieter despite my guitar and effects pedal having the volume controls set at the same level. I plugged in my guitar through my pedal to record. I also plugged in my bass through the record out on my amp. Could this have damaged my sound card? I also thought that although i plugged my converter into the pink microphone input I recorded using line-in on the drop-down toolbar. However now when I select line-in, it doesnt record. However I might have gotten the information wrong and I might have been using the microphone setting on the drop-down toolbar. Is this damage to my sound card? HELP!

[steve]

You should be using the "Line in" connector, which is usually colour coded as light blue.
Check your hardware documentation - a few cards do not use the correct colour codes.
Putting a line level signal into a microphone input can in some cases destroy the input circuitry.