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What
are you recording?
There
are basically two main audio signal types: Line level and
Mic level. Without getting into complicated boring
details, Line Level is a stronger signal than mic level
and in most cases, does not need to be preamplified.
Example
of line levels:
Output of keyboards, drum machines, tape recorders, mixers,
guitar FX processor, etc...
Connectors
for analog line signals:
1/4
Inch Jack
1/8
Inch Jack
 RCA
Jack
Microphone
Level signal:
You
will find to types of microphone connectors depending on what
kind of mic you have. If you have a cheap consumer level microphone,
chances are, it will have a connector like this:
Consumer
Unbalanced
We
recommend a Low-impedance signal microphones that uses a connector
like this:
 Standard
Balanced
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Digital
signal
When
it comes to digital recording, audio gets converted into digital
binary code by an A/D converter (analog to digital) and then
decoded back by a D/A converter (digital to analog). Audio
can
also travel under digital form thru digital cables. Some devices
offers digitals outputs which allow you to pass digital audio
from a device to another with no additional conversions.
The
two most common type of digital connectors:
SPDIF
coaxial
(a single cable always contains both left and right channel)
 SPDIF
optical
(a single cable always contains both left and right channel)
or ADAT litepipe
(Passes up to eight discrete channels at once
Going
from one to another
You
still can convert a Low-Z (600ohms) microphone cable to a
Hi-Z (10Kohms) 1/4 inch input with a special adaptor.A passive
XLR to 1/4 inch will not do the trick.
Note: By all means, the use of a mic preamp is much
better for recording purposes
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