How to Make a USB Sound Card

A USB sound card is an external adapter for mics or other audio devices to prevent the pickup of unwanted noise from your computers power,fan or hard disk.

This one can be used only for recording.

Watch the video for better understanding

To make a usb soundcard, you'll need:

1. An old but working webcam that has a mic
2. A plastic box
3. A 100K Potentiometer
4. A 6.5mm socket.

Please don't any this without an adults supervision.

Start by opening up the webcam

Once open, pry open the circuit board and remove it from the housing Locate the microphone and the pins that its soldered to Heat up the pins and desolder the mic strip 2 thin wires and connect them to the mic pins point on the circuit board Solder them in place push the insulation as far upto the board as possible to avoid a short circuit snip off the excess ends of the wire Strip 2 thicker wires and connect them to the thin wires. Now solder them in place. Make Sure you dont use copper wire for any of this.

Connect the other ends of the thicker wire to the pins of the

6.5mm socket Check continuity on a multimeter to ensure youve connected the right pins Now solder all the connections

Cut another 2 pieces of the thicker wire

Were gonna connect these to the potentiometer. Connect the left pin to one wire and the center pin to another. Each wire connects to the input and the output. So when the dial turns anticlockwise, the input is shorted but when the dial turns clockwise, the input is open and flows to the output without resistance.

Connect the wires to the pot and solder them in place Now connect their other ends in parallel to the thin wires and solder them

Using a sharp object, poke holes in the plastic box to fit the pot and the 6.5mm connector
On second thought, heat the tool before you attempt to make holes Keep doing this till the holes are big enough for the components. With a plyer, pull out any excess plastic and File down the surface

Wrap up your exposed connections with insulation tape

Unscrew the nuts of the components and fit them into the box. Screw the nuts back on and tighten them with a spanner or plyer. Saw a slit onto the side of the box to make room for the wire. Bend it off with a long nose plyer.

If your webcam has an inbuilt light, you can make another hole to indicate power. For precaution, cover any exposed circuitry with insulation tape.

Plug it in to your computer, connect a mic and turn up the volume!

On windows 7, You should see it under recording devices.

You can rename it to a device of your choice to identify it while recording. You can also change the icon.

SO go ahead and customise it with stickers or whatever.

You have a USB sound card.