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I'm looking for a way to connect electric guitar to my android device and capture audio as an input byte stream.

For that purpose I need some device (call it converter) that will convert analog signal that comes outta guitar (or some guitar effect , doesn't matter... ) into digital signal.

Once it's done I need somehow to deliver digital signal from that converter into android device so I could read the byte stream and process the sound ...

I was googling for weeks before I've posted this question , please share your knowledge with me.

EDIT

I cannot occupy the earphones input , because I want to plug in actual earphones to hear myself playing...so this is not an option.

Ivelius
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    The game rocksmith uses [this](http://www.amazon.co.uk/UBI-Soft-Rocksmith-Real-Cable/dp/B007KGISK6) cable. It has an analog-digital converter built into it AFIK. then just use a usb to mini usb adaptor. You would just need to work out how to read the sound in. – chefburns Mar 13 '13 at 12:31
  • If you haven't seen it, check out [this video](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sz-9mxWa2VA). It shows how to build a dock that uses the headphone jack, similar to an [iRig](http://www.ikmultimedia.com/products/irig/). – Geobits Mar 13 '13 at 13:18
  • Thanks for your response. The first option looks like exactly what I need , but I cannot read the input stream without knowing the exact format of data it transfers.How will I decode the data ? I doubt Ubisoft will share a tech specs with me.Maybe there is some other way to fiugre out the data format ? – Ivelius Mar 14 '13 at 06:59
  • @chefburns, Most Android devices don't support USB audio. To my knowledge, only the Samsung Galaxy S3 does at the moment. – Brad Mar 14 '13 at 14:40

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Most Android devices have a headphone/microphone combo jack, as you have seen. You can use this input and headphones simultaneously. It's easy enough to build an adapter.

If you don't feel like making something yourself, buy a 3.5mm TRRS to RCA cable online. These are commonly sold as camcorder accessories. Then buy an adapter for the RCA back to a headphone jack. For the remaining RCA plug, buy an RCA to 1/4" plug adapter and plug that into your guitar. The impedance and levels will be off, so you may have to experiment, but it should work.

Once you have done this, you can use the regular input methods available to you for Android.

Hopefully, more Android devices will support USB Audio soon so you can get better quality. For now, the only input you can use just about everywhere is the external microphone input on the headphone jack.

Brad
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  • Yes I've thought about it ... Basically it should act like external microphone , but can I control programmaticaly input and output audio streams simultaneously ? Besides ... It sounds kinda dangerous for the device , isn't it ? – Ivelius Mar 14 '13 at 14:51
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    Yes, you can input and output audio simultaneously with Android. And... dangerous on what planet? I assure that it isn't. Just to be clear, I'm suggesting you plug your guitar directly into the phone. Do not plug an amp output into your phone. That would be dangerous. – Brad Mar 14 '13 at 15:06
  • Thanks...Your Suggestion is worth Trying . But Look What I've found following your advice [LINK](https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.extreamsd.usbaudiorecorderpro&hl=en). I wonder how they did it. – Ivelius Mar 14 '13 at 15:29
  • @Ivelius, The did it with USB host mode. Please read their description and read my answer again. Most devices do not support USB audio. Their software only works with specific devices. – Brad Mar 14 '13 at 16:08
  • What you've wrote regarding USB Audio seems to work only for an output audio stream at the moment.BTW I don't care if only some devices support USB Host Mode. It will suit my needs. I will rather go that direction, but the challenge will be to figure out communication protocol for external usb A2D converter (audio sampler). – Ivelius Mar 15 '13 at 08:49