# USB Audio Cards with a Raspberry Pi 

## Instructions

![](https://cdn-learn.adafruit.com/assets/assets/000/011/003/medium800/raspberry_pi_1475pi_LRG.jpg?1379448251)

The Raspberry Pi has an on-board audio jack, which is super handy for all kinds of sound effects and speech, just plug and go! However, for when you want better audio for music playback, a USB audio card can greatly improve the sound quality and volume, this tutorial will show you how.

This guide will also show you how to record audio via the headphone jack on the adapter

# Pre-requisites
First up, you will need a fully set up Raspberry Pi that is otherwise working and you can log into. [We have tons of tutorials on that front](http://learn.adafruit.com/category/raspberry-pi), so [get your SD card loaded with Raspbian](http://learn.adafruit.com/adafruit-raspberry-pi-lesson-1-preparing-and-sd-card-for-your-raspberry-pi)[(that's what we're using in this tutorial), and either](http://learn.adafruit.com/adafruits-raspberry-pi-lesson-3-network-setup)**[ssh](http://learn.adafruit.com/adafruits-raspberry-pi-lesson-3-network-setup)** in, log in with a monitor and keyboard, or [a USB console cable](http://learn.adafruit.com/adafruits-raspberry-pi-lesson-5-using-a-console-cable)  
Danger: 

- [Next Page](https://learn.adafruit.com/usb-audio-cards-with-a-raspberry-pi/figure-out-your-chipset.md)

## Featured Products

### USB Audio Adapter - Works with Raspberry Pi

[USB Audio Adapter - Works with Raspberry Pi](https://www.adafruit.com/product/1475)
The Raspberry Pi has an on-board audio jack, which is super handy for all kinds of sound effects and speech, just plug and go! However, for when you want better audio for music playback, a USB audio card can greatly improve the sound quality and volume. That's because the on-board audio is...

In Stock
[Buy Now](https://www.adafruit.com/product/1475)
[Related Guides to the Product](https://learn.adafruit.com/products/1475/guides)
### Stereo 3.5mm Plug/Plug Audio Cable - 6 feet

[Stereo 3.5mm Plug/Plug Audio Cable - 6 feet](https://www.adafruit.com/product/876)
This basic cable comes with two 3.5mm (1/8" headphone jack size) stereo connectors. It's fairly straight forward, you'll commonly need these to connect two audio devices together.  
  
Cable is 6 ft long.

In Stock
[Buy Now](https://www.adafruit.com/product/876)
[Related Guides to the Product](https://learn.adafruit.com/products/876/guides)
### Raspberry Pi Model B 512MB RAM

[Raspberry Pi Model B 512MB RAM](https://www.adafruit.com/product/998)
Adafruit ships the **Raspberry Pi Model B 512MB RAM** as of 10/18/2012.  
  
The Raspberry Pi® is a single-board computer developed in the UK by the Raspberry Pi Foundation with the intention of stimulating the teaching of basic computer science in schools. The Raspberry...

No Longer Stocked
[Buy Now](https://www.adafruit.com/product/998)
[Related Guides to the Product](https://learn.adafruit.com/products/998/guides)

## Related Guides

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