(my apologies for this 'mishap" - as Derak calls it! ---Otmar) Due, presumably, to a cut and paste mishap, my answer didn't appear in the response summary for this thread, although answer (3) appeared twice, the second time with my name attached to it. To avoid repeating the other information provided, I will modify my answer slightly, and add more detail. Most Y-splitters are intended to divide an output, such as splitting the headphone output of a computer into two signals to drive two sets of headphones. Putting two headphones in parallel like this cuts the resistance in half, and can cause a problem. But it rarely does, in my experience, with modern light-weight headphones connected to computers or consumer AV devices. If the same Y-splitter is used to connect two microphones into one microphone input, other problems can arise. This kind of splitter connects the output of the microphones to each other, as well as to the computer. As mentioned, electricity is metaphorically blind, and so the output from one microphone will try to flow through the other microphone (turning it into a speaker, for some microphone designs). If one student is speaking, while the other is silent, the signal strength is divided, but the sound may be OK. If both are speaking, the microphones are fighting each other, and distortion or interference is possible. The success rate depends on the specific microphones used. It sounds like this has worked for several other people on this list. I prefer to use a different kind of Y-adapter for microphones. This adapter accepts two mono microphone jacks as input, and passes them to the computer as a stereo signal, without mixing or combining the microphones electrically. One microphone comes into the computer as the left channel of the stereo signal, and the other as the right channel. This allows discreet adjustment or editing of the sound from each student, such as boosting the volume level from a student who speaks more softly than the other. For anyone listening to the audio, having one student on the left channel, and one on the right, helps the listener keep track of who is talking at a given instant, and gives a sense of space to the recording. Derek Derek Roff Language Learning Center Ortega Hall 129, MSC03-2100 University of New Mexico Albuquerque, NM 87131-0001 505/277-7368, fax 505/277-3885 Internet: [log in to unmask] *********************************************** LLTI is a service of IALLT, the International Association for Language Learning (http://iallt.org/), and The Consortium for Language Teaching and Learning (http://www.languageconsortium.org/). Join IALLT at http://iallt.org. Otmar Foelsche, LLTI-Editor ([log in to unmask]) ***********************************************