I had this crazy idea.
The headphone jack on my PC is right next to the microphone jack. If I wanted to record the streaming audio that my computer was playing, could I conceivably plug an auxiliary cable into them, creating a direct path from "audio out" to "audio in" or would that make my computer explode or something?
There is typically a software setting that allows you to record what you are hearing on your computer. If you had revealed what computer you were using (PC? MAC? Linux?) we might have been able to offer specific advice. Looping from an output back into an input is typically not recommended.
No, you cannot connect the headphone output from your computer over into the mic input. The headphone level is much much higher than the mic input is expecting and not compatible. Not to mention that the mic input is typically monaural.
you can do that but to avoid feedbacks you need to mute the recording tracks so the sound doesn't go out to your speakers.
By the way if you don't mute this track your computer won't explode but your ears probably will.
