PC to Stereo crossover

[hallam2003]

Anyone know how to wire a connection from my pc sound card out to the input on my stereo, the sound card obviously used to the little "mini-headphone jack" and the input on the steroe in regular stereo connection... I made a crossover and it worked for a while but it was really unstable...so I'm just using a CD player car adapter right now... the headphone wire has 4 wires, a red-copper set and a green-copper set... and I'm using some extra car stereo cabling my brother had for the extra stereo cable...it obviously only has 2 wires...I think i tried about every combination,,,I'm almost sure it has something to do with the grounding and all that,,,man it was doing some weird stuff... like I could hol the wire from the speaker, and If i wasn't touching anything, then there wasn't any noise, but if I touched the computer case then it would start to reverb...It was kinda scary, I don't really want to fry my sound card, but that's what I go it for, so hey... so If anyone knows how to wire it up, then tell me please...

[Undertow]

You really don't need to worry about frying your sound card, unless you cross some wires, but you should know to avoid that anyway. I had my PC hooked up to my stereo and no matter what I did I picked up a local gospel radio station, so it wasn't worth it. Go down to your local Circuit City, Good Guys, etc and tell them you need their highest quality 1/8" stereo plug to RCA adapter, and their highest quality RCA patch cables. You may also want to invest in some in-line interference blockers, that either plug into the RCA's or the AC power outlet. I got myself a AC power outlet filter but it didn't do a whole lot. I also had the same interference on my PC speakers, so it was obviosly coming straight from my computer.

These things might work for you, and I would try them first, but they didn't work for me. I ended up getting new PC speakers (Altec Lansing 5.1 surround) and a new stereo reciever. While this is extremely expensive, your ears will thank you. There's nothing worse than having to listen to someone preaching the bible while you're fraggin it up in Quake III. Hooking your stereo is awesome, and sounds beautiful in games and with MP3's, but if you have a high quality 5-point surround PC speaker system, you'll never even think about hooking your PC up to your stereo again. Hope this helped! http://sysopt.earthweb.com/forum/smile.gif

[voogru]

Yeah Yeah lets go Out and Buy a $300 dollar Speaker System Its Like paying 50 Bux for a can of soda I got one of em Cables (i Think this is what you may be looking for)
<IMG SRC="http://www.geocities.com/voogru/cable.jpg" border=0> I got another one but it has an adapter to make it work but I listen to MP3's on Vandersteen Speackers
www.vandersteen.com (http://www.vandersteen.com)

I got a Number 2 Sig http://sysopt.earthweb.com/forum/biggrin.gif and I never hear ANYTHING better not even bose they sound Like Paper Cups! These are the Best speakers for the cash!

-voogru
BOSE: also Like Paying 50 Bucks for a can of soda http://sysopt.earthweb.com/forum/wink.gif

[This message has been edited by voogru (edited 11-13-2000).]


Fixed link. -Socalgal

[This message has been edited by socalgal (edited 11-14-2000).]

[Ygor]

Basically what Undertow said.

As for this part: it obviously only has 2 wires...I think i tried about every combination,,,I'm almost sure it has something to do with the grounding and all that,,,man it was doing some weird stuff...

Yes, it does have to do with grounding. Stereo headphone jacks are 3 conductor, as are stereo sound cards with just one output jack. This gives you 1 wire for the right +, 1 for the left +, and a common ground wire that goes to both.

Just using the + (signal) wires was one way that people got cheap "quad" sound back in the early 70's for the rear channels. It does sound weird all by itself.

Most people do buy sound systems the wrong way around. If you are particular about your sound, always choose your speakers first, then what drives them.

And the best speakers for you are always what sounds best to you
and you can afford. Or can afford in a few months if it's that important.

I've gone in to listen to advertised Bose speakers and left with another type I like much better. This was before 5.1 surround, so a matched system is best if you want to go that route.

[Warthog]

I would never go for a "pc speaker" setup. You usually cannot customize the speakers or anything else. With a "real" stereo, you can customize anything. Also, pc speakers generally come in small sizes - you're not gonna get a subwoofer like mine (15" Klipsch) in a pc speaker package.

My new $850 system:
- Pioneer 100x4 w/all of the "features" (Dolby this and that, 5.1, etc.)
- pair of Boston Acoustic CR-6's, 5 1/4" woofers as fronts
- one monster 15" Klipsch subwoofer
- pair of **** 6 1/2" rear speakers (old)

All of this is hooked up to my computer via the cable Undertow suggested. I have a 19" Trinitron FD monitor, so (when I get it) DVD movies will be great.

Eventually, I will have BA rears and center.

Warthog

[Graham]

Hallam,
The mini jack that goes to the soundcard has three conductors (old fashioned terms, tip, ring, sleeve), the tip is one channel, the ring is the other channel, and the sleeve is the common, if you look at the plug you will see what I mean ( the long silvery bit is the sleeve). On the stereo I assume you are using rca(phono) connectors, these have a pin in the middle and an outer connector that starts some way up this pin. These are single connectors i.e. one for each channel. You need to connect form the tip of the minijack to the centre of a phono plug pin, and from the ring of the minijack to another phono plug pin, you then need to connect the sleeve of the minijack to both phono plug outers, use shielded cable (one pair sheilded figure of eight is ideal then you can connect the commons at the minijack end), done job. Sounds comlicated, but it aint really, I will draw a picture for you and post it later. Having said all this, I think you will find an adaptor easy to get from many sources (Radio Shack is an obvious place to try). If you want to make one you will need...

1 stereo minijack 2.5mm or 3.5mm (depends on the soundcard)
a suitable length of screened cable (try to keep a short as poss)
2 RCA (phono) plugs different colours
A soldering iron and simple tools

Also be sure to use line out, not speaker out from the soundcard for impedance matching.

G

[hallam2003]

Thanx everyone, especially Graham.
I guess i shoudl have clearified that I DO NOT want to buy anything... Graham, I would be very interested in that picture if you get some time... but I think I get what your saying... With all the sound **** that I have worked up over the years, and my brothers car audio junk downstairs, I actually found most of the stuff you said...
I might go steal some of the RCA wire from someone, I have the wire, and the little jacks on the end of them, but they're just not exactly connected... and i don't want to mess with soldering that too much...


--Also be sure to use line out, not speaker out from the soundcard for impedance matching.--

That could help me some, I didn't even think of that once... oh well..


Hallam

[Warthog]

Just out of curiosity, what are you using as speakers? http://sysopt.earthweb.com/forum/smile.gif

Warthog

[OuTpaTienT]

hehe, voogru, stop capitalizing the word Out. Makes me think someone's saying my name. http://sysopt.earthweb.com/forum/smile.gifuT

[hallam2003]

just running it through an old Zenith system w/ stock speakers. I don't have the specs anymore but it lookes like they have about a 3 1/2 in midrange, and a 1/2in tweeter, no subs or anything... I'm geting a nice new system, nothing huge, It's a shelf system, probably not going over $250US... Would like to set up a nice componet based system (reciever separate from CD player, tape deck, etc.) but never will, gotta save money for more computers before I mess with sound...

Hallam

[Warthog]

For me, stereo and comp are very close to each other http://sysopt.earthweb.com/forum/wink.gif

Warthog the Audiophile

[lowrider]

Here's what I did...
First, I bought a Y-adapter for the output on my soundcard. Then I bought an adapter that, on one end plugs into a branch on the Y, and on the other end has RCA's that plug into my stereo. Then I plugged my computer speakers into the other branch of the Y adapter.
The setup works great and only costs about $10 for the adapters.

[lowrider]

Here's what I did...
First, I bought a Y-adapter for the output on my soundcard. Then I bought an adapter that, on one end plugs into a branch on the Y, and on the other end has RCA's that plug into my stereo. Then I plugged my computer speakers into the other branch of the Y adapter.
The setup works great and only costs about $10 for the adapters.