Is my 1/8" Stereo Out Enough???

[Nate74]

I'm certain if my search skills were better I could find the answer to this. But alas....

If all I want to do is hook up a small set of active monitors to my office PC, is it advisable to use some sort of "Y" adapter out of my soundcard's 1/8" stereo output to send signal to the speakers or is there a soundcard out there with 1/4" outputs only.

I have a MIA MIDI on my studio computer, but I'd rather not pay for all the input options it offers when all I really want is the outputs... (read: cheap bastard)

 

[cusebassman]

Your monitors will accept line-level input, so going from the output of your stock soundcard should be fine. I'd been doing it with my laptop's headphone out (I know, I know, not exactly line-level), through a Y-adapter to two RCA unbalanced jacks, which I ran to the RCA inputs on the monitors.

This was in the interim between getting rid of my analog console and getting my Firepod - now I just set OS X to send its audio output to the Firepod, and the monitors are hooked to the Firepod as well But, you should be fine. What, if any, interface are you using - if you're using more than the soundcard for input, you might very well be able to set the output of your system's audio to that device, and leave the monitors hooked to it alone.

 

[Nate74]

Cool, off to Radio Shack I go. Since this PC was originally intended only as a work PC (CAD, Office, etc.) I'm not even sure what sound card is in it. I just looked at the back of it last night to confirm it has 1/8" outs...

I wouldn't mind a small upgrade but from my quick look at the online places I'd be looking at over $100 to get RCA's or 1/4" outs, and those cards all seem to have a variety of input options too.

 

[Robert D]

It's not the size of the plug, it's what's coming out of it.
Ok, snickers aside, it's about the converters, supporting circuitry, and drivers, not whether it's RCA, 1/4", XLR, or 1/8".

 

[Nate74]

OK, I laughed like an 8 year old...

I agree that converters matter in a studio environment, but in this case, I'm hopeful for casual listening and occassionally checking mixes, a standard type soundcard will suffice.

I'm honestly not crazy about a $3 radio shack "Y" addapter being anywhere in my audio chain, but given the alternative is a $100+ soundcard with way more functionality than I need on that machine...

I guess with all the interest in MP3 players and folks hooking computers up in their home entertainment systems, I'm a bit surprised there isn't some sort of sound card with just a pair of RCA outputs on it. But if there is, I haven't found it with Google yet.