soundcard to active monitors w/o mixer?

  • Thread starter Thread starter bluelonestar
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bluelonestar

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Hello,
I was wondering about a device called Passive Volume Control which replaces the need for a mixer when connecting monitors to the soundcard of a DAW. I read about it at: http://www.pcrecording.com/m00.htm
Is such a device available? I'm about to purchase Event PS6 monitors to connect to the Aardvark Direct Pro through spdif but I found out recently that you can't output directly from the soundcard into the monitors. Can someone more knowledgable please help me understand this a little more clearly? I was under the impression that I didnt need to use outboard gear. I really didnt fit a mixer into my budget! Does anyone have alternative options?
Thank you very much,
Tom
 
Thank you very much for replying Ed. I'm not sure if I should go to Radio Shack now for $25-30 or actually buy that Vergence Audio Product(pvc)for $150.00. Thanks again for all your help.
-Tom
 
Wait a second. Back up the train.
Splain it to me Lucy!
Why can't you drive the line inputs of the PS6 monitors with the line outputs of your Aark Direct Pro?
 
b/c I've been reading that it gets way too loud and it distorts. I've always thought that when I finally got the ps6 monitors I could plug them right in. Technically you can...but it seems like it's a good idea not to use the software to lower the volume. Supposedly that degrades the bit quality and I guess you can't hear everything accurately. I'm kind of disappointed that I have to go out and either build a volume box or buy this PVC vergence audio control.
-Tom
 
He can doc....

But to turn down the monitors, if they don't have their own volume control, and usually that isn't advisable anyway, to turn down the power amp volume, you would need to turn down the audio with the soundcards mixer. This sucks, because then all your audio is in low bit resolution, and if you are working in 16 bit, it would really suck bad! Plus that would create CPU utilization too, not a good thing when you are doing software mixing and what not.

This unit is just a passive volume pot that is between the soundcards output and the power amps input. Very simple to build, but they put it is a fancy box and charge $150 for their efforts!

Ed
 
Thanks for clearing that up, Ed.

It finally hits me why they have more than 2 outputs on the Gina when they only have 2 inputs. Vegas lets you set up separate monitor mixes (separate from the recorded mix) this way.
Too bad it's a moot point for my studio!
I don't even have a power amp.
Don't they (power amps) come with some kind of input trim?
Build the passive box. It's easy. You'll be happy.
 
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