[5teviewonders]

I want to make single cable interconnects to connect my receiver to my sound card. There's only one socket on the sound card for the front left and right channels so i'll need a splitter. Would the use of a splitter reduce audio quality? I've looked at a gold plated splitter as shown here:

PHONO ADAPTOR: 2x PHONO SOC to 1x PHONO PLUG HQ GOLD | eBay

Would this suit my needs and not reduce audio quality? I'm a bit new with audio equipment. My computer obsession has recently expanded onto speakers.

[mykyll2727]

I've used splitters myself, both hard (like you linked) and "soft". By soft I mean the spliiter is a cable design that splits as opposed to having a hard body. Such as this.

PHONO RCA 2 Male - 1 Female GOLD PLATED splitters splitter y NEW | eBay



http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/STEREO-Y-C...item2c632655bd


IMO some did and some didn't. Or at least I didn't seem to notice if they did. I found a preference for the hard type of high copper content. In fact I'm using these in my system now.


L A T International, Inc. - Cable Connectors - All types

Unfortunately the only way to know for sure if it'll make a difference to you is to try it as YMMV from someone else's.

[5teviewonders]

Thanks for the reply. I think i'll go for the hard splitter like you said. I guess as long as the materials match the quality of the plugs in the interconnects then there won't be any degradation of sound quality from the extra connection.

[5teviewonders]

Just checked and the plugs i was gonna use are gold plated brass. Do you think that would suffice?

[mykyll2727]

I saw that you said you are fairly new to this hobby. Welcome aboard and I sincerely hope it brings you a great deal of joy. It has for me and many others. We all started somewhere and this is as good a place as any for you. Please feel free to ask any questions you may have. There are alot of very knowledgeable and helpful folks here.


I've found that the vast majority of hard splitters are brass. The higher conductive metals are too soft and expensive in general. The LATs that I use are of the highest copper content I've found so far. I'm not advocating hard splitters they're just my personal preference so far. YMMV.


Please don't take this wrong as I'm not trying to be dismissive or insensitive. Just the opposite. I know where you're coming from because I've been there myself. You want to do what's "right", what's best for you. Unfortunately neither I nor anyone else is you. Only you will be able to tell what's right for you. Only you will know if it suffices for you. So, so, many things in this hobby are subjective. If not everything. My best advice to you is do what sounds/works best for you. Alot of the time that will require some risk and experimentation. For some, that's their greatest pleasure in this hobby. To minimise the risk try the least expensive option you have of what you feel is best suited to you. Research and asking questions like you have will give you some background to help you make those choices. Any further experimentation will depend on your results, curiosity, and means. I hope I've been of some help.

Enjoy the adventure. I'm looking forward to reading your posting of your results.

[BlueWizard]

I know what you said, but I find myself wondering if that is what you meant.

Which is the source of sound, the computer or the amp?

You said you want to connect the Amp to the computer, that implies that the amp will be feeding music into the computer, where you will presumably record it. Is that really what you are going to do? Out of the Amp and into the Computer?

Likely both your Receiver and Computer are STEREO. In this case why would you want to run mono? Which is what you are implying. You are implying fanning one source connector out into two mono connections? Why?

Most often the computer is the source, it play music into the amp. That is sound comes OUT of the computer and goes INTO the amp.

I think before we can make any recommendations, we need to know what equipment you have (Sound Card and Amp), and precisely what you are trying to accomplish? Are you recording music on your computer? Are you playing music from your computer? It is not really clear to me.

What we recommend will hinge on these factors.

Steve/bluewizard

[mykyll2727]

Originally Posted by BlueWizard

.

Likely both your Receiver and Computer are STEREO. In this case why would you want to run mono? Which is what you are implying. You are implying fanning one source connector out into two mono connections? Why?

.

Steve/bluewizard

Wow, I missed that. I just focused on his question of the audio impact of a splitter. Good point!

[MI55ION]

I think theres a bit of confusion here compounded by the OP no less.

OP wants to connect his pc to his receiver.

There's only one socket on the sound card for the front left and right

Most PC soundcards have a single left/right 3.5mm line out as show in this pic (green):

What he therefore needs is something like this, a 3.5mm to RCA convertor (assuming the receiver only has RCA inputs):

or this:

[mykyll2727]

Well somebody finally got it right.

[5teviewonders]

Thanks for the warm welcome mykyll2727. Like MI55ION said, i'm playing audio from my sound card to my receiver. I'm planning on using Van Damme cable for the interconnects so i thought perhaps the soft splitters as shown in the picture above would completely remove the advantage of using quality cable.

[mykyll2727]

Originally Posted by 5teviewonders

Thanks for the warm welcome mykyll2727. Like MI55ION said, i'm playing audio from my sound card to my receiver. I'm planning on using Van Damme cable for the interconnects so i thought perhaps the soft splitters as shown in the picture above would completely remove the advantage of using quality cable.

Yeah, I can understand that. It's why I personally chose to go with the hard. There are a few fine cable makers that make soft splitters from their own designs. My reasoning, valid or not, was that to ensure the best sound I'd need to use products from the same maker and of the same design if I went that route. Also that route can be more expensive. Not saying I'm right in my thinking it was just my logic path.

My suggestion would be to decide which design, hard or soft, you feel suits you best and then start off with the least expensive option. That way you can hear if your SQ is compromised. If not then you're good to go. If it is, well at least you're not out much $ and then you can look at other options. Even if it does decrease your SQ at least now you know it matters. If you go the most expensive route and there's no negative effect you'll never really know if it mattered or not and if you could've saved some $. That is of course that price matters to you. If cost is of no consequence well then go for the best you can find. If it still adversely affects the sound well at least you know you did your best.

BTW I'm not that familiar with Van Damme cables. Do they make a soft splitter in the version you need?

[5teviewonders]

I'm on a budget so i'll probably go with a cheaper hard splitter. Van Damme cables seem to have a good reputation around the internet but it's just cable and not terminated. Dunno how i'd get the shielding right if i tried to make a splitter from one of their cables.

[mykyll2727]

Are you going to be or have you made your own cables from the Van Damme wires?

[5teviewonders]

I'm gonna make cables out of the Van Damme wires. Haven't done it yet. Just planning it out at the moment.

[CARLOS]

so is the splitter you need the one in MI55IONs post or the one in your original post ?

[BlueWizard]

Originally Posted by 5teviewonders

... i'm playing audio from my sound card to my receiver. ...

You keep talking about splitters, but you are failing to see that there is nothing to split. Also, I can't see how you can use any of the 'splitters' that have been linked to.

The Audio Out (Green) connector on your sound card is STEREO. Consequently the only thing you need to split is that 3.5mm stereo signal into two RCA style connectors.

MI55ION showed you a photo of precisely what you need. These 3.5mm stereo to 2 mono RCA are very common and come in all grades of quality. But rarely do they cost a lot of money.

Fisual 3.5mm Jack To Phonos - 30cm Install Series Special - 3.5mm Jack - Phono Cables - Audiovisual Online - Home Cinema and Hifi Specialists

Ixos XHA205-150 Twisted-Pair 3.5mm Jack to 2 RCA Phono Cable 1.5m - 3.5mm Jack - Phono Cables - Audiovisual Online - Home Cinema and Hifi Specialists

QED Performance Graphite J2P 3.5mm Jack - Phono Interconnect - 3.5mm Jack - Phono Cables - Audiovisual Online - Home Cinema and Hifi Specialists

QED Profile Jack To Phono Cable - 3.5mm Jack - Phono Cables - Audiovisual Online - Home Cinema and Hifi Specialists

Simply get whatever length you feel you need for your setup. If the computer is close to the amp, typically 1 meter is sufficient.

Unless there is something I don't understand here, you are making a very simply task very, and unnecessarily, complicated.

Steve/bluewizard

[5teviewonders]

I'm getting the hard one in MI55IONS post. Getting some of the terminology wrong. I guess what i meant to say was converter. I've bought one off eBay for £1.20.

[mykyll2727]

Originally Posted by 5teviewonders

I'm getting the hard one in MI55IONS post. Getting some of the terminology wrong. I guess what i meant to say was converter. I've bought one off eBay for £1.20.

Same for me. I keep calling them splitters too. My bad!

[mykyll2727]

Originally Posted by 5teviewonders

I'm gonna make cables out of the Van Damme wires. Haven't done it yet. Just planning it out at the moment.

Cool! Let me know how it goes. BTW Have you decided on the terminations yet?

[MI55ION]

I wouldn't worry too much about the terminology as it can also be called an 'adaptor' but we got there in the end.

You can also get this type:

The only issue with the 'hard' type is that if the RCA cables are of the heavy variety it can apply some pressure to the adaptor.

[mykyll2727]

For me I think the terminology issue is partly due to me being in the states. The people I know tend to lump splitters, adapters, converters all in the same "splitter" category. Even though technically there are differences. Infact these are two of the items that popped up when I searched for RCA splitters on Amazon here. Correct me if I'm wrong but I believe these are exactly what he needs. The second is the "hard" splitter we were discussing.

Amazon.com: SF Cable, 12ft 3.5mm Stereo Male to Two RCA Male Splitter Cable: Electronics


http://www.amazon.com/RCA-Splitter-A...211636&sr=8-25


Interestingly just the opposite seems to be true w/regard to amplifiers. It seems you here group power amps and integrated amps under the same "amp" category. We tend to be very specific about differentiating the two.

[Doomlord_uk]

Can phono splitters reduce audio quality?

No.

You want to do what's "right", what's best for you. Unfortunately neither I nor anyone else is you. Only you will be able to tell what's right for you. Only you will know if it suffices for you. So, so, many things in this hobby are subjective. If not everything. My best advice to you is do what sounds/works best for you.

What perfectly terrible advice!!!

What's 'right' here is a simple question of not doing something that will reduce sound quality, ie introduce distortion. That's trivial to ascertain and is not a subjective matter. And *anyone* can reach the same answer, it's NOT a personal thing at all. If all you can advise is 'try for yourself and see if you like the result' then that is NO advice at all. The guy doesn't want to do that, or he would not have asked in the first place.

Not to mention that leading him - wrongly! - to assume that there WILL automatically be different results from different solutions wrongly prevents him from reaching the obvious conclusion that in fact splitters WON'T affect sound quality. Which is advice he didn't know, but needs to hear.

[MI55ION]

If we're talking sound quality from a PC there are so many factors involved a splitter/adaptor is probably the least of concern. Speaking from my own experience it's difficult to get good quality analogue from a PC soundcard, if you have the option on your soundcard use either an optical or coaxial (spdif) digital out and let yiur AV receiver do the work. USB is also another option if your AVR has USB audio support.

[mykyll2727]

Originally Posted by Doomlord_uk

No.


..

Really? Many would disagree with you.

[mykyll2727]

Originally Posted by Doomlord_uk

No.


What perfectly terrible advice!!!

What's 'right' here is a simple question of not doing something that will reduce sound quality, ie introduce distortion. That's trivial to ascertain and is not a subjective matter. And *anyone* can reach the same answer, it's NOT a personal thing at all. If all you can advise is 'try for yourself and see if you like the result' then that is NO advice at all. The guy doesn't want to do that, or he would not have asked in the first place.

..

It think what's right for someone is indeed subjective. Your system may be right for you but I SINCERELY doubt it's right for me. What works best/ is right for him could very well be different than that for someone else. What best suits him may be the hard unit, it could be another type for someone else. That is a least part of the reason they make different types.

[mykyll2727]

Originally Posted by Doomlord_uk

.

.
Not to mention that leading him - wrongly! - to assume that there WILL automatically be different results from different solutions wrongly prevents him from reaching the obvious conclusion that in fact splitters WON'T affect sound quality. Which is advice he didn't know, but needs to hear.

WOW!!! You really do love to twist things to suit your desires. Please have the decency not to twist my words or to put words in my mouth. I never assumed or said it would make a difference. Just the opposite. In fact I suggested he try the least expensive version of whatever type he felt was best suited to his needs to see if he noticed a difference. If he didn't then he was good to go.

Again you say they don't make a difference in SQ. That's your opinion. Again many would disagree with you. But of course I realise that your opinions are absolutes because you're never wrong. Yeah, right.

[5teviewonders]

Originally Posted by MI55ION

If we're talking sound quality from a PC there are so many factors involved a splitter/adaptor is probably the least of concern. Speaking from my own experience it's difficult to get good quality analogue from a PC soundcard, if you have the option on your soundcard use either an optical or coaxial (spdif) digital out and let yiur AV receiver do the work. USB is also another option if your AVR has USB audio support.

I'll be using a Asus Xonar D2X and the dac is much better than the dac in the receiver (made in 2001 and bought off eBay) so i guess it'll sound better through analogue. I could always compare the two. I'm assuming a digital cable won't cost too much.

[Don Dadda]

Originally Posted by 5teviewonders

...I could always compare the two. I'm assuming a digital cable won't cost too much.

Worth doing me thinks. Even though the Asus Xonar sound card may have the better dac, it still has to contend with the other bits inside the pc that can and does affect it. Hard drives, fans, etc. Still, its worth investigating for not much expense.

Digital Optical cables are cheap as chips nowadays. You could spend £2, £20 or even more if your hearts desire it.

To which av will the pc be connected to?

[mykyll2727]

Originally Posted by Don Dadda

Worth doing me thinks. Even though the Asus Xonar sound card may have the better dac, it still has to contend with the other bits inside the pc that can and does affect it. Hard drives, fans, etc. Still, its worth investigating for not much expense.

Digital Optical cables are cheap as chips nowadays. You could spend £2, £20 or even more if your hearts desire it.

To which av will the pc be connected to?

+1. In the end, let your ears be the guide. Afterall it's your system.

[5teviewonders]

My sound system and PC will always be in close quarters as i use my PC for all my media. I don't even have a proper TV. I have tried to optimise my PC for noise reduction. It's not perfect but it's an ongoing process. My front speakers are connected to a Marantz SR4200 and my surround speakers (when i get them set up) will be connected to a Pioneer VSA-E03. Both these amps will be connected to my PC with analogue cables. Reason i have 2 amps is because the Marantz only has 2 analogue channels. The Pioneer has 5 so i can make up 7.1 with both of them.