External Sound Card to TV?

SteveKaye

Established Member
Joined
Jul 21, 2014
Messages
94
Reaction score
38
Points
20
Age
39
Hey guys wondering if you could help me out with something. I currently use a MacBook Pro with an external Saffire LE soundcard hooked up to a pair of KRK Rokit 6 monitor speakers to mix music, and I was wondering is there a way to also connect my TV to the sound card to run the TV audio through these speakers too? For movies/games etc...?
 
If your TV has a line output - either as phono plugs or mini jack, you can run into the spare inputs on the speakers. They can be connected at the same time as your sound card. If you run from the headphone output, you can control the volume from your TV as well.
 
Thanks for the help. What about running from the audio output on the TV into the Line In on the sound card? Would that work?
 
No reason why not, but you might need to keep your Mac switched on for the audio to be passed and it might end up being processed from analogue to digital and back again, depending on the sound card.
 
Tried from headphone socket on TV into Line In on soundcard and it came out Mono for some reason no matter how much wiggling around I did :( Plus I had to have the gain alllll the way up which produced a hissing.

Might just have to buy an additional set of speakers for my tv which is a shame as my KRK's have awesome sound. Don't suppose you have any recommendations for some speakers which are not too expensive but would be good for gaming/movies? Or am I in the wrong section? Haha
 
Give us the exact Brand and Model of the Sound Card? I tried searching it and what you have given so far turns up NOTHING.

Is it by any chance a -

Focusrite Saffire LE

The Sound Card is really an input to the Computer, so any signal you feed in must first be processed by the computer than sent back to the sound card to be output to the speakers.

I would suggest a simple Line Level A/B Switch. But you need a clean source from the TV. The Headphone output of the TV might work in the most minimal way. Plug the output of the Sound Card into the Line Switch, then Plug the TV into the other input channel on the Line Switch. Select "A" to hear the Sound Card, and "B" to hear the TV. The Line Level Switches are not exceptionally expensive.

Avo RCA Phono Audio Switching Unit 3 Way - Accessories - AudioVisual Online - Home Cinema and Hifi Specialists

Steve/bluewizard
 
Yeah it's that Focusrite soundcard.

I'm thinking it might just be best to get a second set of speakers now for the TV lol. My TV only has a optical audio out, no phono except the headphone socket. Any recommendations for a small room with limited space? I just want a half decent sound, better than my TV's internal speakers :/
 
I've already got the KRK Rokit 6's for mixing music...

So explain to me how the DAC works exactly for the Behringers for example? My TV only has optical audio out, nothing else... (sorry I'm new to TV audio lol)
 
Modern music is digital, a series of one's and zero's; a collection of numbers. A DAC (Digital to Analog Converter) changes those one's and zero's to a smooth proportional electrical voltage that can be sent to the amp then on to the speakers.

You've already got the KRK RP6, but what does that matter, you need another pair of speakers. They could be KRK RP5. Though that is going to strain your stated budget. The KRK Rokit 5 are good speakers but they are about £110 EACH.

At £150/pr with Optical conversion, your choices are extremely limited.

Steve/bluewizard
 
Ok so today, I bought a DAC, and an optical cable. I went from the optical out on my tv, into the DAC, then from the DAC to each speaker with phono leads... no need to even go through the sound card. This actually worked... except for one problem... I have no volume control except for the knob on the back of each speaker... which I can't constantly keep using to adjust volume. Is there any way around this? So close yet so far!
 
Woohoo!!

Ok so just to be clear... my current signal chain is this:

TV ----> Optical Out ----> DAC ----> Phono Cables (L/R) ----> Speaker Left/Speaker Right

Where in the chain does the volume controller go?
 
So DAC --- Phono Cables (L/R) ----- > Volume Controller.... but then how do I then go from the Volume Controller to the speakers? There's only one set of phono sockets on the volume controller?
 
The Fostex Volume Control for £17 has a 3.5mm Stereo input and 2x RCA outputs.

The other for ILA-100RCA (£39), it has RCA and 3.5mm input and RCA and 3.5mm outputs.

Steve/bluewizard
 
I'm really confused guys... I don't understand which cables go where... Sorry to be a pain. Could either of you explain each step, detailing cables, inputs/outputs etc... for what I'm trying to do please?
 
Sorry for 3 posts in a row.. Ok am I right in thinking this... DAC ----> RCA ----> STEREO INPUT ON VOLUME CONTROLLER ---- > And then I need the cable which has the L/R jacks on BOTH ENDS to run from the volume controller into each speaker?
 
It depends on which Volume Control you have. But the output of the DAC goes to the input of the Volume Control, and the connectors simply have to mate. If the DAC has RCA and the Volume Control has a 3.5mm input, then that is the cable you need. If the Volume Control has RCA outputs and the speakers have RCA inputs, then that defines the cable you need.

We can't know the specific cables until we know the specific equipment.

But likely -

(optical)DAC(RCA)---->(RCA or 3.5mm)VolumeControl(RCA)------>(RCA)Monitors

Steve/bluewizard
 
Ok I think I understand. Do you think there will any signal/quality loss due the the amount of different cables/devices I'm running through?

With the stereo input on the cheaper one, it would be RCA from DAC into the single stereo input on the volume controller. And then RCA from the volume controller into RCA on each speaker... That single stereo input on the controller... that won't affect the stereo sound will it? I know that sounds like a silly question but I ask because it's going back and force between two L/R RCA connections into one single stereo input and then back to separate L/R RCA connections...
 
Last edited:
I did it, and it works!!!!!

Guys thank you very much for the advice and bearing with me!
 

The latest video from AVForums

TV Buying Guide - Which TV Is Best For You?
Subscribe to our YouTube channel
Back
Top Bottom