Which potentiometer to get for sound card output to my chip amp?

bolt · 27th October 2009, 11:06 AM

Dunno if this is the correct category, but it is at least slightly related to my chip amp... I made a 7 channel chipamp for my 7.1 speakers (active sub). I want to put a separate volume controls on them. That is, stereo pots for the front channels, side channels and rear channels, and two more pots for center and sub (the latter of which is just passed through currently). So a total of 5 pots, of which 3 are stereo.

The input is provided by an M-AUDIO revolution sound card. The reason I want to control the volume level is mainly to avoid the loud bangs and such I get when connecting the jacks to the sound card and when I reboot the computer, but also for the cases where some software decides to set the volume controls to max and make my ears bleed. I want hardware volume

I don't care all that much about linear adjustment, pretty knobs or noiseless adjustments. I'd be just as happy to adjust the volume with a screwdriver, for that matter. I just want volume control, preferably one that doesn't affect the sound quality when it's not being adjusted.

What kind of pots should I be looking for? What resistance should I use for normal sound card output levels? Would any of these do? Rotary Potentiometers (need a company that ships to Norway, and these people do)

paulb · 27th October 2009, 01:00 PM

This one should work. Dual (for stereo), logarithmic (also called audio) taper, 10K should be a reasonable value for most amps.
Potentiometers - Rotary - POT10KADUAL

bolt · 27th October 2009, 01:25 PM

Thanks. I'll order a couple of those and some of the mono counterparts then

star882 · 27th October 2009, 01:41 PM

Use a good linear and some resistors.
Potentiometers (Beginners' Guide to Pots)

27th October 2009, 11:06 AM	#1
bolt diyAudio Member Join Date: Oct 2009	Which potentiometer to get for sound card output to my chip amp? Dunno if this is the correct category, but it is at least slightly related to my chip amp... I made a 7 channel chipamp for my 7.1 speakers (active sub). I want to put a separate volume controls on them. That is, stereo pots for the front channels, side channels and rear channels, and two more pots for center and sub (the latter of which is just passed through currently). So a total of 5 pots, of which 3 are stereo. The input is provided by an M-AUDIO revolution sound card. The reason I want to control the volume level is mainly to avoid the loud bangs and such I get when connecting the jacks to the sound card and when I reboot the computer, but also for the cases where some software decides to set the volume controls to max and make my ears bleed. I want hardware volume I don't care all that much about linear adjustment, pretty knobs or noiseless adjustments. I'd be just as happy to adjust the volume with a screwdriver, for that matter. I just want volume control, preferably one that doesn't affect the sound quality when it's not being adjusted. What kind of pots should I be looking for? What resistance should I use for normal sound card output levels? Would any of these do? Rotary Potentiometers (need a company that ships to Norway, and these people do)

27th October 2009, 01:41 PM	#4
star882 diyAudio Member Join Date: Mar 2007	Use a good linear and some resistors. Potentiometers (Beginners' Guide to Pots) __________________ "Fully on MOSFET = closed switch, Fully off MOSFET = open switch, Half on MOSFET = poor imitation of Tiffany Yep." - also applies to IGBTs!

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27th October 2009, 01:00 PM	#2
paulb diyAudio Member Join Date: Jun 2001 Location: Calgary	This one should work. Dual (for stereo), logarithmic (also called audio) taper, 10K should be a reasonable value for most amps. Potentiometers - Rotary - POT10KADUAL

27th October 2009, 01:25 PM	#3
bolt diyAudio Member Join Date: Oct 2009	Thanks. I'll order a couple of those and some of the mono counterparts then