Line Level / Headphones

[M.Joshi]

Is the a standard headphones output much lower in level than a standard line-level out?

I tried to connect the headphones output from a portable laptop computer to the line input of a stereo system but, the sound level was really low. All I could mainly hear was hum?

[MBK]

Chances are, you have set the volume on your laptop to a low level. Try the "sound" or "mixer" control panels.

In any case laptop sound output is often noisy.

MBK

[M.Joshi]

I tried setting the volume level to maximum but that didn't work either. Will I need to use a pre-amp?

[raindog]

Did you check the output from the laptop whith a pair of headphones first ? ( i often "forget" to do things like that )If the output works you need a preamp ( you can build one whith a pair of opamps ) .

[wimms]

Headphone output is much higher than line-in. Check your connections.

[MBK]

I second that. Although on a laptop, the max headphone is likely the "normal" line level. Current capanility is usually also limited. But in any case - if you can hear anything at all on headphones, the level should be sufficient for line inputs. Besides, if it is really noisy, it is likely that the level is set too low.

In the Windows sound panels there is also a mut and a mic setting. It may be that the mic is on, speaker on, line/headphone out on mute, and that what you hear is not line level output, but speaker output that was re-recorded through the built-in mic. That would also explain high noise.

MBK