Need some help with speaker cable splicing and what not

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ok so here is the deal. I am going to be purchasing a echo rio sound card in the future with the 1/4" jacks coming out of it. What I will be pairing it with is a 2 channel p3a amp. Since there is gonna be a total of 4 binding posts on it(2 pairs) how am I am gonna split it up?

Or should I just go with a 1/4 input jack? I am wondering how I am gonna seperate the channels. I am also considering the m-audio 24/96. I can't get the revo cause I only have a 350mhz p2
 
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Hi

I'm not quite sure if I understand correctly, but if you just want to get the signal out of the souncard and into the input of the P3A, you just need to buy or make a 1/4" jack to to phone (RCA) adaptor.

I'm sure I must be missing the point here, so if you need more info, could you post a few more details of what you intend to do?
 
sure, here is a pic of the sound card from neoseeker

echomia_r_image7.jpg

http://www.neoseeker.com/Articles/Hardware/Reviews/echomia/

I am only able to use one jack for two channels with this. Would it just be easier to use a M-audio 24/96 as it has RCA outs?

An externally hosted image should be here but it was not working when we last tested it.


apparently the MIA sounds alot better then the 24/96

edit-I am confused on what to do for the amp input, most of amps that I have seen have two inputs(left and rite channegl[duh!]) so how can I split up the inputs for the 1/4" jack into two inputs?
 
The Echo Mia has two balanced 1/4" inputs, and two balanced 1/4" outputs. You can use these in either balanced or unbalanced mode. Does your amp have balanced inputs (XLR connectors) or just RCA connectors? Either way, it is easy enough to make the required cables.
 
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Sparhawk, I was refering to the q, in the first post, and yes, it is wrong as it is an 1/8" plug, but the wiring is the same.

AJ, if you are capable of building an amp, you will have no problem making any cable to connect the soundcard to it, so just buy the best card and sort it out from there.
 
Sparhawk said:


That is not the cable he needs for the Echo Mia. It uses 1/4" outputs, one per channel.

Does the 1/4" differ in anyway from the 1/8" plug? IIRC I think I have seen a couple more lines on it and what I mean by lines is the black circles that are around the input jack. I think there are four if I am correct.


Sparhawk, I will be building a P3a. I do know what RCA connectors are but I have never heard of XLR connectors. Also about the MIA, does the un-balanced output mean that I can send one channel to one output?
 
pinkmouse said:
Sparhawk, I was refering to the q, in the first post, and yes, it is wrong as it is an 1/8" plug, but the wiring is the same.

The wiring is not the same, as the Mia uses one balanced 1/4" connector per channel. All that is needed is a 1/4" TS -> RCA for unbalanced operation, or a 1/4" TRS -> XLR for balanced use.
 
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The wiring is not the same, as the Mia uses one balanced 1/4" connector per channel.
Yes, I know! But AJ was asking about the echo rio card!:)

AJ

It sounds like that adaptor is used for outputs to a surround sound system, or for a pair of satellites and a sub. These sockets are used when space is reduced, to allow maximum outputs in a small footprint, but the principle is the same, each ring will be a different output, and the barrel nearest the body of the plug will be a shared ground.
 
AJ Bertelson said:
Does the 1/4" differ in anyway from the 1/8" plug? IIRC I think I have seen a couple more lines on it and what I mean by lines is the black circles that are around the input jack. I think there are four if I am correct.

Both 1/4" and 1/8" plugs come in two different varieties. One is a two-wire version, and the other is a three-wire version. The connections on the two-wire version are called tip (T) and sleeve (S), while the connections on the three-wire version are called tip (T), ring (R), and sleeve (S).

The two-wire versions are used for mono signals, that is one channel with the signal connection on the tip, and the ground connection on the sleeve. The three-wire versions have different uses. With 1/8" plugs, the three-wire plug is used for stereo (2 channel) operation, with the right channel signal on the tip, the left channel signal on the ring, and a common ground on the sleeve. With 1/4" plugs, the three-wire version is usually used for balanced mono signals. In this case, the tip carries the positive or non-inverted signal, the ring carries the negative or inverted signal, and the sleeve carries the ground.

Hope this makes things a bit clearer.

Sparhawk, I will be building a P3a. I do know what RCA connectors are but I have never heard of XLR connectors. Also about the MIA, does the un-balanced output mean that I can send one channel to one output?

Does P3a mean a Pass Aleph 3? If so, I believe it has balanced inputs, which would be ideal for use with the Mia. An XLR connector is a balanced connector, just like a 1/4" TRS connector, but with a different physical configuration. You can see what they look like here:

http://www.neutrik.com/

With the Mia, the left channel goes to one 1/4" jack, and the right channel goes to another. Each of these can be used with either balanced or unbalanced cables.
 
Sparhawk said:


You're right; I missed that in his first post. I just saw the picture of the Mia, and assumed that was what he was talking about, since he mentioned 1/4" connectors. :)

Rut roh, looks like the wrecking ball hit again(my nick name cause I get people confused like this), so I will try to clarify things

-I will be powering two speakers with the P3a amp
-The speakers will be eros design from www.speakerbuilder.net
-I am possibly looking at a plateamp and sub now
-I am trying to decide about witch soundcard is better for my application(straight music no tv or games), those two cards are the M-audio 24/96 and the Echo MIA
-I am canibilizing one of my old comps and installing a VFD on the front of it to output winamp, cd info, and possibly AMFM radio info
-I am wondering how I am gonna connect the soundcard in the comp to the amp.

I do hope this answers everything, I allready made a post about the p3a amp
http://www.diyaudio.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=9420

BTW this will be my first construction of speakers and amp so i think I will have a fun time with it :D

Thanks for all your help guys I really appreciate it
 
Okay, now I know what the P3A is; please excuse my ignorance. :headbash:

This is an unbalanced amp, so to connect this amp to the Echo Mia card, you would need a pair of RCA -> 1/4" unbalanced TS cables.

Or you could put 1/4" TS jacks on the amp, and just use two 1/4" patch cables.
 
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