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I had a problem which needed solving.
I've just bought a Dell 2709w Monitor which takes DVI and has 5.1 output using the standard PC solution of three 3.5mm jacks, coloured Green, Orange and Black. I had hooked up my Xbox 360 via HDMI to the monitor, and the sound comes out of these (unfortunately only in Stereo since it's in Dolby Digital, but that's another story). This would be great, however there is no similar input, meaning that I have the issue that I had to keep swapping the jacks on my subwoofer if I wanted to get any sound from my PC or the Monitor. Having carried out much searching on the internet, I was unable to find a box that does this, and while many people seem to have similar problems, very few people have a solution.
My first test was to simply try a headphone splitter in reverse on each individual subwoofer channel. This didnt work, since the computer's output always took presedence over the monitor's output. It was then that I came across the following article on Bl3nd.com - 5.1 Audio Switch. It's at this point that I decided to contact Joey Hazlett, the owner of the site to get some information and increase my knowledge on building such a device, with a mind to do it myself. I have to say that Joey was masses of help and the following guide wouldn't be possible without him.
So, I was going to build a splitter box which takes two 3 x 3.5mm Inputs and allows you to switch between them to one similar output.
This would be suitable for connecting two 5.1 surround sound PC cards / PC's to the same subwoofer.
I've just bought a Dell 2709w Monitor which takes DVI and has 5.1 output using the standard PC solution of three 3.5mm jacks, coloured Green, Orange and Black. I had hooked up my Xbox 360 via HDMI to the monitor, and the sound comes out of these (unfortunately only in Stereo since it's in Dolby Digital, but that's another story). This would be great, however there is no similar input, meaning that I have the issue that I had to keep swapping the jacks on my subwoofer if I wanted to get any sound from my PC or the Monitor. Having carried out much searching on the internet, I was unable to find a box that does this, and while many people seem to have similar problems, very few people have a solution.
My first test was to simply try a headphone splitter in reverse on each individual subwoofer channel. This didnt work, since the computer's output always took presedence over the monitor's output. It was then that I came across the following article on Bl3nd.com - 5.1 Audio Switch. It's at this point that I decided to contact Joey Hazlett, the owner of the site to get some information and increase my knowledge on building such a device, with a mind to do it myself. I have to say that Joey was masses of help and the following guide wouldn't be possible without him.
So, I was going to build a splitter box which takes two 3 x 3.5mm Inputs and allows you to switch between them to one similar output.
This would be suitable for connecting two 5.1 surround sound PC cards / PC's to the same subwoofer.
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Signing UpStep 1Tools and Parts
To complete this project you will need the following tools:
Soldering Iron
Insulating tape
Drill and various sized bits
Stanley knife
Ruler
You will also need the following parts:
Speaker Wire (I already had this)
1 x Box
9 x 3.5mm Sockets
3 x DPDT Switches
Thanks to Rapidonline.com for the parts - I really struggled to find these in the UK!
Soldering Iron
Insulating tape
Drill and various sized bits
Stanley knife
Ruler
You will also need the following parts:
Speaker Wire (I already had this)
1 x Box
9 x 3.5mm Sockets
3 x DPDT Switches
Thanks to Rapidonline.com for the parts - I really struggled to find these in the UK!
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i'm really happy that i found this site.
I was looking for various days fpr a solution to switch from 2 5.1 sources ( i have a tv box with a 5.1 adapter and my pc as input sources and my 5.1 speakers as the one output)
i would have been happier if i would have found this splitter (http://www.hardwareluxx.de/akaspar/reviews/creative_ddts100/connector_s.jpg) , but no chance there!
so what really confuses me about your switch is that you have 3 on/off switches...why that? i thougt you would need only 1 on/on switch (for source 1 or 2)
thanks and please excuse my english ;)
greetz
I wanted to try using Y splitters first to connect my 2 computers. Would I run the risk of damaging my sound cards or the speakers if I had both systems on at the same time? Would this setup work only if only 1 system was powered at a time? Any help is appreciated. Thanks.
However now that I see your optional step, am I to believe that this does the same thing?? So it takes 2 real 5.1 inputs and one RCA input that just gets cloned to the other speakers? Or are you saying that it just takes over input 2? I wouldn't ever be using two of these devices at once, however what signal takes precedence? The two computers would almost always be hooked up and on and I'm afraid that would take over the phono input.
I guess the two questions I have are: Does this step eliminate the need for the gaming adapter? And: If I have two switching inputs that are always on, how do I make sure I can use the phono in as well?
If this requires 3 inputs do you have any ideas on how to modify this instructable to do that?
So, yes, i would say the extra step eliminated the need for the gaming adaptor, in theory. In practice, it's been a little temperamental - it works 100% fine if i just have it going to the front two channels - trying to get it to the rear channels hasn't really worked, although i suspect this may be due to my bad wiring!
3 inputs would be an extension of this, but you'd need a three way switch, making it significantly more complicated in wiring, and I suspect you'd need a bigger box... (since mine is crammed as it is!)
Firstly, you say "just bunch all the ground wires together". Do they actually need to go anywhere, or just solder all the ground ends into a single point?
Second, I see your switches are rated for 3A - is that required, or just what the switches can handle? I've not found a 6PDT switch yet that goes above 1A (most of them are about 500mA), so I didn't want to go ahead and burn the switch out or something!
Thanks in advance.
To answer your questions - nope, the grounds dont need to go anywhere at all - just bunch them up and tape over them for insulation.
As for the switches, the rating just happens to be what mine were - as far as i'm aware it shouldnt really matter what the rating is - would have thought 500mA would be fine!
Hope that helps,
Andy
I don't need any special speaker wire do I. I've found some cheap lengths that have polarity marks on them, but I assume that'll just be for a reference to ensure you wire things up properly - in our instance, I'd just need to make sure the "marked" wire connects both (for example) the left channels.
I ask because my sound card can do polarity checks on the speakers to ensure they're wired properly, but short of miswiring something I can see how I could reverse the polarity on the speaker output.
Thanks again
(the front panel audio doesn't work right on my computer)
Why did the PC dominate? Is it just because it was louder? Or is sound transmitted from the monitor dumped because the PC's sucking it to ground or something?
There are 2 options already created for this.
Initially, i tried to use 3 headphone splitters to do the same job. The trouble is, there is clearly a more powerful signal coming from the PC even when not in use, as it always took precedence - when connected via the splitter, whichever way, i couldnt get the monitor sound to output, even with the soundcard disabled!
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is
http://www.bl3nd.com/