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splitting RCA audio

S

swish692

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Jun 8, 2008
8
0
i am having trouble finding a cable to split my audio into 2 cables.
i currently have a 2x RCA (red and white) analog output, but i want to be able to plug it into a capture device for my mac, but also into my stereo at the same time. obviously this isn't possible for the best sound quality.

is there a splitter cable in existence, that might be able to split my 2x RCA outputs into 4x?
 
swish692 said:
i am having trouble finding a cable to split my audio into 2 cables.
i currently have a 2x RCA (red and white) analog output, but i want to be able to plug it into a capture device for my mac, but also into my stereo at the same time. obviously this isn't possible for the best sound quality.

is there a splitter cable in existence, that might be able to split my 2x RCA outputs into 4x?
Click to expand...

When Radio Shack used to sell electronic parts, instead of the mass market crap they sell now, they had a powered multi- audio/video/Svideo splitter that worked great. Don't know if they still carry it.
 
thanks for the help, however radio shack don't do what i'm after anymore. just had a look today but can't for the life of me find anything like what im looking for.
to me, it seems this can't be a rare issue. it must be quite common to want to split a popular audio cable format to use as inputs for two devices, so i'm surprised that nobody sells anything or knows anything that can do it.
 
swish692 said:
thanks for the help, however radio shack don't do what i'm after anymore. just had a look today but can't for the life of me find anything like what im looking for.
to me, it seems this can't be a rare issue. it must be quite common to want to split a popular audio cable format to use as inputs for two devices, so i'm surprised that nobody sells anything or knows anything that can do it.
Click to expand...

If you're not talking excessive lengths, any passive splitter will do.

However, I'd much rather either buy or make a switch of mine own. The reason being, you don't want any of them to pull too much power as it will afffect the other, plus the one might introduce noise to the other.
Passive switch (as in "passive preamp") would be my choice.

swish692 said:
sorry to double post, but came across this
http://www.maplin.co.uk/Module.aspx?TabID=1&ModuleNo=9662&doy=15m6
does anybody know if this would do the trick?
shortly, i would like to split my red and white audio cables into 2 sets of these, in use for two input devices. would this work?
Click to expand...


Yes, that'll do the trick. It's what I think of as a "passive splitter" with the problem that's inherent with such a thing. But if you just listen to one at a time/only have one of them turned on at the time, that will work as you want it to.
 
Tosser said:
Yes, that'll do the trick. It's what I think of as a "passive splitter" with the problem that's inherent with such a thing. But if you just listen to one at a time/only have one of them turned on at the time, that will work as you want it to.
Click to expand...

Excellent. Thank you very much for the helpful reply. My main problem is that i need to use both at the same time. in more detail, i'll be using one set of cables to be connected to a capture device, and the other to actually hear the audio while i am watching tv / playing games.
It isn't a NECESSITY but its a big preference to have both on at the same time. What kind of problems might arise if both are turned on? Is it anything major?
 
swish692 said:
Excellent. Thank you very much for the helpful reply. My main problem is that i need to use both at the same time. in more detail, i'll be using one set of cables to be connected to a capture device, and the other to actually hear the audio while i am watching tv / playing games.
It isn't a NECESSITY but its a big preference to have both on at the same time. What kind of problems might arise if both are turned on? Is it anything major?
Click to expand...

Well, no other problem than audio quality might suffer. How much you can hear or not hear, really depends on you and how good a listener you are, what standards you have and, of course, what equipment you have. But, in general, I wouldn't worry too much.

But, I have to say this: If it's an audio recorder you've connected the thing to, you'd be better of connecting your headphones or whatever to your recorder and monitor (as in listen to what is actually recorded, not just the input) the recording, that way you get the best result. You need to make sure, though, that you equipment is capable of it with very little delay. Even half a second delay is a bitch. I'd guess you had to go under 15 milliseconds, and then you'll be set.
 
Thank you very much for all the help. Yes i actually own a Dazzle capture device through composite input to my mac. However, with video games, it tends to show a delay from what i press to what happens on screen during capture, and there is a horrible 2-3 second delay.
To get around this, i have an Xbox 360 with a component cable. the cable also includes composite connections including the audio. i can easily connect the component to the TV and the composite to the Dazzle and hey presto, perform the game on the TV and let it capture by itself on the Dazzle, and this is why i wanted a splitter, so i didn't have to keep switching cables around.

Anyway, thanks so much for the help, at least i can be confident now when i buy the cables instead of finding wrong ones and losing money.
 
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