iPod What is the purpose of this cable????

[franko v]

For the life of me I cannot figure out why this cable looks this way!!

As you can see, it appears to be a splitter.

But it is not a male to 2 females - it is a male to 1 female and 1 male...

Why???

I got this with one of those 15-piece iPod accessory kits back when I first got my 5th gen iPod classic.

I just want to know HOW this would be used...

 

[spinnerlys]

There is no image, but I guess you mean something like this?

It is most probably used to connect the iPod to a sound system using a 3.5mm RCA plug of the female form.

 

[franko v]

Nope...

I've properly attached the image now...

 

[spinnerlys]

Maybe for connecting the iPod to headphones and speakers at the same time?

Is that a volume control where the cable splits?

 

[franko v]

No, that isn't a volume control.

As for your answer, that's what I thought too.

But then I thought, why would you want to hear it through a speaker system and with earphones at the same time?

BTW, that does work, I tried it.

Also, I attached both male parts into two different iPods and I could hear the sound from both of them at the same time after plugging my earphones into the female part.

But, still, I am not convinced that's the intended function of this splitter...

 

[Googlyhead]

Probably for monitoring a passthrough recording?

Playback device, headphones, recording device.


Anyway; there are some cases when you would want speaker and headphone functionality; ignoring iPods, most devices with built-in speakers are designed for them to be cut off when the headphone jack is used. If you need dj / transmission functionality, you may need to monitor the speaker or transmitted output with headphones...