I was thinking I could hook these up directly to speakers or headphones via RCA cables and a Y-splitter. I appologize, but I don't know what "the line outputs cannot drive any load directly" means. I mean I have an idea, but why? I thought there were several people here who had hooked their Pro's up at work. What, do you have receivers at work?

I understand if it's not the best quality when connected this way, but the note in the manual looks almost like a warning ("do NOT connect them to speakers or headphones").


On another note, is the manual on the site the same one you're shipping with players? I only ask because I'm hoping I won't need more information on the knob than is provided in the online manual. Or is it not as functional as I think? Is it only for settings like bass and treble etc.?

DiGNAN
13653

I was thinking I could hook these up directly to speakers or headphones via RCA cables and a Y-splitter.

Speakers and headphones require amplification. It takes electricity to drive the magnets to move the cones.

Line-level output from any piece of audio gear (whether it's an Empeg or a synthesizer or a tape player or whatever) doesn't have enough power to drive the magnets in a set of speakers. It's unamplified. You might get some really faint sound out of a pair of lightweight headphones, but that's only because the headphones would have really tiny magnets.

In my experience, it isn't really dangerous to hook up headphones or speakers to a line-level output, it's just that you don't get any results if you try. The empeg may be different, I don't know.

Now, there's a such thing as self-powered speakers, and many computer speakers fall into this category. Such speakers accept line-level inputs with grace. But you must realize that such speakers are really two separate components bundled into one box: The amplifier and the speakers.

I thought there were several people here who had hooked their Pro's up at work. What, do you have receivers at work?

No, we either use self-powered speakers, or we use the LINE-IN jack on our computer sound card to mix the Empeg's audio with the computer's audio.

Personally, I do both. At home and work, I go into the line-in of the soundcard and mix the Empeg's audio with the computer's audio. It works great for listening to MP3s while working or playing Quake. At LAN parties, I plug my self-powered computer speakers directly into the Empeg, and use headphones to hear my game sounds. That way, the LAN party benefits from the Empeg but I don't give away what I'm doing in the game with sound cues.

___________
Tony Fabris

I never thought about hooking up my Empeg to the computer at work. That'd be great! I sit in front of that thing all day and while the speakers are junk, it's better than silence! Wow.. I won't even have to suffer withdrawal the first day I go back to work after installing it!

George

FWIW, I've been using empeg lineout --> in-ear headphones and they work fine...
-mark

...proud to have owned one of the first Mark I units

FWIW, I've been using empeg lineout --> in-ear headphones and they work fine...

Yeah, those in-ear headphones have very tiny, very efficient magnets. They're probably not very loud, but since they're inserted directly into your ear canals, they don't have to be.

I'm guessing that you don't have high volume requirements for this application.

___________
Tony Fabris

I never thought about hooking up my Empeg to the computer at work. That'd be great!

And if you buy some extra power supplies and RCA cables you can move the empeg from location to location without lugging the extra bits with you. I have power supplies and cables at my work computer, at my home computer, and my living room stereo. I move the empeg freely from place to place so I'm never very far from my music.

___________
Tony Fabris

Duh! Okay, I need another dope-slap, because I realized after reading your response that I already knew that! I'm dumb. I had even planned on being able to hook them up to my Klipsch Promedia's (that'll work, right). And they have the most powerfull PC speaker amp you can find!

Would it work to plug the empeg into the line-in on my SB Live! value?

DiGNAN
13653

I would assume so. That's not a powered jack, so it should be able to take any input... that's the whole idea behind it. Then the power for the speakers would be from the speakers themselves. That's exactly what I was planning to do.

George

Plugging the empeg into the soundcard line in works fine on the one in my computer at empeg, which is a SB Live, I think. (I'm currently working from home waiting for someone to come and fix my cable TV box).

Damn, I miss Cartoon Network in the mornings.

Also works fine on my SB1024 at home.

One thing you should bear in mind, though, is that the sound quality through the soundcard isn't as good as you'd get if you plug the empeg directly into some amplified speakers. This is mainly due to electronic noise inside the computer.

When I'm at home, I prefer to plug the empeg into the line-in on my mini hifi (which is sat next to the computer anyway, so it's no hardship). The sound quality's better.

Note: This is with the Mk1 (the one that used to be in the A-class as it happens), but it should still apply for the Mk2.

As far as the RCA cables go, they tend to bundle them with anything these days. I even received some with the boxed Adaptec CD Creator software last month.



Roger - not necessarily speaking for empeg

I've got a feeling I'll be doing just that. How does it sound with an RCA to phono plug conversion? I assume that I'll be hooking up the two RCA's on the Empeg to a pair of RCA's that connect to the computer's line-in via a phono plug, right?

George

How does it sound with an RCA to phono plug conversion?

If by "phono plug" you're referring to a stereo 1/8" mini jack, that's not a conversion. That's just the wiring that's used for the sound card's line input. The empeg comes bundled with the correct cable to make this connection directly. In that case, it's the empeg's line out to the sound card's line in. That's the exact kind of connection that it was intended to make, so it sounds fine.

___________
Tony Fabris

Didn't spot any RCA cables at all in the box with my Mk2. Either straight RCA to RCA or RCA to anything else. Would be real nice if it did ship with RCA to 3.5mm three pin stereo socket, as would allow people to quickly test output with headphones etc Did I spot a recent post about an ISO ( ? ) connector not being in the box with last batch of Mk2's and I certainly remember the posts about the null modem cables supply issues.

- --
Rod, UK Mk2 Red S/No.341

Didn't spot any RCA cables at all in the box with my Mk2.

Hmm. My Mark1 came with an RCA-to-1/8" plug, but I did buy my player second-hand. Maybe Doug316 was just being nice and included one when he sold it to me?

Heck, they're cheap, you can find them anywhere, and they're bundled with everything anyway. Your sound card probably came with one. You probably have three lying in your garage right now.

Did I spot a recent post about an ISO ( ? ) connector not being in the box with last batch of Mk2's and I certainly remember the posts about the null modem cables supply issues.

Those are talking about different cables and connectors.

___________
Tony Fabris

I have a load of cables etc, but thought perhaps I was typical that its ( RCA to 3.5mm socket or 3.5mm plug ) not the sort of thing I would have a use for ( except empeg ). Also as the empeg now becomes more of a consumer product, its going to ship to people that will not already have stacks of cables, nor even know where to buy cables from ? The worst thing in the world ( from a customer satisfaction point of view ) is when you get a new "toy" and cannot play with it straight away. I think even if it means an increase in price including a good selection of cables would be a wise move.

- --
Rod, UK Mk2 Red S/No.341

Yeah, I've been calling it a phono plug forever. I know full well that it's a 1/8" mini, but I'm stuck on phono plug. One of those tough habits to break.

George

I know those are cables for different uses, however was making the point ( and waiting for a response :-) ) how things were going with getting those cables out to existing customers.


- --
Rod, UK Mk2 Red S/No.341