How to connect MP3 to A/V Reciever ?

[Aryan]

Hi friends,

I have an Onkyo HT-SR600 and a sony walkman MP3 player.
I want to connect the MP3 to the reciever so that it plays the music straight from Sony Walkman. The Walkman at one end an opening to connect the headphone jack and the other end it has USB connection to charge it from any USB sourse.

Could some one please advise how to have my reciever to play the MP3 music from this MP3 Walkman.

Thanks,
Aryan.

 

[Jambumali]

Hi friends,

I have an Onkyo HT-SR600 and a sony walkman MP3 player.
I want to connect the MP3 to the reciever so that it plays the music straight from Sony Walkman. The Walkman at one end an opening to connect the headphone jack and the other end it has USB connection to charge it from any USB sourse.

Could some one please advise how to have my reciever to play the MP3 music from this MP3 Walkman.

Thanks,
Aryan.

Use any audio splitter cable -

anything like Amazon.com: Belkin Audio Y Cable Splitter 1-Mini Plug/2-RCA Plugs (6FT): Electronics

these are available in India easily, if not the same brand.

hook the composite end to the mp3 player and the other end(s) to the L-R of aux or any available stereo inputs of your AVR. Start with a low volume & ramp up the level that you are comfortable with. Enjoy !

 

[Aryan]

Use any audio splitter cable -

anything like Amazon.com: Belkin Audio Y Cable Splitter 1-Mini Plug/2-RCA Plugs (6FT): Electronics

these are available in India easily, if not the same brand.

hook the composite end to the mp3 player and the other end(s) to the L-R of aux or any available stereo inputs of your AVR. Start with a low volume & ramp up the level that you are comfortable with. Enjoy !

Hi,
You made it so simple for me with the link, which had picture of the splitter as well. Now I just have to get this cable and am all set to enjoy my music. Thank you.

I highly appreciate your response. And if it does not work I will get back to you, what say ?

Cheeers,
Aryan.

 

[unleash_me]

Dont worry my friend, it will work!

 

[particleman]

If you're in Mumbai you'll get one here...

Acoustic Research AP042 3FT iPod / MP3 Interconnect : lowest price in India at Sumaria

 

[Aryan]

If you're in Mumbai you'll get one here...

Acoustic Research AP042 3FT iPod / MP3 Interconnect : lowest price in India at Sumaria

Unfortunately I am in Delhi but locating one here should not be a problem , actually it might be coz not every electronic shop has these splitters.
Anyway that link that you gave also gave me an idea about the price of this thing in Indian Rupees, so thanks.

Cheers,
Aryan.

 

[Aryan]

Dont worry my friend, it will work!

If it doesn't I'll catch you as well

Cheers,
Aryan.

 

[Aryan]

Thank you friends,

Just wanted to let you guys know that I today connected a spliter cable (wire with one plug and 3 RCA plugs) to my mp3 and 3 colored end to the reciever, n there u go ....it started playing music from my MP3 , YUPPY !

However, the sound was really pathetic .
I guess its got to do something with the cable that i am using coz the one i am using is actually used to play videos from my Flip video recorder.

Do I specifically need to buy Audio spliter cable ?

I hope some audiophile living in delhi or elsewhere could come n listen to my system, thereby hopefuly giving me a much needed solution.

Thanks,
Aryan.

 

[doors666]

Thank you friends,

Just wanted to let you guys know that I today connected a spliter cable (wire with one plug and 3 RCA plugs) to my mp3 and 3 colored end to the reciever, n there u go ....it started playing music from my MP3 , YUPPY !

However, the sound was really pathetic .
I guess its got to do something with the cable that i am using coz the one i am using is actually used to play videos from my Flip video recorder.

Do I specifically need to buy Audio spliter cable ?

I hope some audiophile living in delhi or elsewhere could come n listen to my system, thereby hopefuly giving me a much needed solution.

Thanks,
Aryan.

This is not the fault of the cable. The reason for bad sound is the source as well as the quality of music being played. A walkman playing mp3 connected to a avr WILL give you bad sound no matter what you do. It might sound ok on the walkman, but any half decent system will expose the weekness of the mp3 as well as the walkman.

 

[Aryan]

This is not the fault of the cable. The reason for bad sound is the source as well as the quality of music being played. A walkman playing mp3 connected to a avr WILL give you bad sound no matter what you do. It might sound ok on the walkman, but any half decent system will expose the weekness of the mp3 as well as the walkman.

Hi Friend, do you mean to say all he ipod docs connected to AVR would also be sounding bad ?
I wonder why people would bother to go for these docs !

Confused.

 

[venkatcr]

Just wanted to let you guys know that I today connected a spliter cable (wire with one plug and 3 RCA plugs) to my mp3 and 3 colored end to the reciever, n there u go ....it started playing music from my MP3 , YUPPY !

Can you tell us how which of the three colored RCA connectors you connected to the AVR? In the AVR you will have two RCA sockets for audio. Ideally, the Red and White RCA from the cables should go to these.

iPODs use a different system. You get what is called an iPOD dock into which you seat the iPOD. The Dock has cables that go to the amplifier.

Dont worry we will make your system also sound good. Is the music in the Walkman of good quality? Please play through your headphones and confirm.

Cheers

 

[psychotropic]

hi venkat, maybe you can explain this to me, when there is a pre-amp/volume control stage on the input device, i find that the sound quality is optimal when the volume is increased on the amplifier, and kept as low as possible on the input device. For instance, when I was in college, and I would connect my computer to my ancient BPL-Sanyo D200 music system, I would get the best sound by keeping the output from my sound card moderate-to-low and the volume on the music system relatively high, if the positions were reversed, the sound would start to distort at the same loudness level. Why does this happen?

 

[venkatcr]

hi venkat, maybe you can explain this to me, when there is a pre-amp/volume control stage on the input device, i find that the sound quality is optimal when the volume is increased on the amplifier, and kept as low as possible on the input device. For instance, when I was in college, and I would connect my computer to my ancient BPL-Sanyo D200 music system, I would get the best sound by keeping the output from my sound card moderate-to-low and the volume on the music system relatively high, if the positions were reversed, the sound would start to distort at the same loudness level. Why does this happen?

There are two factors here. One is called input sensitivity and the other is signal to noise ratio.

The input sensitivity of most pre amps is around 2 milli volts while that of a phono is slightly higher at around 100 micro volts. The pre enhances this voltage and send it to the power amp with a voltage between 1 and 2 volts.

The signal to noise ratio is given around these specifications of input sensitivity.

Now what happens when you connect a powered input (such as a sound card or a MP3 Player) to the pre? Let us assume you are pumping in only 1 watt of output. The corresponding input voltage for the pre becomes nearly 2.8 volts. That is nearly 1.4 million times the sensitivity of the input !

What you are doing is pumping in data with a gain that the pre can handle upto only some extent. Beyond this, it will start distorting. Most of us increase the volume in the sound card or MP3 to hear a higher volume. This is wrong. We must use only the amplifier to increase the volume. If we do not get enough attenuation, then we need to enhance the power of the amplifier or look at the match between the amp and the speakers.

Cheers

 

[psychotropic]

Thanks a ton for that explanation! I always wondered about the technical reason behind this phenomenon.

There are two factors here. One is called input sensitivity and the other is signal to noise ratio.

The input sensitivity of most pre amps is around 2 milli volts while that of a phono is slightly higher at around 100 micro volts. The pre enhances this voltage and send it to the power amp with a voltage between 1 and 2 volts.

The signal to noise ratio is given around these specifications of input sensitivity.

Now what happens when you connect a powered input (such as a sound card or a MP3 Player) to the pre? Let us assume you are pumping in only 1 watt of output. The corresponding input voltage for the pre becomes nearly 2.8 volts. That is nearly 1.4 million times the sensitivity of the input !

What you are doing is pumping in data with a gain that the pre can handle upto only some extent. Beyond this, it will start distorting. Most of us increase the volume in the sound card or MP3 to hear a higher volume. This is wrong. We must use only the amplifier to increase the volume. If we do not get enough attenuation, then we need to enhance the power of the amplifier or look at the match between the amp and the speakers.

Cheers

 

[Aryan]

Can you tell us how which of the three colored RCA connectors you connected to the AVR? In the AVR you will have two RCA sockets for audio. Ideally, the Red and White RCA from the cables should go to these.

iPODs use a different system. You get what is called an iPOD dock into which you seat the iPOD. The Dock has cables that go to the amplifier.

Dont worry we will make your system also sound good. Is the music in the Walkman of good quality? Please play through your headphones and confirm.

Cheers

I have all the 3 RCA conneted behind the AVR , on connecting only red and white the audio volume dips slightly.

Music in the Sony Walkman is of Great quality and it sounds heavenly through Sony headphones.

thanks,
Aryan.

 

[Aryan]

Hi Venkat, What u say here makes a lot of sence, coz I also used the same reasoning and had set volume of my MP3 to max and was then usinig AV to increase or decrease the vol. I will do as you prescribed and update you tomorrow.

Thanks, Aryan.

.

 

[Jith77]

There is a line out option on mp3 players. Please switch that on while connecting to speakers. Do not use that mode on headphones. This should solve your volume issues. I have the old sony hd5. It has a good sq and a good line out. If yours is similar then there shouldnt be any sq issues with the player

 

[alpha1]

Also I have observed that the line-out signal is relatively un-colored.
whereas the signal from headphone socket usually has high bass and treble coloring.

You wouldn't want a colored signal going into your hi-fi setup would you?