grrr_arrghh
New Member
Hi.
In audio terms, is the volume of a signal determined by a the current, or the voltage?
Presumably if the answer is current, a resistor would reduce the volume, or if the answer is volume, a simple resistive divider would reduce the volume.
Either way, I have a problem. on the front of my computer, I have a headphone socket. This headphone socket is a normal 3.5mm stereo socket, but with two contacts that break when a pair of headphones is inserted. When a pair of headphones is not inserrted, however, the signal flows from the sound card, to the headphone socket, then through the 'break contacts', to the line out socket on the back of the computer. The diagram below should help.
The idea of this setup is that a pair of speakers can be connected to the line out, but a pair of headphones can also be plugged in to the front - when this happens, the speakers conected to the line out are effectivly disconnected.
Here is the problem: when I put a pair of headphones in, the volume is far too loud, and I have to turn it down so far, that it is extremly difficult to control it. What I would do normally, would be to put a fixed resistor or something (see my first question) to bring down the volume. However, if i do this, it will also bring down the volume of the output going to my speakers, and my speakers can't amplify the signal enough to make it listenable to (I've tried). Its a bit of a dilema.
Does anyone have any ideas on how to get rounbd this?
Thanks
Tim
In audio terms, is the volume of a signal determined by a the current, or the voltage?
Presumably if the answer is current, a resistor would reduce the volume, or if the answer is volume, a simple resistive divider would reduce the volume.
Either way, I have a problem. on the front of my computer, I have a headphone socket. This headphone socket is a normal 3.5mm stereo socket, but with two contacts that break when a pair of headphones is inserted. When a pair of headphones is not inserrted, however, the signal flows from the sound card, to the headphone socket, then through the 'break contacts', to the line out socket on the back of the computer. The diagram below should help.
The idea of this setup is that a pair of speakers can be connected to the line out, but a pair of headphones can also be plugged in to the front - when this happens, the speakers conected to the line out are effectivly disconnected.
Here is the problem: when I put a pair of headphones in, the volume is far too loud, and I have to turn it down so far, that it is extremly difficult to control it. What I would do normally, would be to put a fixed resistor or something (see my first question) to bring down the volume. However, if i do this, it will also bring down the volume of the output going to my speakers, and my speakers can't amplify the signal enough to make it listenable to (I've tried). Its a bit of a dilema.
Does anyone have any ideas on how to get rounbd this?
Thanks
Tim