[Ham Sandwich]

Originally Posted by Bmac

I'm looking for some input from some current iNano users. I have some Dynaudio BM5A compacts on order, and I'm trying to figure out the best way to hook it up to my PC's soundcard.

I took a quick look at the online manual for the BM5A and it is able to accept either a balanced or unbalanced signal. To go unbalanced you'll need an adapter that goes from male XLR to RCA (something like this). Some monitors have 1/4 TRS (Tip Ring Sleeve) connectors instead of XLR connectors and in that case you'd use a TS to RCA adapter (something like this). The BM5A even has a switch for either -10 dB or +4dB levels. Balanced signals are +4 dB, unbalanced signals are -10 dB. Set the switch appropriately and you're all good.

So you can go unbalanced from your sound card, through a volume knob, and then to the BM5A just fine.

It's a similar situation for studio style subs. Use adapters if you want to use an unbalanced signal. Studio style subs have the sub do the crossover. Feed a full range stereo signal to the sub, the sub does the crossover and sends a signal to each monitor. Check the manual for the Dynaudio BM10s/BM12s sub. It has a wiring diagram in it. Those subs also have an unbalanced RCA input/output so no need for an adapter.