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Splitter / 'Y' cables - would sound be degraded?

post #1 of 6
2/27/07 at 3:49am
Thread Starter 
For my computer-as-source system I have an EMU-0404 as the base, and go optical out to a nice DAC for my headphone amp, but for my 2.1 computer speakers I just use the EMU analog out (Klipsch ProMedia 2.1 - actually pretty damn nice sounding).

I would much rather use the DAC for both but switching hassles keep me from doing it. I'm a lazy bastard.

What I was thinking was a splitter cable on the DAC output. It would be a 'Y' split, one side going to my headphone amp and the other end going to my Klipsch system. Would this degrade sound at all if I were only using one at a time?

My main worry is line noise from the Klipsch system getting in the same cable leading to my headamp, which of course could muck up the audio (the Klipsch amp is only 'off' when unplugged).

Thoughts?

--Illah
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post #2 of 6
2/28/07 at 3:39pm
Thread Starter 
Bump...someone has to have tried this and have some insight into the issue

--Illah
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post #3 of 6
2/28/07 at 3:51pm
i cant really say about degrading but it will sound different.

i dont really recommend using splitter unless you are plugging two of same kind on each plug..
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post #4 of 6
2/28/07 at 7:22pm
Thread Starter 
So what about a switcher then? Like I could just two regular cables and switch between? Any decent ones out there?

I'd just need RCA-in with a two switchable RCA-outs.

Thanks!

--Illah
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post #5 of 6
2/28/07 at 7:33pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Illah View Post
So what about a switcher then? Like I could just two regular cables and switch between? Any decent ones out there?

I'd just need RCA-in with a two switchable RCA-outs.

Thanks!

--Illah
edit: re-read the original post

switcher might be a good option. and one rca in and two rca out.. hm.. i used to have that and it didnt really..ah... degrade too much, in terms of sound... but i dont really recommend them too much...

dont your amps have loop out?
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post #6 of 6
3/1/07 at 4:33pm
I had diycable.com make me a custom version of their Exodus Quadfield XLR analog interconnect with one input and two outputs (the source is my DAC, the two outputs are my speaker amp and my headphone amp). This custom cable is effectively two cables that have been joined together at the input end.

When the cable arrived I carefully began comparing it to the Cardas Golden Reference 1m XLR interconnect I had been using between my DAC and headphone amp (the speakers had been using the unbalanced RCA outputs on my previous DAC, a Benchmark DAC1, but my new DAC only had balanced outputs, hence the need for a new cable or some type of splitter or pre-amplifier).

I went back and forth between the two cables about 5 times, alternating my comparisons between my headphones and my speakers. I could not tell them apart. I was very surprised by this, because I figured that either the quality of the cable or the Y split would cause some type of degradation (in particular, I was expecting at least a slight drop in volume). Previously I had compared the Cardas Golden Reference to a Nordost Frey interconnect (which it ultimately replaced) and had a clear preference for the Cardas cable (it seemed to have a slightly "sweeter" mid-range).

I ended up selling the Cardas Golden Reference cable on Audiogon the next day and have been using my custom Y cable ever since.
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