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pc -> nuforce icon HDP -> audioengine A5

post #1 of 13
4/5/11 at 4:23pm
Thread Starter 

i am getting no sound from my a5's after trying every conceivable way to connect the two units. if it is something on my computer i'd like to know th definitive connection so i don't drive myself crazy plugging in and out. i have both an rca to rca cable and an rca to mini. there's an analog input and output on the nuforce. line out and audio in on the a5. what makes most sense to me is a5 line out to nuforce analog in. either way i've tried a combination of connections from one to the ohter with none working. any help would be appreciated.

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post #2 of 13
4/5/11 at 7:28pm
detail your PC outputs to HDP inputs and HDP outputs to A5's please.
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post #3 of 13
4/5/11 at 7:40pm
Thread Starter 

as you ask that question i realize maybe that is it. the HDP has 3 knobs depending on what you want. usb, optical, and analog. my headphone listening is via optical and the only connection from my PC to my HDP. from the HDP to A5 i have just the standard RCA to RCA (red/white). as i said i've tried every combination available. HDP input to A5 out, HDP out to A5 out, both HDP input and output  to the A5 jack inputs. i'm wondering now though since i have the HDP set to analog, if its not picking the fact that the PC is connected since as i mentioned the only connection from the HDP to the PC is the optical cord.

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post #4 of 13
4/5/11 at 7:56pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by n0ah View Post

as you ask that question i realize maybe that is it. the HDP has 3 knobs depending on what you want. usb, optical, and analog. my headphone listening is via optical and the only connection from my PC to my HDP. from the HDP to A5 i have just the standard RCA to RCA (red/white). as i said i've tried every combination available. HDP input to A5 out, HDP out to A5 out, both HDP input and output  to the A5 jack inputs. i'm wondering now though since i have the HDP set to analog, if its not picking the fact that the PC is connected since as i mentioned the only connection from the HDP to the PC is the optical cord.


1) what? headphone listening via optical....unless your headphones have a DAC built in, you cant have optical data going to your headphones. that needs to be headphone cable in a headphone jack. If the optical jacks are the same size, that doesnt mean optical data will be turned into analog data magically.....I dunno how else to interpret this.

2) You cant have HDP's RCA output going into the RCA jacks on the A5's. the A5's dont HAVE RCA input. that RCA output is there incase you want to connect it to a sub like the Audioengine S8. The Audioengine speakers will only connect via 3.5mm headphone jack.

You seem to have the HDP connected to the PC via optical cable. You also mention it has 3 knobs, one for USB, one for optical, and one for analog. what are you talking about? do you mean 3 inputs? It has more than that and it has only 2 knobs. I'm not sure if you're trolling or you just have no experience with this but its written rather clearly on the back what each port is for. What ports are on your PC? i know theres a headphone jack sized hole in the back but THAT IS NOT FOR HEADPHONES. thats a mini-spdif jack. DO NOT connect your headphones to that. the only place you can connect headphones is the front of the HDP and you need an adapter to do that unless you have that giant connector on your headphones.

You need to figure out what kind of output is on your PC. you can plug a usb to firewire cable (see the odd boxy looking shape on the back? thats whats USB), or you can put coaxial input (NOT RCA) or you can put (mini)Optical input into the box. you need your PC to be able to output that.

Like i said, please post a picture of the computer in question so we can see what ports you have available.
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post #5 of 13
4/5/11 at 11:27pm
Thread Starter 

i didn't think i was that unclear. of course the headphones are plugged in where they're intended. i meant "headphone listening via optical"(optical input on the back plugged into my optical jack on my PC) as in that's how i connect the two. headphones are plugged into the headphone jack. yes the nuforce has two knobs, one's volume, the other is for choosing which input you're using. again, optical is the only setting i've used as i'm just today for the first time attempting to hook the nuforce to the A5's. what i'm saying is, considering my only connection from the PC to the nuforce is that one optical cord, if i have the nuforce set on "analog" for A5 listening, does the nuforce still pick up on the fact that the PC is my source via the optical connection. and if i can't do RCA to RCA that's fine, as i said i have an RCA to mini jack wire as well but i wasn't getting connection with that either. i hope i'm clearer this time.


Edited by n0ah - 4/5/11 at 11:29pm
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post #6 of 13
4/5/11 at 11:39pm
Yup, crystal.

1) make sure optical cable goes from PC to HDP.
2) connect 3.5mm cable from a5 to HDP RCA output.
3) make sure headphones arent plugged in.
4) Change the (not volume) knob accordingly. I dont know if it controls your input source or your output source, but I'm pretty sure you need to have it set to D if you want optical.
5) make sure your computer's sound card is set to output optical via spdif. on windows 7/vista, right click the volume icon and click Playback Devices. Set that so that digital SPDIF is your default. I have no idea what kind of PC hardware you're working with, but thats how you do it for built in windows sound. I can only assume you have that, otherwise youd be mucking about in your sound card's own drivers to solve the issue.
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post #7 of 13
4/5/11 at 11:51pm
Thread Starter 

so that was my problem earlier. i ran through the HDP output to A5 audio-in connection but i never had my headphones unplugged. i assumed since i was using the "analog output" of the HDP i would have the knob set to analog when i wanted to use the A5's and switch back  to "digital" when i wanted to use my headphones. so there's no way to be able to keep the headphones plugged in while still getting sound from the A5's? i don't want sound coming from both simultaneously, just lazy to have to plug in and out.

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post #8 of 13
4/5/11 at 11:55pm
considering everything is plugged into them, i'd keep the HDP on my desk within arms reach. Headphone output at the same time as speaker output makes no sense, if you think about it. The nuforce HDP isnt so great that it has selectable outputs, so you're out of luck. Did you get it working then?
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post #9 of 13
4/6/11 at 12:06am
Thread Starter 

it's working, just a bittersweet victory that i had it in my mind that i'd be able to switch headphones to speakers and vise versa with a switch of the knob and would be able to leave the headphone jack alone. both accomplish the same thing just one it a lot smoother motion in my opinion. just being petty.

 

thanks for the help. to save myself another one of these threads though, i may be getting a turntable in the near future. if i want to incorporate the nuforce and A5's into that setup (just adding a turntable and phono preamp) would i be able to add that connection without neeing to unplug anything i have set now? i still have both analog inputs of the HDP available (RCA and coaxial).

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post #10 of 13
4/6/11 at 12:17am
i dodon'tknow anything about preamps but i advise against it. i wouldnt put an amplified source into a dac. if the signal is digital, keep it digital if its analog keep it analog. nothing is stoppin you from connecting table to preamp tp a5. hdp wouldnt do anything for you. also coax is digital. you need to learn a bit more than the average best buy employee before you waste money imo.
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post #11 of 13
4/6/11 at 1:29am
Thread Starter 

what do you mean by amplified source? the a5's are powered speakers, is running the nuforce into them not worth the trouble? as for the phono preamp, i was just told you need one without question with turntables. maybe there's an exception when speakers are self powered like a5's.

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post #12 of 13
4/6/11 at 8:13am
I mean that I dont know if its a good idea to go from your turntable to a preamp and then to the nuforce HDP. a DAC is a Digital to Analog Converter. Turntables convert the back and forth motion of a needle in the grooves of the record into electrical signals. Those electrical signals need to be amplified, which is why you'd need the pre-amp. Note, you only need a pre amp if your turn table doesnt have one built in.

At this point you already have an analog audio source so why would you send it to a digital to analog converter? You would need to figure out how the analog input jacks work on the Nuforce. If the analog input jack does a complete bypass of everything and outputs the same thing, you're fine connecting it there. If the Nuforce takes analog data and converts it to digital, then back to analog before it reaches the headphones, your efforts are completely wasted as that will only ruin your audio quality. If the HDP has its own preamp built in you dont need a preamp.

Like I said, you need to use google and figure out your product specs and everything yourself. half of this junk is in the manual but somehow i doubt you noticed the HDP came with one. look what happens when i go to www.google.com (incase you didnt know what google was) and type , without quotes, 'nuforce hdp turntable':

http://totallywired.co.nz/nuforce_icon_hdp.html

That page pops up. then i press ctrl+F to open the search box and type in 'turntable'. within milliseconds, i see this line:
Quote:
I want get more performance from my CD or DVD Player.
I'd like to even listen to my turntable.

so i press 'enter' again to find the next instance of the word 'turntable' and OMG look what just happened!:
Quote:
The fact that the HDP is also a quality active preamplifier delivers even more advantages. While most DACs are fixed level, the preamp section in the Icon HDP means we are able to connect to far more components and systems. Because this section is analogue, it allows us to connect any line level input - a conventional iPod dock, radio tuner or even turntable (via a phono stage such as the Cambridge 640P or Dynavector P75Mk2). The HDP may be small but the output is more than ample in power - you can drive any power amplifier, active speakers or conventional system with it.

Incase you arent sure how to read and research yourself, that basically says that you dont need a pre-amp if you have the HDP. if you connect anything to the analog port, the HDP will pre-amp for you. You take your turn table's left/right output and put it into the left/right input on the HDP. then you turn that knob to A for Analog and turn on your turn table.

You do know that turntables play large vinyl records and not off-the-shelf shiny CD's, right? and that vinyl is extremely sensitive so you need to care for it and dust it, then lubricate it before playing unless you want it to degrade horribly every time you play it? and that you need to know what speed to play it at and how to use the turn table to set the speed, which in turn requires that you read the manual rather than just plug random crap in and see if it works? Its high quality audio equipment, not an ikea bookshelf. dont experiment to see if it works, just do it right the first time.
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post #13 of 13
4/6/11 at 4:54pm
Thread Starter 

i like things spelled out for me. thanks for taking my load..cya

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