I need a way to connect my speakers (3.5mm), my headphones (hd-555 6.3mm) and my mic (3.5mm) to my chaintech av-710 and my headsave classic (RCA). I suppose I will need a kind of swithbox, perhaps it will have to be custom made. Anyone who could help? I do not need a volume button but I would like to be able to mute everything as well.

Basically what you're looking at is a box with connectors and switches. If you're handy with a soldering iron and drill, or want to learn to be, this would be a really easy beginner project for you. Whether you build it or buy it, let's see if we can describe exactly what you need, because it's not exactly straightforward. I don't know any specific products, by the way, but can definitely help if you opt for the DIY route.
At any rate, a few questions:
Do you want the Chaintech to connect to the Classic, or is the Classic strictly for a seperate source?
Does the Classic just amp the HD555s, or do you want to plug your speakers in too?
Why do you need to switch the mic? It's the only input device, and unless you want it to go through the Classic and not the Chaintech, there's no reason to bring it into the equation.

The cost of this kind of switchbox basically comes down to a few parts (RCA connectors can get expensive, but good 1/4" and 1/8" plugs aren't too expensive; good switches can run pretty high; the case can be anything from a $5 plastic box to, I dunno, a laser-milled diamond) and labor. There's not exactly a whole lot of design needed. For really high end switchboxes, things can run up pretty quickly, but to a large degree you're paying for labor and audiophile credit.

Conraed: Do you really need that switchbox? Just like Megaptera, I don't really understand what that should be good for. It rather seems to me that spiltting the output of the AV-710 to both your headphone amp and speaker system would do...

Greetings from Hannover!

Manfred / lini

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The amp has only 1 headphone output and 2 RCA input connectors. Would it be better to connect the amp to both speakers and headphones?
For a start the pc will be the only source.
Muting the mic would be a nice future but it isn't a must, perhaps I should do that seperatly.

Lini, doesn't splitting the output reduce quality? It would be a good solution though. With more sources, perhaps a switchbox would be better.

EDIT: I do have have a soldering iron but I do not have alot of experience working with it. If anybody could refer to a good site or guide about soldering, that would be great.

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I would check and see what kind of sound you get with the speakers plugged into the amp -- it may or may not get weird because they've probably got their own amp stage built in, I don't know how that would work -- and see if you prefer it or not. Then decide whether you want them connected to the amp or not.

I'm not sure I would recommend a whole lot of connections at this point for you. Unless you're planning on getting a second/third/nth source in the very immediate future, it might make more sense for you to go with exactly what you need right now, and upgrade the switchbox to a preamp later. The reasons being that it'll save you money right now, and having open connections can sometimes pick up interference that makes its way into your audio signal. Upgrading to a preamp later will give you a lot more choices to work with then, too. (A preamp, by the way, is basically a switchbox plus volume control, sometimes with a little bit of gain.)

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I'd recommend keeping that function on the computer. It reduces the complexity of the switchbox, and therefore cost to you and impact on the related audio signals down.

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There's lots -- for right now, check the DIY forum, especially the links, and make a point of checking out http://www.tangentsoft.net/audio right now to get an idea of what's involved and what the cost for tools might be. After you've done that, and have a clear idea of what you need for this switchbox, then you can decide whether to go DIY or not. (If you do decide to, then we'll start a new thread on that in the DIY forum.) I would also check out here for an example of what kind of project you're looking at.

As it stands, it looks to me like what you're looking for is a one input, two output box. Most of the commercial switchboxes I've seen are two-input, two-output (which as you say is not a problem, and I doubt my worries about interference are really worth worrying about) and from a DIY perspective, one input and two input are really about the same difficulty.
A good splitter won't seriously degrade your sound quality -- not to the point where you'd notice on this setup, I imagine -- but you'd still have to adjust the power/volume on one or the other if you didn't want to hear them both at once. It's an improvement over switching cables, but more effort than a switchbox, so your call there.

Thanks for all the advice, Megaptera. As you said, my speakers do have a built-in amp but I'll see what it will give.
I don't understand what you mean with open connections? If I use a preamp, wouldn't I need cables running to it as well?
I think a switchbox would be useless in my situation unless I connect my mic and a second input to it too. I can always sell the switchbox to a friend of mine with a very similar situation so perhaps I should make one, it's always fun to make something usefull by yourself. You always keep learning by trial and error.
What does "gain" actually mean?
I won't Make a 1 in, 2 out box because I can adjust volume both on headamp and speakers easily and therefor I will buy a splittercable. Would any cable found at a local hardware shop do?

here's what you need.

http://www.fidaudio.com/

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By "open" connection, I mean an input or output you don't have anything connected to. A preamp will need cables too; I was just suggesting you don't want a whole bank of empty RCAs or anything like that. But that really might not be a problem, I only mentioned it as an aside.

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If you want to make it yourself, there's no problem at all with putting a mic connection/muter circuit on it, or extra input.

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"Gain" is how much the amp circuit amplifies the signal by. In a technical sense, it's actually just a multiplier: let's say you have a signal of 5 mV going through an amp circuit with a gain of 5, the output signal is 5 mV * 5 = 25 mV. (That doesn't exactly mean five times as loud, though -- how loud a given signal actually is depends on the headphones.) A headamp's gain tends to be anywhere from 3 to 11. And if you see the term "unity gain" anywhere, it means a gain of 1.

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Radio Shack would probably be a better bet if you want to go with the splitter. If you want to go DIY, then I suggest starting a new thread in the DIY forum, so we don't take this one too off-topic in this forum

I started a new thread in the DIY section so if you don't bother helping me a little more, check it out.

EDIT: Forgot the link for the lazy people around here
http://www.head-fi.org/forums/showth...04#post1002204