petwoip
New Head-Fier
- Joined
- Sep 2, 2013
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Here's my setup: I have a JEC TC-716 stereo source selector (audio switcher). This switcher has 4 pair of RCA jacks and 2 stereo 3.5mm jacks. I use all four RCA jacks, one from my computer (which has a Realtek ALC889 audio chip), one from another computer in the room with the same specs, and one from a Wii. The final RCA jack goes to a Swan M10 2.1 speaker system. Usually I have the audio go from my computer to the speakers, but other configurations work just fine. In fact, it's possible to have the sound from my computer and the Wii playing simultaneously, each at half the normal volume.
Anyway, today I plugged my Sennheiser HD 518 headphones into one of the 3.5mm jacks and the volume is about half of what it would be if plugged directly into my computer. I have to compensate for this volume loss by turning my computer volume to 80/100 versus the usual 40/100. Also, I made sure that the switcher is only active for the computer and the headphones, so I know there is no interference with another device. The audio quality seems to be ok, but I don't completely trust my ears and it's very difficult to do a blind test because switching the setup between trials takes too long.
So what I want to know is, why is the volume lower for the headphones when connected to a switcher, and would a headphone amp ensure high volume and quality? I'm not very knowledgeable in this area, but I'd appreciate a technical answer in order to learn how these things work.
Anyway, today I plugged my Sennheiser HD 518 headphones into one of the 3.5mm jacks and the volume is about half of what it would be if plugged directly into my computer. I have to compensate for this volume loss by turning my computer volume to 80/100 versus the usual 40/100. Also, I made sure that the switcher is only active for the computer and the headphones, so I know there is no interference with another device. The audio quality seems to be ok, but I don't completely trust my ears and it's very difficult to do a blind test because switching the setup between trials takes too long.
So what I want to know is, why is the volume lower for the headphones when connected to a switcher, and would a headphone amp ensure high volume and quality? I'm not very knowledgeable in this area, but I'd appreciate a technical answer in order to learn how these things work.