[Anshur]

Hi everyone,
 
I've invested into a pair or Ruark MR1 active speaker a few month back, and as I just upgraded my router I was looking into turning my old airport express into an airplay receiver for my speakers. Sadly, however, my MR1 only have one mini-jack input and thus can only accept 1 input at a time.
 
The first possible solution I found was to use a Y cable splitter, but I was worried that it might degrade audio quality and/or damage the sources with signal feedback (which from my research on the web, seems to be true).
 
My second solution was to directly hook up the speakers to the airport, and funnel my PC sound through airplay software (such as Airparrot for Windows). However this kind of solution either degrade the PC's audio, or introduce lag to conserve lossless streaming, which is far from ideal, especially since i watch a lot of video and play on the PC.
 
So lastly I started looking into desktop amps that supported two inputs in parallel, and small audio mixers (maybe passive ?) which would allow me to feed the two into my pair of speaker.
 
But as I'm quite the novice in audio gear, and what I'm looking for is quite peculiar I thought I would turn to the heaf-fi community for a little help.
 
What would you recommend:
 

1. Should I try to find lossless lagless airplay streaming for windows ?
2. Should I go for an audio mixer ? If yes, passive or active and which one would you recommend ?
3. Should I go for a desktop amp ? If yes which one would you recommend under 100€ ? And is there any danger/audio loss when using active monitor (i.e. already amped) with an amp ?

 
Thanks in advance for any help you could provide, I would be very grateful : )

 

[cel4145]

Yes. Avoid the Y splitter. It's OK to split the output from a single device and send it to two amps. Not a good idea to do it the other way.

A switch seems the easiest way to do this. I have a Niles AXP-1. It's very heavy duty switch (metal case).

 

[Anshur]

Thanks for the quick recommendation, but I would rather avoid a switch. The aim would be to use airplay and the speaker's audio simultaneously.
 
I really hate apparent wires so usually I hide all my hardware behind the desk, so running a switch would either be quite an eye sore, or require to dive down the wire-casm (as it is now known) to switch inputs.
 
Plus, I was hoping to use airplay to stream podcasts while gaming and the like, or to be able to switch from listening from the PC to streaming music without having to physically switch (yes, I'm that lazy )
 
Do you know of any good active mixers ? I's seen a few from Rolls like this one, but I don't now what they are worth audio wise.

 

[cel4145]

Thanks for the quick recommendation, but I would rather avoid a switch. The aim would be to use airplay and the speaker's audio simultaneously.

I really hate apparent wires so usually I hide all my hardware behind the desk, so running a switch would either be quite an eye sore, or require to dive down the wire-casm (as it is now known) to switch inputs.

Plus, I was hoping to use airplay to stream podcasts while gaming and the like, or to be able to switch from listening from the PC to streaming music without having to physically switch (yes, I'm that lazy )

Do you know of any good active mixers ? I's seen a few from Rolls like this one, but I don't now what they are worth audio wise.

I think you definitely gotta have a mixer for that. Sorry. Don't know much about mixers.

 

[RonaldDumsfeld]

In my experience cheap mixers are a poor investment. They either don't sound that great or don't tend to last very long.
 
For a few dollars more (well about twice as many but still not much really) you could get a basic entry level audio interface which would do exactly what you want and then some.
 
I'll use the Focusrite Scarlet 2i2 as the example but there is loads of competition from other reputable companies.
 
http://uk.focusrite.com/usb-audio-interfaces/scarlett-2i2/specifications
 
Feed any line level into the front. Connect your speakers at the back. You will need the appropriate leads but that's no big deal. Connect your PC via USB. Headphones, with individual volume control, on the front. All handy placed on the desktop nearby. You can then mix the , in your e.g. podcast via the line ins and game chatter via USB in real time. 

 

[FieldEffect]

I used a Mackie 402VLZ4 mixer for a while for this purpose, and then moved to an 802VLZ4 because I wanted more inputs (unfortunately it has a rather large footprint). They're fairly good mixers for the money, but they do affect the sound in subtle ways. I finally moved to a passive preamp. I started with an SM Pro Nano Patch, then went to Schiit Sys, and then got this recently: http://www.head-fi.org/t/770256/passive-preamp-from-ebay-seller
 
Really the only two options are a mixer or a passive preamp switchbox, but if you absolutely don't want a switchbox, you'll have to go the route of a mixer. A passive preamp will sound better, though.
 
I would not recommend the Focusrite Scarletts for your purposes. You'll be paying a lot of extra money for functionality you don't need while barely getting the functionality you do want. They're made for mics and instruments, not multiple stereo inputs. You could argue the same for a mixer, but it's closer to what you want in that it'll have more flexible input options for less money.

 

[Anshur]

First, thanks for the information guys, any advice you can throw at me is welcomed, I'm a bit of a novice in the audio world beside speaker and headphones

 
I'll use the Focusrite Scarlet 2i2 as the example but there is loads of competition from other reputable companies.
 
http://uk.focusrite.com/usb-audio-interfaces/scarlett-2i2/specifications
 
Feed any line level into the front. Connect your speakers at the back. You will need the appropriate leads but that's no big deal. Connect your PC via USB. Headphones, with individual volume control, on the front. All handy placed on the desktop nearby. You can then mix the , in your e.g. podcast via the line ins and game chatter via USB in real time. 

 
Thanks for the recommendation, but I feel it might be a bit overkill. I'm mainly looking for a not too expensive (while keeping audio fidelity to the maximum) compact setup (the smaller the better) just to merge two inputs into an output. I feel it might be a bit of waste to buy recording gear like this just for that purpose.
 

 
Really the only two options are a mixer or a passive preamp switchbox, but if you absolutely don't want a switchbox, you'll have to go the route of a mixer. A passive preamp will sound better, though.

 
I saw several computer dacs with several inputs, do you know if those act as switch or do they work in parallel ? Is the mixer my only choice ?
 
A friend of mine has a pair of Focal XS Book Wireless and those have two inputs that work in parallel. There must be a way to achieve the same thing externally no?

 

[RonaldDumsfeld]

In order to combine more than one signal, vary the relative volume of each and stay within safe limits you need a mixer. By definition. That's what a mixer does. Mixers do come in different forms though.
 
I used to use a decent quality, branded, small format mixer like Fields. In my case a Soundcraft Spirit M4. The problem with mixers though is they take up a lot of prime real estate and it's difficult to keep the dust and dirt out of them. You only need one scratchy pot and it's a nuisance.  I replaced the M4 years ago with my first audio interface and have never looked back. Really reliable and useful bit of kit that proved to have many uses I didn't realise I wanted until they were staring my in the face.
 
But I figure you don't want to do spend as much as $140 just yet. Lets see what there is for much cheaper and isn't outright junk.
 
Maybe $65 for an ART USB Mix.
 
http://artproaudio.com/mixers/product/usb_mix-ps/
 
A pocket mixer would do the job but  it's only ~$40 less than the much more versatile and well known Scarlet 2i2.
 
http://www.pokketmixer.com/

 

[Anshur]

Thanks again for the recommendation, I tried the Pokketmixer, however I don't know if it was the product itself or the fact that it was passive, but it produced a lot of distortions. 
 
I might go for an audio interface as active audio mixer seem to be as expensive, or gigantic. However, As I have been interested in getting a DAC, I might look up to see if any come with two or more inputs that works in parallel.

 

[RonaldDumsfeld]

I thought the pokketmixer was fun device for the money myself but like I said earlier cheap analogue mixers are rarely a good investment. A digital mixer at the same price will always be better and more reliable.
 
An audio interface is effectively a DAC, an ADC, a mixer, a channel strip, a headphone amp a DI box and more all in one good value package. Multi channel in and out options don't cost much more than simple stereo in stereo out versions.
 
In your position I'd look at something like the Focusrite 6i6 if you can stretch to the $200. There are many excellent alternatives.
 



http://us.focusrite.com/usb-audio-interfaces/scarlett-6i6/specifications
 
You get two independent stereo line ins (or mic/inst on one pair) plus S/PDIF I/O so you can connect an X-Box and have a pass through, two independent stereo line outs, for you monitors plus a BT transmitter, separate zone, independent subwoofer or whatever. main outs are balanced, add two independent headphone outs and a separate power supply so it will work in stand alone mode without a PC, tablet or smartphone and what's not to like.
 
It's more than you wanted to spend but if you can stech to it it will last you for ages and provide a platform for any amount of expansion and upgrading.
 
Next spet up would be the MOTU Microbook because the software is exceptional. Some people also like the Native Instrruments Audio 6.