# Computer output through stereo **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [July 19, 2002, 2:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/computer-output-through-stereo/119812 "2002-07-19T14:56:31Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 12\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![jk1245](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/49beb7/32.png) [@jk1245](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jk1245)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2002, 2:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/computer-output-through-stereo/119812/1 "2002-07-19T14:56:31Z")
Quick (and probably simple) computer question. I would like to connect my computer to my stereo so I can simply use MusicMatch Jukebax to play songs rather than burn CD after CD. I imagine someone out there in DopeLand has done this, so: Is this pretty easy to do? I looked around and found two basic options 1. A cable that connects the headphone port of my computer to the stereo via RCA plugs. Nice and cheap and easy. 2. Various pieces of hardware ([example](http://www.stereo-link.com/) that cost $100 or more but claim better sound and whatnot. My questions: - is the headphone to RCA cable good enough? - What kind of quality will this get me - How much does your sound card matter? If I’m going through a full stereo system, would a crappy sound card make a difference at all? Thanks for any info/advice! ---
**Author:** ![Bryan\_Ekers](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bryan_ekers/32/183_2.png) [@Bryan\_Ekers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bryan_Ekers)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2002, 3:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/computer-output-through-stereo/119812/2 "2002-07-19T15:38:43Z")
I’ve just read the linked page and I’m chuckling already. The advertisement displays, or is trying to take advantage of, some basic misunderstandings of how comptuer sound works. The fact that the “beep-boop” and “you’ve got mail” sounds are cheesy is not a reflection of the computer’s sound capabilities, but an attempt to keep sound files as small as possible to save disk space. Sure, you _could_ have recorded “you’ve got mail” in full stereo with an opera singer making the announcement accompanied by a full orchestra, ranging from bass drum to piccolo in heart-breaking quality, but what would be the point? Sound card is getting to be a pretty ethereal thing. The focus now is adding more user features, like digital stereo connectors and miniature mixing boards and whatnot. To see any difference will depend on the quality of your speakers. You may think you have a crappy sound card simply because you’ve been using the cheap unamplified speakers that came with your computer. One major element is the relative volume settings. Your computer has a master output level (accessable by clicking on the yellow speaker icon in the lower right corner of your monitor - assuming a windows system). If this is set really low and you find you have to set your stereo volume very high, you chance of introducing static goes way up. You’ll have to play with the two settings, probabably putting the computer at midrange or slightly higher and the stero at midrange or slightly lower. If you need to turn the sound down for a moment, try to use the stereo, not the computer. I myself use my computer _as_ a stereo. I play all music CD’s through the computer and I have a 4.1 speaker system (i.e. with a subwoofer). These speakers happen to have multiple inputs, so I share them with my television, cable box and VCR (through the TV’s headphone jack - though if I had a better TV, the jack would be stereo). It’s a big complicated setup that required a lot of cable, but it works very well. ---
**Author:** ![sailor](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a587f6/32.png) [@sailor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sailor)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2002, 4:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/computer-output-through-stereo/119812/3 "2002-07-19T16:03:31Z")
I have the computer connected to the stereo. No big deal. take the line output of the soundcard, which is the jack where you would normally connect the amplified speakers, and just connect it to the auxiliary input of your stereo amplifier. Essentially you are doing the same thing in both cases. ---
**Author:** ![xash](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/x/c6cbf5/32.png) [@xash](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/xash)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2002, 4:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/computer-output-through-stereo/119812/4 "2002-07-19T16:32:19Z")
i’d go with sailor. Just use the line-out or headphone jack of the comp to connect to the line-in or aux-in input of the stereo. Quality is pretty good. even an old sound card will work fine as long as the stereo amp and speakers are good. ---
**Author:** ![DougC](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/7feea3/32.png) [@DougC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DougC)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2002, 4:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/computer-output-through-stereo/119812/5 "2002-07-19T16:39:17Z")
- - - The best way is the PC line-out to stereo line-in. You can buy an audio cable that has the correct connectors on both ends. - The other way is to run a cable from the computer’s headphone-out to the stereo’s line-in. This method isn’t _exactly_ correct as the line levels aren’t quite matched (the signal is weaker than using a line-out to line-in), but it does work, and I have never heard of it harming either part. The _quality_ is essentially perfect; you shouldn’t get any audible distortion either way. It’s also pretty darn cheap to try, too. - Note: some PC sound cards do sound like crap: especially the built-in-motherboard ones, which are the cheapest of them all. Similar to radios, a cheap soundcard will have lots of distortion if turned all the way up. Or sometimes, even _halfway_ up. Good ones won’t. - Or just forget the whole thing: for around $50 or so, you can now get hi-fi triple (2-satellites+subwoofer) PC speakers with 30+ watts of power that sound pretty good for casual listening. Higher wattage sets are available but cost more. 30 watts won’t exactly shake the building foundations, but it’s enough for one typically-sized room. - DougC ---
**Author:** ![sailor](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a587f6/32.png) [@sailor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sailor)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2002, 5:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/computer-output-through-stereo/119812/6 "2002-07-19T17:33:43Z")
DougC, the headphones output will have greater power level and greater distortion than the line out output but if the signal is kept low the distortion can be better than acceptable. \>\> some PC sound cards do sound like crap: especially the built-in-motherboard ones, which are the cheapest of them all. Similar to radios, a cheap soundcard will have lots of distortion if turned all the way up. Or sometimes, even halfway up. Good ones won’t On a general level I will disagree with this too. The greater part of distortion is generally produced in the final amplifier (which is contained in the speakers or stereo system) when it is overloaded. Any cheap card will give a very decent line output signal which can then be amplified to _any_ level in the final stages. Right now I am using what is possibly the lowest and cheapest audio: a VIA3058 chip AC97 on the motherboard. While I _hate_ the audio control panel that comes with Win9X and I am hoping to find some replacement, the quality of the audio output from the hardware chip is impecable. I can put it into the tiny computer speakers and it sounds fine or I can put it into my stereo with _huge_ speakers and shake the house. If you want good quality audio the final amplifier and speakers are where you have to invest. Of course, a better sound card doesn hurt either but it is not like you put it. If yous system sounds bad the main cause is probably not the sound chip. ---
**Author:** ![DougC](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/7feea3/32.png) [@DougC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DougC)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2002, 8:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/computer-output-through-stereo/119812/7 "2002-07-19T20:47:10Z")
> [@](#): > > …On a general level I will disagree with this too… - - - Okay. My point is still valid: on-board sound chips are among the cheapest and worst-performing. And it’s not just me that thinks so: [http://www.pcavtech.com/soundcards/compare/index.htm](http://www.pcavtech.com/soundcards/compare/index.htm) I couldn’t find any audio reviews of the VIA3058 chip right off so I don’t know where it falls on that list, but the observation that no name-brand PCI soundcards use it suggests that its quality isn’t all that great. ~ - I have a Soundblaster Live 5.1 now, and as (poor) luck would have it, the previous two computers I had both have ESS 1938S Solo-1 chips (#26 on the list) and they both sounded noticeably worse at any level, from any output. I will admit though that I never thought the others were so bad until I got the SBL, and was _amazed_ at how much better it sounded. - DougC ---
**Author:** ![World\_Eater](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/f04885/32.png) [@World\_Eater](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/World_Eater)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2002, 9:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/computer-output-through-stereo/119812/8 "2002-07-19T21:14:53Z")
Like the other posters have said, go down to Radio Shack, get a 1/8 inch to RCA cable and use the Pc line out to aux-in on your stereo. ---
**Author:** ![Seven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/3d9bf3/32.png) [@Seven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Seven)\ **Post date:** [July 20, 2002, 1:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/computer-output-through-stereo/119812/9 "2002-07-20T01:34:05Z")
**Line out** of sound card to **Aux in** on amp. That’s how mine is set up. I used a $2 1/8 to RCA cable from Radio Shack. Works great ---
**Author:** ![scr4](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/59ef9b/32.png) [@scr4](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/scr4)\ **Post date:** [July 20, 2002, 2:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/computer-output-through-stereo/119812/10 "2002-07-20T02:21:33Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by sailor \* > \*\*\>\> some PC sound cards do sound like crap: especially the built-in-motherboard ones, which are the cheapest of them all. > > On a general level I will disagree with this too. The greater part of distortion is generally produced in the final amplifier \*\* It’s not just the distortion. I’ve noticed that some on-board sound and cheap sound cards have a lot of noise when connected to a good stereo. The one on my motherboard is apparently very poorly shielded - it picks up noise from the hard drive. I upgraded to a USB audio system and that got ride of the noise. (It’s an Onkyo 5.1-channel amplified speaker system with USB input, which wasn’t much more expensive than the same speakers without USB.) ---
**Author:** ![SenorBeef](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/senorbeef/32/2220_2.png) [@SenorBeef](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SenorBeef)\ **Post date:** [July 20, 2002, 3:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/computer-output-through-stereo/119812/11 "2002-07-20T03:17:19Z")
Yeah, I got a cheap 1/8th to RCA cord that I use - works a hell of a lot better than the cheap computer speakers I have. ---
**Author:** ![sailor](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a587f6/32.png) [@sailor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sailor)\ **Post date:** [July 20, 2002, 9:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/computer-output-through-stereo/119812/12 "2002-07-20T09:44:18Z")
**scr4** , I do not know what I was thinking when I wrote that. Alzheimer’s must be creeping in because one of the computers I have is an Acer Extensa 368D laptop which has the crappiest sound ever: noise: the hum and hiss are so loud it is unbelievable and channel separation is a joke, so yes, if your computer has a crappy sound “card” then you get crappy sound but you can get very good sound from an inexpensive audio card.