How much sound quality does a stereo 3.5mm Y splitter take away?

area5x2

Weaksauce
Joined
Apr 19, 2007
Messages
122
Let's say I'm using a USB recording interface that unfortunately only has 1 output jack in the back, and speakers are required to be plugged into that one jack, forcing me to combine the sub and the monitors' 3.5mm connections into a Y splitter which plugs into the USB recording interface. Would this result in a noticeable drop in sound quality than if I didn't use a Y splitter? And if so, how much is the difference?
 
I'm somewhat wondering the same thing, (not tryin to jack the thread).

My question is if an rca switch would degrade sound quality.

:)
 
Assuming the splitter isn't one thin strand of copper and isn't very long I don't think you should worry about quality degration.
 
I was trying to figure this out myself .. I think as long as you do not want to use maximum volume you should be okay - I use a splitter and have never heard any deterioration in the signal. So I think it just a bit of extra resistance that causes current drop.
Would there be voltage drop as well I do not know..
 
Like previously mentiond, if the splitter is of decent quality and not long, it shouldn't affect it audibly.
I'd suggest you test it out... See if you can tell a loss of sound quality when plugged into the splitter or w/o it.
It would be different if you were powering two sets of non-powered speakers like cheap 2watt in-monitor speakers, or even two sets of headphones... Because the power that your soundcard is outputting would be pretty much cut in half from the two headphones... But since your subwoofer is always powered, and your monitor speakers are 99% likely to be powered... the only thing that should degrade quality would be the signal through the cable itself... so again, if not old/frayed/crappy quality, or really long, it shouldn't make a difference...

There's my 2 cents anyways..





Yes it´s so short I haven´t noticed anything.
that's what she said!
 
Just to clarify because I am dumb... If I got an amp like the big joe, would a regular rca switch like one from radio shack have a noticeable impact on audio quality? I need a 2 channel amp / receiver that has a small footprint, but I also have 3 inputs, so I need a way to switch between them; would that do?
thanks
 
The switcher would make less of an impact then the actual RCA cables you use from your input sources. In a traditional receiver there's very little distance between the amp and the preamp.

In your case (with multiple inputs too) you are basically running a long distance connection between the amp and pre-amp. So you have a high voltage signal running a distance that might have sizable EM interference nearby.

In this case you want to make sure the (RCA) cabling has good/heavy shielding and low capacitance as it would make more of a difference than a "quality" switcher.
 
Back
Top