OT: MP3 players

[4square]

Is it possible to connect the headphone output of an MP3 player into the Aux. input of an old - type, or even a later, hi-fi amplifier? I realise, a special lead would be needed, for 3.5mm jack to 2 phono plugs. Has anyone here tried this? Do I need to check the voltage from the MP3 player first, or the impedance of the headphone output when it is not switched on? I do have the instructions of my 1977 Hitachi amp. somewhere in the loft, so Aux. input details may be included. Any advice much appreciated.

[Adrian C]

Mostly Yes*. Cable is widely available. Don't use an input designed for a record turntable.

• = some items sound better/louder connected via their docking stations.

[geoff]

In message ,

4square writes

turn the volume up to "11"

[Seri]

you need something like this:

going to give you awesome sound quality and as already mentioned, beware of connecting up to a record deck input.

Hope this helps

Seri

[Owain]

Which is readily obtainable in Maplins, Poundshagger, etc

Yes

No and no.

Just use the 'line' input NOT the gram/phono input and don't have two things sharing the same input.

Owain

[John Rumm]

Its not an optimal way of doing it, but in practice you probably can. You need to take a bit of care since the Aux in on the amp will be expecting a line level signal, not an amplified one intended to drive small speakers (i.e. headphones). So you will need the volume level low to avoid distortion.

[DM]

My experience of this is to the contrary, in respect that in most cases you need to set the volume level of the mp3 player much higher than for listening via headphone. A line level signal has a fairly high signal level in order to accomodate the full dynamic range of the signal, while the headphone output in normal listening is typically lower than this.

I also get better quality playing through my hifi than with the low end portable speaker sets designed for this purpose.

cheers

David

[John Rumm]

Yup, could also be the case. A line level input will typically be expecting a signal up to 2V measured Peek to Peek. However there will often be a large impedance mismatch between a headphone output and a line in, so experiences of what output level is required to achieve adequate power transfer will vary depending on circumstance.

Perhaps a better approach should be start at a low level and wind up until you get something satisfactory.

Not too surprising when you consider how crap most portable speaker sets are! ;-)

[Adrian C]

Incidently, some european MP3 players have the maximum headphone level preset at an EU decided maximum. Depending what ye have, firmware patches are available to override this H&S imposition, which may help driving more output.

Yup, always the advice with anything new and potentially dangerous. Use Mendelssohn as a test track rather than Drum & Bass ;-)

Alternatively, which at least the case with Apple products, just use a docking station where the signal comes out before the battery hungry headphone amp, is at line level, and has lower noise content.

However, before all that tomfoolery - the OP should just plug it in and see! :-)

[The Wanderer]

What others have said, plus is your player configurable? Mine (a Sony) has a user menu that allows you to choose headphones or line out. Line out to aux input on an amplifier gives excellent sound quality.

[Adrian C]

That's useful. Which one is it?

[The Wanderer]

NW-A3000

[DM]

I would hope and expect the impedance mismatch to be very large, as the amplifier output should be relatively low impdeance and the line input high. There is a lot more to the signal chain and the impedance difference at this point is not that important.

You seem to be confusing two different things here, at least that what it looks like. The power is important in driving a specific impedance of speaker, yes. But you can't compare the power required to drive a speaker with driving a line level input and get something sensible. If you can drive 1V into a headphone speaker of 30-60 ohms then it is no problem dring a line level input with somewhat higher impedance. It will require much less power to drive the line input, but to get decent volume and dymanic range with the line input the peak voltage level will be important.

[Adrian C]

Thanks. Reminds me of my old Sony MD walkman (MZ-R30) which also went to the trouble of having separate line-out and head-phone outputs, in this case each on it's own 3.5mm socket.