[OT] 3.5mm stereo to mono adapter with switch?

I'm looking for an adapter which goes from a 3.5mm stereo plug to

3.5mm mono socket similar to this:

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However I want the adapter to provide a mono/stereo switch.

Ideally one solid piece including the switch. An inline adapter cable with a mono/stereo switch might be okay. I can't find anything!

This is for carrying around so ease of use is important which means anything with a box is no good.

Reply to
pamela
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What would you expect the adapter to do when the switch is in the stereo position?

Reply to
Andy Burns

on 19/11/2016, pamela supposed :

DIY? Buy a short 3.5mm stereo extension lead (I bought a 12" long one last week), cut into it to extricate the wires for both channels, then add a small switch to short the two channels together. Cover switch and cables after testing, with some Milliput.

Reply to
Harry Bloomfield

Or simpler get a 2 way adaptor and in one port plug a stereo 3.5mm plug/lead which you fit a switch to.

NT

Reply to
tabbypurr

I want the stereo signal to pass through the adapter as stereo.

Sometimes I want to plug stereo headphones into the mono socket of a dictation machine which means the signal connection is made only with the left channel of the stereo plug.

Sometimes I have a stereo source which I want to hear in mono on stereo headphones.

(At other times, I just want to hear a stereo source in stereo as usual.)

Reply to
pamela

But it's only got a mono socket, so it can't.

Reply to
Andy Burns

It would probably be a much neater finish if it was factory made than if I made it!

Reply to
pamela

Maybe I should write "mono output" rather than "mono socket".

As I said, the picture is not exactly what I want but similar. I have used it to show the sort of one piece inline adapter I want. The connections and the switch would be different.

A second best would be a similar one piece adapter with a 3.5mm stereo plug and a 3.5mm stereo socket but permanently wired to short the two signal leads to give dual mono output.

Reply to
pamela

In which case, NT's suggestion should do the trick, insert shorting plug for mono, remove for stereo.

Reply to
Andy Burns

Not sure that's going to be easy. You can generally connect inputs together without problems. Paralleling outputs may not be.

Reply to
Dave Plowman (News)

Offhand, the easiest solution is to use two separate plugs of different colors.

Reply to
Neil

It may well be commonly done, but it is not a good idea to short the stereo channels together. Probably the amplifier is protected against electrical damage but as far as the difference signal is concerned the behaviour is probably not defined. Either use just one channel or connect the two stereo channels through two resistors high enough to maintain linearity but low enough not to use all the power. The value obviously depends what the load is and what load the amplifier is intended for.

Reply to
Roger Hayter

This is simple to do, but I often build my own. Should not be too difficult to find on good shops.

This is not recommended, as you are short circuiting the output amplifiers. Better find a software solution.

Reply to
Carlos E.R.

Easy enough to make a resistive combining network.

Reply to
Dave Plowman (News)

Quite hard to make one suitable for unspecified amplifier and headphone combinations. Especially now the audio output of consumer items intended for headphone use tends to be marginally adequate for H&S reasons.

Reply to
Roger Hayter

You might well lose a bit of level. But should still be adequate.

Reply to
Dave Plowman (News)

The plug is fitted to the headphone lead. How do I easily have two plugs?

Reply to
pamela

That's quite right but this is a quick and dirty fix for all those many amps which very inconsiderately do not provide a switchable stereo/mono output at the times I need one. :-)

The world's gone stereo mad!

Reply to
pamela

As a quick and dirty solution, it works well enough and without disaster whenever I tried it on what I guess would be a 100 to 200 mV output.

I only wish there was a mono/stereo switch provided in equipment but I hardly ever see one these days. On devices like a PC it cold easily be implemented in software but on the audio editor and players I have used it is never there.

Reply to
pamela

Not the answer you were looking for, but I think it will do (most of) what you want:

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Reply to
John #9

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