Audio Quality Issues when using Headphone switcher
Posted: Wed Mar 04, 2020 3:00 pm
Hi—
I've never had an especially sophisticated method of switching between my speakers and my headphones. To date, it has been to unplug the speakers, and plug in the headphones. I recently thought to look for some sort of mechanical switcher that worked with 1/8" cables, found one, but have had issues that the manufacturer said were "ground loop issues." Hoping that some of you may have dealt with this issue previously, I come asking for your advice. Possibly complicating things, the area of my house where this is located is not grounded.
Setup:
Audio comes from a Mac Pro 2008's internal sound output (1/8") through a M->F 1/8" stereo cable. The female end is where I would make the manual change from speaker to headphones. The headphones are Sony MDR-7506. The speaker setup consists of a Presonus T10 sub, and two Behringer B2031A speakers. The cable to the sub is M <-> M 1/8" stereo to dual XLRs. Then from the T10 to the monitors are another two standard XLR cables. The computer, console, and sub are all plugged into one outlet, and the two monitors (located about 10' higher than the console) are plugged into another outlet.
Diagnostics:
The switch is simple 1-in, 2-out toggle switcher (http://4minds.co/audio-switch-box/). If all three (source, headphones, speakers) are connected, being in the speaker position causes no sound to the headphones, and normal sound to the speakers. The initial issue was that when I then switched to the headphone mode, normal sound went to the headphones, but there was audio "leaking" out to the speakers still... maybe 5–10% of the full volume.
Disconnecting the monitors from the subwoofer (both by unplugging their xlr connections or by removing power from the monitors) does not clear the issue. The T10 does have a "GND LFT" switch on it which reduced the leaking sound to maybe 1–2%, but it was still there. At this point, I listened to the headphones and noticed there was an electrical buzz in the signal.
Questions:
1) Does my non-grounded power situation preclude me from employing a 1/8" switcher to allow me to keep both the headphones and speakers plugged in at the same time?
2) Is there a device that could be employed at some point between the computer and subwoofer to filter out this issue—either on the audio side or the power side—and that would work with my outlets not having a ground wire connected? I'm especially curious about this as I presume the ground lift in the T10 is the equivalent of the protection a direct box or similar would provide. I am not knowledgeable enough, though, to know if my presumption is based in reality.
3) Is there a better way to achieve my goal of keeping headphones and speakers plugged in all the time, and easily switch between them?
Many thanks for reading this wall of text. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated. I've looked at things like the Furman power conditioners, and the Hum X product, but hate to throw money at possible solutions until I know they might possibly be of assistance.
All the best,
Marc
I've never had an especially sophisticated method of switching between my speakers and my headphones. To date, it has been to unplug the speakers, and plug in the headphones. I recently thought to look for some sort of mechanical switcher that worked with 1/8" cables, found one, but have had issues that the manufacturer said were "ground loop issues." Hoping that some of you may have dealt with this issue previously, I come asking for your advice. Possibly complicating things, the area of my house where this is located is not grounded.
Setup:
Audio comes from a Mac Pro 2008's internal sound output (1/8") through a M->F 1/8" stereo cable. The female end is where I would make the manual change from speaker to headphones. The headphones are Sony MDR-7506. The speaker setup consists of a Presonus T10 sub, and two Behringer B2031A speakers. The cable to the sub is M <-> M 1/8" stereo to dual XLRs. Then from the T10 to the monitors are another two standard XLR cables. The computer, console, and sub are all plugged into one outlet, and the two monitors (located about 10' higher than the console) are plugged into another outlet.
Diagnostics:
The switch is simple 1-in, 2-out toggle switcher (http://4minds.co/audio-switch-box/). If all three (source, headphones, speakers) are connected, being in the speaker position causes no sound to the headphones, and normal sound to the speakers. The initial issue was that when I then switched to the headphone mode, normal sound went to the headphones, but there was audio "leaking" out to the speakers still... maybe 5–10% of the full volume.
Disconnecting the monitors from the subwoofer (both by unplugging their xlr connections or by removing power from the monitors) does not clear the issue. The T10 does have a "GND LFT" switch on it which reduced the leaking sound to maybe 1–2%, but it was still there. At this point, I listened to the headphones and noticed there was an electrical buzz in the signal.
Questions:
1) Does my non-grounded power situation preclude me from employing a 1/8" switcher to allow me to keep both the headphones and speakers plugged in at the same time?
2) Is there a device that could be employed at some point between the computer and subwoofer to filter out this issue—either on the audio side or the power side—and that would work with my outlets not having a ground wire connected? I'm especially curious about this as I presume the ground lift in the T10 is the equivalent of the protection a direct box or similar would provide. I am not knowledgeable enough, though, to know if my presumption is based in reality.
3) Is there a better way to achieve my goal of keeping headphones and speakers plugged in all the time, and easily switch between them?
Many thanks for reading this wall of text. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated. I've looked at things like the Furman power conditioners, and the Hum X product, but hate to throw money at possible solutions until I know they might possibly be of assistance.
All the best,
Marc