Audio Amplification

I would welcome advice and suggestions on how to improve the Audio output from my laptop in the following environments;1) study 2) Large double garage(weather permitting).I currently use Headphones and 2.0 desk speakers which are inadequate.Thank you.
Organhaup

I presume you are talking about a Hauptwerk Organ? On my laptop I use an external sound module then on to a speaker setup. The sound model used curently is the Edirol U25. On my desktop I use an E-MU 0404 USB sound module which is much better than the Edirol. Both have provision for headphone outputs.
Keith

[mdyde]

(Topic moved here.)

I think the first thing to determine is what kind of a perceived soundfield you want to produce. Do you prefer a dry sound, cathedral sound, something in between etc., etc? Depending on the sample set(s) you have and what you want it to sound like will then dictate what equipment at a minimum you will need such as additional reverberation unit(s), size and number of speakers, where they will be placed and so on. The list could go on and on depending on what you want for an outcome.

If you're happy with just making it sound better than what you have now (not hard to do), connecting it to a stereo amp / receiver with a couple of decent 3 way speakers would do the job.

Marc

If you're mostly planning to play wet sets, then connecting your laptop to a standard hifi amplifier and speakers, nothing particularly expensive or high wattage, should do well. A 50W stereo amp and a pair of full range speakers won't cost you much, particularly if you look on ebay.

Exactly,
Nothing fancy needed at all, just go from the headphones connection on the laptop to one of the audio ins on the receiver like the AUX or CD input. This is exactly how I started out and it sufficed for quite some time and sounded good. As for the studio vs. garage settings, I wouldn't worry too much about that as there is always the volume control.

If you already have the receiver and speakers (or even one of those portable boom boxes with audio in), it can sound much better than it does now for next to nothing other than the cost of a 1/4" stereo to RCA cable.

Marc

I would recommend something other than going through headphones-out connection on the laptop... head phone jacks are not general purpose "line out" jacks (at least not on my laptop) and although you will get some sound out of them, it will not sound nearly as good as it should.

If you're on a budget and want to make do with 2 channel (stereo) output, then I would recommend purchasing the MOTU Microbook or something of that nature (like the E-MU listed above), and using the proper line outs from the external sound card.

Using the headphone out on my laptop casued no issues for me and worked well, I've also done the same with my Dell desktop and it worked fine. If you do this, on some computers you may need to be a bit careful not to have the volume on the headphone jack set too high as it could cause distortion or overdrive the signal, but overall worked well for me on my HP and Dell. For laptops, without additional investment there is no other way except to purchase a USB external soundcard. Before I knew about the other cards out there I eventually purchased a Creative x-fi 5.1 that worked pretty well and has front / rear / sub audio connections on it, it was $69 U.S funds but can not do multi channel routing. Unfortunately the options for laptops is a bit limited, but what is offered is some pretty good stuff in any case. Something from E-MU or others like sonar11 mentions would also be good choices if a person is willing to spend a few bucks up front, and you would then have something for a future upgrade.

Decisions, decsions! You get into this HW thing and it really never ends, does it?

Marc

^
The trouble is that headphone outputs vary. The manual for my Emu 1820m says that the headphone output was specifically designed to provide another good-quality output, if needed. And yours seem to have been OK, Marc. But I'm not sure it's safe to suggest that all sound card's headphone sockest will be good enough.


organhaup, re the laptop, I get very acceptable headphone quality from an Emu 0202 USB (external box), which I bought mainly to add to my internet PC, because its inbuilt headphone output was terrible. If you're more fussy, you can (judging by what I've read) get far better sounding units that combine external-box-type USB audio output with a good-quality headphone amp, but they cost a lot more than my Emu 0202. And, unless you use very good headphones, the added quality might be wasted.

As for the double garage, I think you probably ought to expect any loudspeaker sound to be spoilt by the way the sound reflects around the garage - certainly if it has a bare hard concrete floor and bare brick walls. If the sound isn't already deadened and doesn't have any disruption of regular reflections (eg by the storage of a lot of stuff in the garage) you might find the sound rather disappointing, unless you spend a lot on treatment.

One thing to try - go in the empty garage, with the doors closed, and make a sharp sound like a handclap. Listen for the reflected sound. You might hear several distinct echoes (as the sound bounces backwards and forwards between the walls), which could point to potential problems.

Also, try taking a fairly loud portable radio or other means of playing music in the garage and listen to that from various places. If you hear a lot of echoes or coloured reverb, that would suggest you'd need to treat the space to cut the reflections down. You could do something on the cheap using a lot of cardboard boxes and soft bedding materials to kill off the worst reflections, but "proper" acoustic treatment is very expensive, unless you can make your own (eg using designs from the internet). (And remember that acoustic treatment is only concerned with the sound inside a room - not the same as sound-proofing to prevent sound escaping from the room.)

If there are many "untamed" reflections remaining when you install loudspeakers, probably the best thing to do is put the speakers close to your listening position, so that a relatively low level from the speakers will (a) be loud enough and (b) not cause too much reflection around the garage. If you're hoping to make the space suitable for several people to listen to someone playing Hauptwerk organ music, there'll probably be a lot preparation needed.

Hello again Clive, we seem to be bumping into each other again as of late. I can only advise on what I have experienced with my various items I have connected to the headphone jack and then directly to an amp. I have found in all cases (at least with my items) the output signal of the headphone jack is relatively low and is not putting out any kind of a seriously hot signal, it's powering headphones requiring what? maybe 1 watt of power? (I'm just guessing here), not a 3 way speaker. Not to say as I mention earlier that you shouldn't be mindful of the volume level you have the headphone jack set at. I have found in my experience that a setting of about 50-75% volume level has worked well with no issues. If it does work the sound should be as good as connecting to a low level stereo output.

If you're stuck with no other options or worried the signal is too hot, you could purchase one of those line level devices but if this were the case I would then be looking for something else (like a proper soundcard) first instead of wasting money on line level.

BTW: How's your additional speaker / amp project coming along?

Marc

BTW: How's your additional speaker / amp project coming along?

Stalled, atm. Other things needing to be done first.

All kinds of projects to do here as well for an upcoming kids HS graduation. The organ project is as far along as it's going to go for awhile. That is unless I want to end up in the doghouse (or possibly sleeping with the organ out on the driveway)!

Marc

I wish to thank everyone who sent replies,some multi,I would be interested to hear from members who have set and use multi channel output with the equipment they use.
Thank you Organhaup

I use the Echo Audio Fire 12 for an interface and 2 Carver Cinema Grand amplifiers (5 x 200w each). I have a multitude of speakers and so far I just feed the indivdual ranks into the channels that I think can handle them. I make all ranks 24bit and Mono. So far it sounds pretty darn good. However, with Easter coming up, I am placing the entire system in a fair size worship space and wish I had a helper on the voicing. I, like you would really apreciate the feedback. I am using Carver AL-IIIs for the Great and Swell Flues to 16', I use 2 Klipsch Sub-10s and 2 Beringer B2031P for the Pedal Flues and Pedal Reeds down to 32'. I have a pair of Alesis Monitor Twos that handle the chorus reeds. Since I have many types of speakers, I didn't think I could use the cyclic feature. I do plan to add additional B2031A's so I won't need a mortgage adding more amplification.

Bob