Give speakers more power through USB

[Tim098b]

I am trying to add old living room speakers in my pc setup. I had to strip a 3,5mm audio jack to plug a plus and minus into the speaker. It works. But the speakers are incredibly quiet. I tried some boosters for the pc. If I plug the speakers into my phone it gets a bit louder. But still not very loud. I think at has something to do with the power it gets. I was thinking of somehow at a USB cable somewhere so the speaker gets more power, is this possible? If so, how?

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[saintlouisbagels]

So those are passive speakers.

The reason it is very quiet is because the analog signal being output by your devices' headphone jacks have been amplified to a comfortable signal designed for headphones and active speakers.

A USB cable won't work because it will send digital information. It still needs to be converted into analog - thus you need a DAC (digital to analog converter).

 

If you want to transfer audio from a PC to passive speakers you'll need to buy a minimum of 1 item.

Thankfully all PC's have a built-in soundcard that does the digital conversion already, so an external DAC is not necessary.

The analog signal being output by the PC still needs to be fed to a speaker amplifier - preferably one with a volume control - if you want to actually hear the content.

Edited July 10, 2022 by saint_louis_bagels

[Tim098b]

13 minutes ago, saint_louis_bagels said:

So those are passive speakers.

The reason it is very quiet via 3.5mm jack is because there should typically be an amplifier somewhere in the chain that amplify the analog signal into something listenable.

A USB cable won't work because it will send digital information. It still needs to be converted into analog - thus you need a DAC (digital to analog converter).

 

If you want to transfer audio from a PC to passive speakers in your chain. Thankfully all PC's have a built-in soundcard that does the conversion already - this is why there are 3.5mm jacks on PC's. That signal still needs to be fed to a speaker amplifier - preferably one with a volume control.

Thanks! I found this amplifier. Do you think this is any good?

 

https://www.amazon.com/Power-Home-HiFi-Stereo-Amplifier/dp/B0071HZ5LE/ref=sr_1_21?crid=KQFI0I9J72JL&keywords=speaker+amplifier&qid=1657477756&sprefix=speaker+amplifier%2Caps%2C172&sr=8-21

[saintlouisbagels]

12 minutes ago, Tim098b said:

Thanks! I found this amplifier. Do you think this is any good?

https://www.amazon.com/Power-Home-HiFi-Stereo-Amplifier/dp/B0071HZ5LE/ref=sr_1_21?crid=KQFI0I9J72JL&keywords=speaker+amplifier&qid=1657477756&sprefix=speaker+amplifier%2Caps%2C172&sr=8-21

Since we're talking about fairly low-cost items, I'm not at liberty to tell you if something is good or bad lol.

But yes, functionally that stereo amplifier will get the job done.

 

What kind of audio jacks are available on your PC? Are we talking computer tower or laptop?

If you ONLY have headphone jacks available, I won't guarantee you that the audio experience will be good. It might be a noisy signal since technically the original signal is being amplified twice: Once by the computer's soundcard, and then once more by the speaker amplifier.

If you're using a computer tower, check to see if there is a "Line Out" output in the back. This is meant to be fed to external systems like active speakers or amplifiers and it may bypass the first level of amplification.

 

Additionally you may or may not need to purchase a 3.5mm stereo jack to RCA cable. This depends on the quality of that amplifier's front "MP3" jack compared to its rear "Aux Input".

Edited July 10, 2022 by saint_louis_bagels

[Tim098b]

4 minutes ago, saint_louis_bagels said:

Since we're talking about fairly low-cost items, I'm not at liberty to tell you if something is good or bad lol.

But yes, functionally that stereo amplifier will get the job done.

 

What kind of audio jacks are available on your PC? Are we talking computer tower or laptop?

If you ONLY have headphone jacks available, I won't guarantee you that the audio experience will be good. It might be a noisy signal since technically the original signal is being amplified twice: Once by the computer's soundcard, and then again because you're outputting it to a speaker amplifier.

If you're using a computer tower, check to see if there is a "Line Out" output in the back. This is meant to be fed to external systems like active speakers or amplifiers.

 

Additionally you may or may not need to purchase a 3.5mm stereo jack to RCA cable. This depends on the quality of that amplifier's front "MP3" jack compared to its rear "Aux Input".

I do have the line out on my desktop. Thanks fot the advice, I think I am going to buy this:

 

https://www.amazon.nl/LP-V3S-BLACK-LP-V3S-digitale-versterker-25Wx2/dp/B00UOCBPA8/?_encoding=UTF8&pd_rd_w=HUWrG&content-id=amzn1.sym.56a69c04-5784-4aef-8705-c793a512b2f5&pf_rd_p=56a69c04-5784-4aef-8705-c793a512b2f5&pf_rd_r=8JG0GAMWNNRAHGQ9B8FM&pd_rd_wg=ir61n&pd_rd_r=2abf86f0-ceb5-4392-8287-39c154818387&ref_=pd_gw_ci_mcx_mr_hp_atf_m

 

https://www.amazon.nl/3-5mm-Stereo-Audio-adapter-Adaptor/dp/B08N694JKX/ref=sr_1_5?__mk_nl_NL=ÅMÅŽÕÑ&crid=1CJGGLYU68L9&keywords=3.5mm+to+2-Male+RCA+Adapter&qid=1657479153&sprefix=3.5mm+to+2-male+rca+adapter%2Caps%2C130&sr=8-5

[saintlouisbagels]

1 minute ago, Tim098b said:

I do have the line out on my desktop. Thanks fot the advice, I think I am going to buy this:

 

https://www.amazon.nl/LP-V3S-BLACK-LP-V3S-digitale-versterker-25Wx2/dp/B00UOCBPA8/?_encoding=UTF8&pd_rd_w=HUWrG&content-id=amzn1.sym.56a69c04-5784-4aef-8705-c793a512b2f5&pf_rd_p=56a69c04-5784-4aef-8705-c793a512b2f5&pf_rd_r=8JG0GAMWNNRAHGQ9B8FM&pd_rd_wg=ir61n&pd_rd_r=2abf86f0-ceb5-4392-8287-39c154818387&ref_=pd_gw_ci_mcx_mr_hp_atf_m

 

https://www.amazon.nl/3-5mm-Stereo-Audio-adapter-Adaptor/dp/B08N694JKX/ref=sr_1_5?__mk_nl_NL=ÅMÅŽÕÑ&crid=1CJGGLYU68L9&keywords=3.5mm+to+2-Male+RCA+Adapter&qid=1657479153&sprefix=3.5mm+to+2-male+rca+adapter%2Caps%2C130&sr=8-5

Awesome, I hope it all goes well!

[saintlouisbagels]

4 minutes ago, Tim098b said:

I do have the line out on my desktop. Thanks fot the advice, I think I am going to buy this:

 

https://www.amazon.nl/LP-V3S-BLACK-LP-V3S-digitale-versterker-25Wx2/dp/B00UOCBPA8/?_encoding=UTF8&pd_rd_w=HUWrG&content-id=amzn1.sym.56a69c04-5784-4aef-8705-c793a512b2f5&pf_rd_p=56a69c04-5784-4aef-8705-c793a512b2f5&pf_rd_r=8JG0GAMWNNRAHGQ9B8FM&pd_rd_wg=ir61n&pd_rd_r=2abf86f0-ceb5-4392-8287-39c154818387&ref_=pd_gw_ci_mcx_mr_hp_atf_m

 

https://www.amazon.nl/3-5mm-Stereo-Audio-adapter-Adaptor/dp/B08N694JKX/ref=sr_1_5?__mk_nl_NL=ÅMÅŽÕÑ&crid=1CJGGLYU68L9&keywords=3.5mm+to+2-Male+RCA+Adapter&qid=1657479153&sprefix=3.5mm+to+2-male+rca+adapter%2Caps%2C130&sr=8-5

Also make sure you have "speaker cable" laying around if the speaker amplifier does not come cables.

It does not need to be fancy.

As long as some conductive cable goes from + to + and from - to - you can use any cable you find laying around the house and chop off the heads to expose the copper underneath. But that's really ghetto, just find something appropriate online - preferably color-coordinated so that you don't make an easy mistake of reversing polarities.