Re: new-ish soundcard, old speakers, no manual, how to connect

On 30 Aug 2006 20:25:11 -0700, lyne@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx wrote:

Please forgive me but I have never really paid attention to the sound
from my computers. If there is a better forum for this question then I
would be happy to repost elsewhere.

I bought a Dell desktop about 2 years ago and it apparently has a sound
card, which I thought I had opted out on. Anyways, I am trying to
connect my late 90's-era Altec Lansing ACS31 speakers (subwoofer and 2
satellites) but no longer have the manual for the speakers and it is
not available online.

The sound card has 4 sockets/jacks - the top one has a picture of a
microphone and a speaker with an arrow going in to it, and the bottom 3
have pictures of a speaker with arrows coming out. So, I would assume
that any of the bottom 3 would be outputs that I can connect to the
input on my primary satellite speaker and the top jack would be for
connecting a microphone (duh) or other input device.

However, when I connect any of the 3 "outputs", all that I get out of
my speakers is noise. If I connect the "input" instead, I get muffled
music and the same noise.

Would a modern sound card be compatible with older speakers? Does this
problem ring familiar to anyone? I sure would appreciate some help.
TIA.


I think you really should be using the Output connectors.
Can it be that the noise you are hearing is because you
turned the speaker volume way up in an attempt to hear
what was there? My guess is that the outputs are
disabled in the Windows Mixer. Right-click on the
little speaker icon at the lower right on your screen,
and select "Open Volume Control". You should see
a bunch of slider controls. Make sure that "Volume Control"
and "Wave" outputs are selected or unmuted and set to some
middle level.

Best regards,


Bob Masta
dqatechATdaqartaDOTcom

D A Q A R T A
Data AcQuisition And Real-Time Analysis
www.daqarta.com
Home of DaqGen, the FREEWARE signal generator
.

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