2 computers using the same set of speakers?

[LethalWolfe]

Okay, I need to hook two computers upto the same set of multimedia speakers. I'm looking for a 1/8" (mini) "Y" connecter that has 2 male ends and one female. But I can't find one to save my life (all though everyone seems to have 2 femalle to one male connecters). I've checked radio shack and some music supply stores. Any other suggestions of places to but the Y connector, or other solutions to try?


Lethal

 

[sohcrates]

yeah, that's gonna be tough to find, but super easy at radio shack to build your own

just get a 1/8 female to dual male rca adapter and get two rca to 1/8 adapters

OR, get the 2 female to one male that you can find all over the place, and get 2 double femal and one double male 1/8 inch adapters.

basically, you need to 'adapt' an adapter

 

[bluemax]

You're probably not going to ever find cabling to allow multiple inputs to one device - electrically I just don't think it works that way.

What you need is a MIXER, lets you take more than one audio source and combine them to one output.
You can find them cheap at Radio Shack, but it's almost cheaper to just get another set of el-cheapo speakers.

If these speakers in question are GOOD, then a nice lil' mixer is the way to go. For stereo (2 or 2.1) only. 4 and 5.1 stuff, just get another set of speakers by Cabridge or something. Cheap but half-decent.

 

[WileCoyote]

well, there is one "solution" out there for you that i know of, but you are not going to like the price.
it's a kvm switch from belkin that also includes audio switching and is found OmniView SOHO series
The cheapest one is $130!

brief description of the audio feature stolen from the website:

Engineered with such advanced features as audio and microphone switching support, the Belkin SOHO Series makes controlling multiple computers easier than ever. Now you can switch between speakers and microphones without having to unplug and re-plug them.

so, electrically you can do it, you just have to pay a premium.

 

[sohcrates]

yes, all the above are options, but you can seriously do this for 10 bucks doing what i said above

i've run multiple outputs into the same set of speakers for years...there's nothing hard or costly about doing so...

 

[LethalWolfe]

Thanx for the input, and I think I'm going to go sohcrates' route "frankenstien" it. I don't have enough room for another set of speakers, and I looked at the Belkin KVMs but that was too much $$$ (the $130 doesn't even include cables). I bought a KVM from Dr. Bott and I'm very happy w/it. But that's another thread.


Lethal

 

[madthumbs]

That is bad because it will connect two ouputs which = wrong!

I recommend getting a good reciever and speaker package like at http://www.bestpriceaudiovideo.com . With a good reciever you can get economical Dolby Digital/ 5.1 sound, hook it up to your tv, dvd player, computers, etc....

 

[WDCentral]

I have one right here - got it at radio shack..

Actually I got it by accident, i meant to get something else.

 

[hmsrolst]

I've gotten them at Radio Shack also.

 

[bluemax]

Check Radio Shack for a cheap mixer that's on clearance for $20. I know there's one here and I'm very tempted......

 

[piasabird]

This might be possible with a little work if you use an external sound device and a switch. Maybe if you use the creative external sound component instead of y adapters for the sound you would have one device to connect the speakers to and one plug coming from each computer that plugs into the modular sound device. I think Creative calls this xstagy or something like that. This is a different approach to the same problem. I don't know what they use as the input? Serial/USB/parallell????