Connecting laptop to stereo, will 3.5mm work?

[freeman45]

Hello fellas, I'd like to play songs directly from my laptop, via stereo system.


I have an "AUDIO IN" jack on my stereo.

And two 3.5mm jacks on my laptop. One for headphones, the other for mic.


Will it all work together, if I plug a 3.5mm jack into the headphones port, and then the other end into "AUDIO IN" ??

Also, will it work if the laptop is 25 feet from the stereo, with 25 feet of wiring between the two machines?

 

[BoredSysAdmin]

do spend whole whooping $30 (or less) for Behringer UCA202 Behringer UCA202 Audio Interface | Amazon price tracker / tracking, Amazon price history charts, Amazon price watches, Amazon price drop alerts | camelcamelcamel.com
USB from laptop and MUST use RCA (red/white) to "audio in" on your stereo

 

[shadyJ]

+1 on boredsysadmin. Your 3.5 mm jack on your laptop is bound to be awful. Get a simple audio interface like the Behringer, it will sound so much better for such a small investment. Also, a 25 feet run for a regular line level cable is an invitation to electromagnetic noise. For that kind of run, you might just think about getting a wireless adapter.

 

[BoredSysAdmin]

25ft should be ok with shielded cable like this one:
HDMI Cable, Home Theater Accessories, HDMI Products, Cables, Adapters, Video/Audio Switch, Networking, USB, Firewire, Printer Toner, and more!

 

[freeman45]

do spend whole whooping $30 (or less) for Behringer UCA202 Behringer UCA202 Audio Interface | Amazon price tracker / tracking, Amazon price history charts, Amazon price watches, Amazon price drop alerts | camelcamelcamel.com
USB from laptop and MUST use RCA (red/white) to "audio in" on your stereo

Oky doky.


I'm kinda stupid in the audio department, what do you mean by "MUST use RCA (red/white) to "audio in" on your stereo" ??

There's only one audio-in plug on the entire stereo. And it's not a colored jack.


Also, I just meassured, and it's more like 50 feet of wire that's needed, lol

 

[slipperybidness]

+1 on boredsysadmin. Your 3.5 mm jack on your laptop is bound to be awful. Get a simple audio interface like the Behringer, it will sound so much better for such a small investment. Also, a 25 feet run for a regular line level cable is an invitation to electromagnetic noise. For that kind of run, you might just think about getting a wireless adapter.

These guys pretty much nailed it. While the 3.5mm run will "work", it will almost certainly be poor quality.

Sounds like your receiver only has 3.5mm inputs? That sucks, guessing that it is a HTIB or a little shelf system?

Pics might help to point you in the right direction.

 

[markw]

Go to a well stocked dollar store. Get hold of a 1/8" stereo mini jack to two RCA plug* cable and see how it works for ya.

You might be plesantly surprised. Many are.

* or stereo mini jack to stereo mini jack. Depends on what you have.

 

[freeman45]

These guys pretty much nailed it. While the 3.5mm run will "work", it will almost certainly be poor quality.

Sounds like your receiver only has 3.5mm inputs? That sucks, guessing that it is a HTIB or a little shelf system?

Pics might help to point you in the right direction.

The receiver has black/red clips in the back, for the speakers. And then the 3.5 port in the front.

Would that Behringer U-CONTROL Unit make any difference, if I can only use the 3.5mm jacks to connect the laptop>Beringer>stereo?
Should I still buy that unit?

 

[shadyJ]

The receiver has black/red clips in the back, for the speakers. And then the 3.5 port in the front.

Would that Behringer U-CONTROL Unit make any difference, if I can only use the 3.5mm jacks to connect the laptop>Beringer>stereo?
Should I still buy that unit?

You connect the Behringer to your computer via the USB plug. You can forget all about the 3.5mm jack on the computer, because at that point you would want to use the Behringer's RCA outputs to connect to your receiver. I think it would still help, yes.

 

[freeman45]

Ok, sorry. I'm an audio retard, so please bear with me


It appears that my receiver doesn't have RCA inputs. It just has that single "AUDIO IN".

SOOO I'm going to have to run a 3.5mm jack from the behringer > stereo. Right? I won't be able to use the fancy "RCA" cables.

Since I have to use a 3.5MM from the behringer > stereo.... is there a point in getting the behringer?

Because I'll still be using that 3.5mm wire in the end. Only, it will be coming from my USB instead of the headphone jack.

 

[shadyJ]

You can still use the RCA outputs on the Behringer, you just need a conversion cable, something like this except in the length you need. But you can also use the 3.5mm headphone jack too. The problem is 50 ft?! Don't be surprised if that doesn't end up sounding good, a lot can go wrong in a run that long. It might work. Try not to run the cable parallel to any power cables. I think a wireless adapter would be a better solution here.

It's hard to believe your receiver doesn't have any RCA jacks, btw. I've never seen a receiver that didn't have them.

 

[BoredSysAdmin]

I don't think that OP has a "receiver". This looks like a inexpensive all in one mini-Stereo.
In this case the difference of audio which behringer might provide would be neglectable.
Just get 25ft 3.5mm to 3.5mm cable like this one: HDMI Cable, Home Theater Accessories, HDMI Products, Cables, Adapters, Video/Audio Switch, Networking, USB, Firewire, Printer Toner, and more!
or longer if needed.

 

[freeman45]

That's right, I don't even know what a receiver is... it's just a stereo system lol.


You mentioned a wireless adapter, can you recommend me one? What exactly are they called, I don't even know what to google.