Connecting studio monitors > PC?

[skaterhan1]

I' wondering the best way to connect my studio monitors to my sound card (which is an ASUS Xonar DX).

There are a few solutions I came up with, but I wasn't sure if some will produce more buzz/interference than others. I want to connect them strait into my card first, to hear what it sounds like in an attempt to stay away from extra external hardware.

I could either go:
- XLR to 1/4 cable > 1/4 to 3.5 adapter > duel 3.5 to single > card
or
- XLR to 3.5 cable > duel 3.5 to single > soundcard

The XLR to 3.5mm is definitley more convenient, but is it going to sound any different/worse than the first solution?


Thanks for any help

 

[Adam]

Welcome to the forum!

Which monitors do you own? Are the powered?

 

[skaterhan1]

Yes 2 mackie mr5`s

 

[Adam]

I'm no expert on balanced connections, because I've never used them. That said, if it were me, I'd go with a stereo 3.5mm-to-dual-RCA cable and then connect to the unbalanced RCA inputs on those monitors. I don't know if there's any value in going from an unbalanced output on the sound card to a balanced input on the speakers, but I'm guessing that there isn't.

 

[skaterhan1]

Ok, thanks for your reply. Ill head to radioshack and see what i can get my hands on.

 

[BoredSysAdmin]

Ok, thanks for your reply. Ill head to radioshack and see what i can get my hands on.

yea, MR5's have unbalanced input. Make sure to grab shielded cable and If RS doesn't have them in stock get the premium ones from monoprice.com
If you have to have balanced - this might be a great deal:
http://forums.audioholics.com/forums/classifieds-sell-your-gear/83319-tascam-us144mkii-behringer-mic-$100-shipped-conus.html

 

[agarwalro]

Ok, thanks for your reply. Ill head to radioshack and see what i can get my hands on.

Radioshack 3.5mm to RCA will do just fine. I am using it.

 

[skaterhan1]

Radioshack 3.5mm to RCA will do just fine. I am using it.

I was using rca at first, but there was unbearable buzzing, which is why i wanted to know if using xlr to 3.5 would make a difference.

 

[Adam]

I was using rca at first, but there was unbearable buzzing, which is why i wanted to know if using xlr to 3.5 would make a difference.

Ahhh, I didn't know that you were getting buzzing. I still don't think that the balanced connections will help because they are only balanced on one end, and if you're cable runs are less than ~10 feet, it shouldn't make much difference. As was stated above, be sure to get shielded cables. When in doubt, RCA cables made for video are (or at least used to be) shielded more than audio cables (and they will be thicker), so you can try those.

Sounds like you might have a grounding issue. Are the monitors and computer plugged into the same outlet or power strip?

 

[skaterhan1]

Samepowerstrip. I tryed 2 different powerstrips in 2 different outlets. Ill go see how the shielded rca's work