Need Help Setting Up a Sound System

Looking for advice/help with playing backing tracks from a Mac through a Behringer passive mixer into a powered speaker.

More info. Analog or digital connections needed? If RCA jacks on mixer than get a headphone jack( or whatever is on MAC audio output)cable to right and left separate male RCA jacks for example if we are talking analog. Take a picture of back of mixer and MAC so we know what kinds of jacks you have or point to a manual online so we can look. What kind of MAC also would help.

Get a Y-adapter 1/8" stereo to RCA male. The 1/8" jack goes into the headphone output on the Mac, the RCA into the CD input on the mixer. 1/4" to 1/4" cables (two) from the Main Out on the mixer to the speakers. Set output level on the Mac to about 75% and adjust volume on the mixer to required loudness.

Easy-peasy-lemon-squeezy.

A picture is worth 1000 words.



Get a Y-adapter 1/8" stereo to RCA male. The 1/8" jack goes into the headphone output on the Mac, the RCA into the CD input on the mixer. 1/4" to 1/4" cables (two) from the Main Out on the mixer to the speakers. Set output level on the Mac to about 75% and adjust volume on the mixer to required loudness.

Easy-peasy-lemon-squeezy.

Thanx to both you guys....when life slows down a bit next week I'd like to pick your brains further if that's ok.

ririck_99 wrote:Thanx to both you guys....when life slows down a bit next week I'd like to pick your brains further if that's ok.

Anything I can do to help.

Just a further thought...

If you have a stand-alone CD player (not a boom-box but the kind you normally find as a component in a home stereo set-up) you might be better off using THAT and burning your tracks to a CD.

Those units will have RCA out on the back, so you can eliminate the Y-adapter and go straight RCA from the CD Player to the mixer - leave the Mac out of the equation all together. And, as a bonus, you will likely have a remote for the CD Player which should make cuing easier.

Nice job folks! Note picture of Y cable is female on RCA ends and would require normal male to male RCA cable. Very impressed with photos Axixic. They do make cables with male mini headphone and male RCA jacks which should be easy to hook up and find as they are very common. Many ways to skin a cat here. Trip to Steren solves the problem.

Zedinmexico wrote:Nice job folks! Note picture of Y cable is female on RCA ends and would require normal male to male RCA cable.  Very impressed with photos Axixic.  They do make cables with male mini headphone and male RCA jacks which should be easy to hook up and find as they are very common.  Many ways to skin a cat here. Trip to Steren solves the problem.

I was hoping to slip that Y-Adapter photo passed ya. I didn't have a 1/8" to RCA Male cable to photograph so did a Bait and Switch.

Can't get anything passed this group.

You ought to see my cable collection Axixic it takes up a whole cedar type chest but when you need a cable you need a cable.

This is the kinda of stuff that's makes tech talk worthwhile.

Z

Any idea if I can take the two 1/4" main outputs from the mixer and input one speaker with a male cannon?

ririck_99 wrote:Any idea if I can take the two 1/4" main outputs from the mixer and input one speaker with a male cannon?

If you have the balls

If, by a male cannon, you mean an XLR connector the answer is yes but you will be introducing another connector in your chain - 1/4" Female to XLR. I don't have one but a 1/4" Male to XLR looks like this -


If you're lucky, the mixer has XLR outputs that look like this -

If so, you can just use standard XLR cable from the mixer to the speaker.

You can make a cable to connect between the balanced XLR jacks shown above to RCA. Google how to make a Balanced XLR cable to RCA cable. I use it to connect a preamp without balanced connections to an pro amp that is balanced only. Balanced is used in pro equipment to allow longer cable lengths and to limit noise added to signal. Two identical signals out of phase are used in balanced cables to restrict noise and such.
Much better way to move signals over wires.

Z