RCA audio issue: forcing mono to both speakers..how?

[donjn]

I got it working WTF.

 

Just playing around....

 

bottom is from speakers, top is from Atari cable. No feedback, and the red and white extension are looped into each other created mono to the speakers!

 

[_The Doctor__]

You do realize they sell mono to stereo and stereo to mono pre made cables with level adjusting resistors in some of them... usually from RCA to 1/4 and or 1/8 inch mini jacks...

Edited April 4, 2019 by _The Doctor__

[donjn]

I am sure there is an easier solution somewhere to purchase, there always is.

Finding it is another issue. So many websites, options. Ebay, Amazon, and even then did I get the right item? Either way I seemed to come up with a "ghetto" solution so its all good.

[Rybags]

I've got all sorts of splitters and Y-cables from some time back.

Used to have a loungeroom with nearly 10 metres worth of multiple RCAs going between the computer and TV.

 

But once the modern day stuff using HDMI came in, it fell out of use.

 

Just about all that sort of stuff would be considered legacy now, and becoming less common at the usual suspect sellers.

[+slx]

German magazine c't had a cartoon about computer cables recently.

 

The caption roughly reads: "Auntie's ashes ... there's really no space for old junk like that in our new apartment" and you'll be able to figure the labelling on the moving box yourself.

 

I still regret throwing away EGA/Hercules and even VGA video cables because I thought "no one is ever going to need that junk again". Now I say "let my heirs curse me when they clean out..."

[carlsson]

Depends on the TV I guess! Some might conveniently 'double' the audio to both speakers if only left is connected for instance, but usually when the TV has RCA L/R audio jacks inputs. Worth trying some combinations though.

 

^^ This. I keep forgetting if it is right or left, but if you only plug in audio in one of the two RCA jacks on the majority of TV:s, it will be treated as mono audio in both speakers. However the solution using a 3.5 mm plug might be different in standards.

[Rybags]

Default is left for mono - some TVs have an option as to how to treat it, one variation is bi-lingual mono.

 

The colours are easy - R for Red, R for Right.

[BillC]

I agree that line suggests otherwise... but your symptoms described seem to suggest it's actually the signals I listed...

 

it's titled "5-Pin DIN to S-Video & Composite AV Cable"

 

Well, to get svideo, composite, and audio you need at least 4 connections, which the cable has. 2 audio outs would need a total of 5..

This cable only needs 4 output connectors for dual audio, s-video on the mini-DIN, composite should be yellow, and red/white should both be mono audio.

Perhaps it was wired incorrectly, check continuity between the RCA plugs and the DIN plug. Yellow should connect to pin 4, red/white to pin 3.

[+Nezgar]

This cable only needs 4 output connectors for dual audio, s-video on the mini-DIN, composite should be yellow, and red/white should both be mono audio.

Perhaps it was wired incorrectly, check continuity between the RCA plugs and the DIN plug. Yellow should connect to pin 4, red/white to pin 3.

 

Yep, I didn't initially see that there was an actual S-Video 4-pin mini-DIN as one of the leads.

 

I'm still not sure why both red & white are not both outputting the same audio according to OP...

[BillC]

 

Yep, I didn't initially see that there was an actual S-Video 4-pin mini-DIN as one of the leads.

 

I'm still not sure why both red & white are not both outputting the same audio according to OP...

I checked my 8bitclassics cable and it does match the connections from my previous post, both red and white RCA plugs connect to pin 3 of the DIN5M plug.

[+mytek]

I'm also curious as to what the OP meant by 'feedback', because no matter how things were hooked up, audio feedback would not be the end result. So I think the OP must be referring to something else.

 

Example of audio feedback, and what causes it.

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DfwdY3sMfkY

[Mclaneinc]

Wow, this made 2 pages?

[Gunstar]

Wow, this made 2 pages?

LOL! for something as simple as an RCA style splitter and RCA-to-3.5mm jack. I've been doing that for years. Even with my POKEY stereo output to PC speakers, I still use the mono out on the monitor jack this way to go to a center channel speaker and a subwoofer...POKEY has awesome bass if you let it out on a decent audio system...and it doesn't even have to be an expensive sudio system, I use a 15-year-old center channel speaker and subwoofer from a $30 Walmart surround system I got way back when, but it's so much better than just PC speakers or TV audio.

Edited April 5, 2019 by Gunstar

[donjn]

I'm also curious as to what the OP meant by 'feedback', because no matter how things were hooked up, audio feedback would not be the end result. So I think the OP must be referring to something else.

 

Example of audio feedback, and what causes it.

 

I get a bit frustrated when people takes things too literally but I will try my best. Everyone else who read my post knows what I meant. I did not mean "feedback" in the typical way, you know. That high pitched noise that happens sometimes when people speak in public? I think everyone who read this thread knew that. Achieving that would be impossible with my setup because that requires a microphone.

 

It was just massive, loud "noise", not TECHNICALLY feedback in the traditional sense.

Edited April 5, 2019 by donjn

[Gunstar]

I have experienced this noise before, it happens when I mixed up the RCA plugs and plugged one of the video (Composite/Chroma/Luma) into the audio by mistake. This happens sometimes when I'm trying to plug the stuff in, reaching around the monitor/TV where I can't see what I'm doing and I just plug them in via trial and error.

 

It also use to happen when I had a video cable I bought from Best E. or B&C years ago, which had four plugs, black, white, red and yellow, and I would always mix up the black and white, one of which was mono sound, the other Luma for separate chroma/luma. And I also think it was connected, IIRC, where the white and yellow were actually the Chroma and Luma and the red was composite video, between all of this, I would forget which was which since they weren't using the standard colors for the standard audio/video inputs. I think this was because it was really a cable meant for a C64 so it was connected differently. And the dealer sent along a paper telling you what went to what.

Edited April 5, 2019 by Gunstar

[_The Doctor__]

erm since we are being technical and literal , you can get ground loops humm and wowing ... or you can get signal loops obtaining neat signal squeals and birdies from harmonics and adjacent interference.

[Mclaneinc]

Sounds like a ground buzz.....Always annoying, especially at volume..My tinnitus hates it...

[+mytek]

I get a bit frustrated when people takes things too literally but I will try my best. Everyone else who read my post knows what I meant. I did not mean "feedback" in the typical way, you know. That high pitched noise that happens sometimes when people speak in public? I think everyone who read this thread knew that. Achieving that would be impossible with my setup because that requires a microphone.

 

It was just massive, loud "noise", not TECHNICALLY feedback in the traditional sense.

I was simply trying to zero in on what was truly happening, and that seemed to be the simplest way to do so. Wasn't trying to be critical.

 

So in other words you probably got one of the video connections mixed up for the audio connection, and yes that will produce something akin to a buzzing sound. I have that exact same cable as yours, and it works fine for me by hooking it up with the red and white RCA going into left and right audio channels on my monitor/TV, with the Mini-DIN plugged into the S-Video input. And as it was already mentioned, the red and white RCAs on that cable are already internally 'Y' connected, so no need to provide one externally.

 

Hope that helps .

 

EDIT: corrected color code for audio connections as being red and white and not red and black as I originally stated. If this doesn't work for you, then it suggests that the cable you purchased is defective.

Edited April 5, 2019 by mytek

[donjn]

I was simply trying to zero in on what was truly happening, and that seemed to be the simplest way to do so. Wasn't trying to be critical.

 

So in other words you probably got one of the video connections mixed up for the audio connection, and yes that will produce something akin to a buzzing sound. I have that exact same cable as yours, and it works fine for me by hooking it up with the red and white RCA going into left and right audio channels on my monitor/TV, with the Mini-DIN plugged into the S-Video input. And as it was already mentioned, the red and white RCAs on that cable are already internally 'Y' connected, so no need to provide one externally.

 

Hope that helps .

 

EDIT: corrected color code for audio connections as being red and white and not red and black as I originally stated. If this doesn't work for you, then it suggests that the cable you purchased is defective.

 

Yeah, sorry if I was cranky!

I should have known better, I guess I assumed RCA red and white are always left and right but I was wrong. Its odd because the description of the cables mentioned left and right audio, I guess they meant that for that one white plug.

Thanks!

[+mytek]

 

Yeah, sorry if I was cranky!

I should have known better, I guess I assumed RCA red and white are always left and right but I was wrong. Its odd because the description of the cables mentioned left and right audio, I guess they meant that for that one white plug.

Thanks!

 

No you are correct, I just had to go back and edit my previous post. That cable is suppose to have audio on the red and white, and of course the yellow is intended to be composite. I'm wondering if the manufacturer goofed on your cable, and swapped the yellow for one of the audio leads instead. Might be worth checking out by plugging the yellow into an audio input and see what happens .

[donjn]

 

No you are correct, I just had to go back and edit my previous post. That cable is suppose to have audio on the red and white, and of course the yellow is intended to be composite. I'm wondering if the manufacturer goofed on your cable, and swapped the yellow for one of the audio leads instead. Might be worth checking out by plugging the yellow into an audio input and see what happens .

I didn't think of that, I will try it.

Is there a chance my Atari 800XL is messed up?

[+mytek]

I didn't think of that, I will try it.

Is there a chance my Atari 800XL is messed up?

 

Unlikely if it's stock, since the 5-pin DIN jack is soldered into a PCB. And it would be quite the effort to cut traces and reroute the audio connection, so I doubt that is the case. More likely the cable you bought is defective. Maybe the guy building it was recovering from a massive hangover having partied the night before .

[Rybags]

With a lot of the DIN breakout cables the colours are all wrong.

In some cases it's because the cables' for a different computer.

In others the cable might predate the common standard of yellow for composite and white/red for left/right audio.

[donjn]

Just tried plugging the red cable into the tv, i got black and white video. So yes, white is audio only!

[+DrVenkman]

Just tried plugging the red cable into the tv, i got black and white video. So yes, white is audio only!

 

That's likely the Luma signal; plug that one plus whatever is the Chroma line into something like a Commodore 1701/1702 and you've got "S-video" except for the two different connectors part.

(Except that of course, unless you've modded your 800XL to add the Chroma line to the DIN jack, you'll just get a black and white image like you've got already).