Connecting Your MP3 Player To Your Stereo
How To Play Your iPod, Mp3 Player or Laptop Through Your Home Stereo System
MP3 players are amazing little devices. They have made the organisation and transportation of thousands - and in many cases tens of thousands - of tracks a breeze. This is fantastic news as - let's face it - physical albums can clutter up the place. Granted, many of us (myself included) still like to have a physical copy of an album, but when it comes to finding and playing music the MP3 player is second to none. So, wouldn't it be great if we could connect our MP3 players to our stereo systems so we didn't have to listen through headphones. Well, we can!
In fact, this is an extremely simple connection. Depending on your stereo system you will require one of the following cables:
3.5mm Stereo Plug to 3.5mm Stereo Plug
The 3.5mm stereo socket - commonly referred to as a headphone socket - is the socket on your MP3 player, iPod or laptop which you plug your headphones in to. If your stereo has a 3.5mm stereo input then you can use a 3.5mm Stereo Plug to 3.5mm Stereo Plug Cable to connect your device to your stereo.3.5mm Stereo Plug to RCA (Twin Phono) Plugs
If you have RCA (Red & White sockets) on your stereo then you can connect using a 3.5mm Stereo to RCA (Twin Phono) Cable. As before, the 3.5mm stereo plug end will go in to the headphone socket on your MP3 player, iPod or laptop and the RCA plugs will go in to your stereo.Connecting Digital Audio
Unfortunately, most MP3 players do not have digital outputs so you will require an analogue to digital converter box to be able to connect them to a digital input. If, however, you would like to connect your laptop via digital audio you may be in luck. Firstly, you will need to check that your laptop does indeed output a digital audio signal. Often these headphone sockets will be labeled with 'spdif' - meaning they will output digital signals. Otherwise you may need to check your manual to find out.Once you have established that you have a digital audio output on your laptop you can simply use a 3.5mm Mini Jack to TosLink cable or - if your input on your stereo is also a digital 3.5mm mini jack socket - you can use a 3.5mm Mini Jack to 3.5mm Mini Jack Cable. Once again make sure the input accepts a digital signal.
That's all there is to it. A simple low cost cable will allow you to connect your entire record collection to your stereo without having to trawl through hundreds of CD's. Just plug in your MP3 player, iPod or laptop, press play and you're good to go.
Tags: Audio , 3.5mm Stereo , RCA , iPod , MP3
Category: Technical Help
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