How To Connect
Your Computer To Your Home Stereo System
You have all this
great music on your PC and you’re listening to them through
those tiny computer speakers. Meanwhile, you have this great stereo
system and great speakers, but most of your music is on your PC.
The solution is to hook your computer to your stereo. It’s
easy and I’ll show you how now!
First you have to locate where your
audio comes out of your computer. Here’s a hint, it’s
where your tiny computer speakers are plugged into now. On the back
of your computer, it may be green jack that fits what is called
an 1/8 inch jack. If you have trouble locating it, your soundcard
manual will call it a line output, audio output, or speaker output
jack.
Once you’ve located this,
you
will need an 1/8” to stereo RCA adapter and standard
analog audio cables (also called stereo cables by some). You
can also just use one cable with the correct ends like this one
which can be ordered cheaply from Amazon below.
Now that you have your cables:
- Connect your
adapter to your
audio cables.
- Insert the 1/8” inch plug of the adapter into your
line output of your PC
- Connect the left and right (or white and red) audio cables
to your stereo receiver’s
auxiliary (AUX) input. If you don't have an auxiliary input on
your
receiver, any other input will work except the PHONO input.
- Turn on your PC and receiver
- Select the AUX input (or whichever input you connected
the
cables to) on your home audio receiver
- Set the desired volume on the audio receiver
- Set the desired volume on your PC in your soundcard’s
settings by going to the your control panel and selecting the Sound
option.
- Enjoy
your great sound
If you don’t have sound after
all of this, here are some things to check:
- Make sure
that your receiver
is turned on
-
Make sure that your
volume is turned up enough
-
Make sure that you’re Tape Monitor button on your
stereo receiver has not been pressed
-
Make sure that your Speakers A button on your stereo receiver
is on
-
Check your cables to make sure they didn’t fall out,
become loose, have a short, or are in the wrong jacks
-
Check your soundcard settings – I know this doesn’t
explain much but different computers have different ways of adjusting
sound. Creative© soundcard settings can usually be found by
going to START then PROGRAMS then CREATIVE then CREATIVE SURROUND
MIXER. Many soundcards are built onto the motherboard of your computer
and can be adjusted by clicking on the speaker icon in the bottom
right hand corner of the screen, or by clicking START then CONTROL
PANEL and click where the sound adjustments are. You’ve gotten
this far so you’re smart enough to figure it out from here
if this is the problem.
-
Check your speaker wire to your speakers
-
Make sure your MUTE button on your stereo receiver has
not
been pressed
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