deckard1 Posted January 13, 2013 Share Posted January 13, 2013 (edited) Hello, Advice needed...please. Just purchased some hi-fi speakers and a nice receiver to drive them to cross reference my mixes within Logic. The problem is...I only have two outputs on my audio interface. Is it possible to get a channel switcher to switch between my studio monitors and secondary speakers like they have in the professional studios...without having to buy a new AI with more outputs? Has anyone here ever tried this??? Thanks. Edited February 11, 2013 by deckard1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mark R Posted January 13, 2013 Share Posted January 13, 2013 I use an old inexpensive audio/video switcher. Because it's passive I use it in reverse (the 4 audio inputs and 1 out becomes 1 in and 4 outs). Works great for instantly comparing mixes on A or B speaker systems. Also I can click over to headphones or even a wireless headphone setup for when I want to leave the room. Another idea is to look at your receiver's ins and outs, it might be able to do the switching for you. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
deckard1 Posted January 13, 2013 Author Share Posted January 13, 2013 Great! Sounds good. Which channel switcher is it....brand? I wanted to check it out if possible. Just one thing...the sales rep at Best Buy (LOL!) told me a channel switcher can blow up your studio monitors if used in conjunction with your receiver. Is this correct? Thanks. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mark R Posted January 13, 2013 Share Posted January 13, 2013 I suppose one could blow up anything if one wasn't careful. If you are around a lot of electromagnetic noise or RF noise there might be issues so keep the volumes lower till you know it works. I kind of like the look of this one (buttons on top) from Radio Shack and it's cheaper: http://www.radioshack.com/product/index.jsp?productId=3964911#tabsetBasic mine kind of looks more like this one though from Worst Buy: http://www.bestbuy.com/site/Dynex%26%23153%3B+-+S-Video+A/V+Selector+Switch/6352298.p?id=1076628516373&skuId=6352298 It wasn't terrible but I did get a tiny bit of ground hum connecting things up unbalanced. To correct this I used short cables to route the AV Switch's outs into my mixer (Mackie 1202). This reconditioned the signals back to balanced. In my case I then routed the mixer's 4 balanced outputs to my 4 powered monitors. Absolutely quiet now. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
deckard1 Posted January 13, 2013 Author Share Posted January 13, 2013 Thanks! I also found this channel switcher available at Sweetwater. It's a little bit more money but seems built for the job...especially for someone like me who doesn't know a lot about electronics...and thus less likely to blow something up. http://www.sweetwater.com/store/detail/LS3/ Any thoughts? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mark R Posted January 14, 2013 Share Posted January 14, 2013 I like that it has balanced ins and outs. I don't like the price. One possible annoyance is that your receiver probably has unbalanced ins and wants a -10db line level. In any case you will have to adjust the gain controls on your powered monitors to match. It would be nice if your Focusrite's Headphone Level control and the Main Output control were independent. Can you turn down the big monitor knob and still hear output from your headphone jack? If so you could wire the headphone jack to one set of monitors and use the two knobs to crossfade between the spkrs. Not as much fun as a nice A/B switch though. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
deckard1 Posted January 14, 2013 Author Share Posted January 14, 2013 I like that it has balanced ins and outs. I don't like the price. One possible annoyance is that your receiver probably has unbalanced ins and wants a -10db line level. In any case you will have to adjust the gain controls on your powered monitors to match. It would be nice if your Focusrite's Headphone Level control and the Main Output control were independent. Can you turn down the big monitor knob and still hear output from your headphone jack? If so you could wire the headphone jack to one set of monitors and use the two knobs to crossfade between the spkrs. Not as much fun as a nice A/B switch though. Thanks for your help! With regards to the Focusrite...the big monitor knob and headphone jack are completely independent of each other. So I can turn down the monitor knob and still have independent control over the headphone jack. The problem is wiring the headphone jack to the speakers. Does that mean I would have to open the Focusrite up to rewire? Uh oh. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mark R Posted January 14, 2013 Share Posted January 14, 2013 No need to open up the unit. You could use this headphone out to route a separate independent level to your receiver. You could buy a 1/4 inch stereo to dual RCA adapter cable. Plug this into your receiver - then if you like plug in your headphones to your receiver when needed. There is more than one way to accomplish a 'dual stereo' setup with your existing gear. I'm not going to even bring up the idea of creating an "Aggregrate Device" to combine your iMac's digital audio out with the Focusrite as an alternate way to get audio over to your receiver (if it has a digital input). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
deckard1 Posted January 14, 2013 Author Share Posted January 14, 2013 I actually know how to set up an aggregate device within Logic. The receiver should have a digital input...but I am not sure. Here's a pic of the back of the unit: http://www.bestbuy.com/site/Pioneer+-+720W+9.2-Ch.+3D+Pass-Through+A/V+Home+Theater+Receiver/6867653.p?id=1218810021995&skuId=6867653 What did you have in mind? Would love to know. Thanks! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mark R Posted January 14, 2013 Share Posted January 14, 2013 I actually know how to set up an aggregate device within Logic. Great! Looks like you can have some fun with the receiver's back panel. (You really need all those HDMI jacks?) Macs in recent years have hidden optical ins and outs. The headphone jack on your iMac is probably dual purpose. You need an optical cable with a Mini-TOSLINK connector on one end and a Standard-TOSLINK on the other. This would plug into one of your receiver's 'Optical In' jacks. But wait, there might be even more adventure to be had with the USB-DAC input! (right next to the optical inputs). Might your mac recognize the Pioneer over USB? Could one set up an aggregate device with your receiver and Focusrite? Don't know about any latency issues going these routes but going optical/digital can give you a quieter noise floor than stringing audio cables to multiple devices. On the A/B speaker switching side of things the receiver's webpage says: "Multi-zone capability with support for Zone2/3/4 outputs allows you to watch movies or listen to music in two rooms at once." You might be able to leverage this to do your spkr A/B selection with the receivers remote control? Have fun and let us know what you find. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
deckard1 Posted February 11, 2013 Author Share Posted February 11, 2013 Hi, Problem solved. Thanks to the wonderful help and input from Mark R, I was able to set up a switcher between my studio monitors and hi-fi speakers successfully! The switcher is from Radio Shack and only costs $22. The trick with the switcher is to reverse the ins and outs, treat the Out as an Input and the Ins as Outputs. Works like a charm! Thanks again Mark! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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