Connecting Active monitors to a PC

bazpaul1 · 05-04-2013 4:57pm #1

Hey Guys, i need some help fast

Two monitors recently came in to my possession with no cables, here's the link to them:

http://www.thomann.de/ie/esi_near_08_classic.htm

Now i have a standard Dell Precision workstation with on aboard sound.

So to connect them to the PC i bought this cable

When I turn them on;

The left speaker has a loud hum, more than a normal hum
Both speakers have a little background noise with signals and some distortion
the right speaker is much quieter than the left
general sound is not impressive at all and quite flat

I have messed with the settings at the back tweaked the volume on the PC and on the monitors to no avail.

Could it be the cable? or the speakers? how can i test? Do i need to buy a DAC or something else, possibly a better sound card.

To note - its not my onboard sound as i Have a pair of Bose companions that worked perfectly with no noise!

someone please help - i need my tuneage!

Fuzzy Clam · 05-04-2013 11:12pm

That cable is a stereo 3.5 mm to XLR. It should work but in some cases,the XLR pin 1 (ground) and pin 3 (cold or -) need to be shorted. It is possible that your cable is not shorted on those pins. You can check this with a multimeter.
This is why idealy you should be using a 3.5mm stereo to 6mm jack.

To test the cable, get a multimeter and check for continuity between the sleeve on the 3.5 plug and pin 1 on each XLR. then test pin 2 on each XLR to tip and ring on the 3.5 plug. (i.e tip to pin 2 on one XLR and then ring to pin 2 on the other XLR)

To test each speaker without using the XLR sockets, get a single 3.5 mm to 6mm cable (mono or stereo, it doesn't matter) and plug it into each speaker one at a time. If both work the same then the speakers are probably OK. This will tell you that the speakers are OK and the problem lies in the XLR cable.

Connecting Active monitors to a PC

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