Does installing the Ifi to a desktop require buying additional cable??

[Mmak40]

and if so, what cable do I need to get?

[007]

Yes
1/8" Stereo cable, and it should cost you 5-10 bucks depending on length. you can get it at almost any store.

They work great hooked up to a PC or laptop, but if you have a high end soundcard, dont turn up the sound on your PC to 100% keep it below 80% and let the amp on the iFi do the work so you dont risk blowing the input stage.<?xml:namespace prefix = o ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:office" />

[magnu55]

Hi i'm currently considering to purchase an iFi for my desktop PC. My soundcard has 3 3.5mm outputs: front, rear and center+LFE. Since the iFi only accepts one 3.5mm input and logically i should hook the front output to the iFi, what happens to the LFE signals for the sub?

[Jay481985]

most soundcards deliver full spectrum to the front speakers. meaning

they give even the bass region not starving the speakers of bass.

usually the computer speakers understand and have crossovers internally

to prevent the satellites from recieving too low a information. The ifi

will distribute the bass to the subwoofer accordingly

[magnu55]

Ahhh thanks so much for the info... i was wondering, would this entail anything like setting the speakers to "headphones" in control panel or the soundcard settings? or this is unnecessary? My thinking is that headphones only have one input and hence the soundcard would give the full range over the front speaker out.

[Jay481985]

headphone is basically the same and front. Just leave it alone headphone is still in stereo as you hear left and right

[Andy W]

Yes

1/8" Stereo cable, and it should cost you 5-10 bucks depending on length. you can get it at almost any store.

They work great hooked up to a PC or laptop, but if you have a high end soundcard, dont turn up the sound on your PC to 100% keep it below 80% and let the amp on the iFi do the work so you dont risk blowing the input stage.<?xml:namespace prefix = o ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:office" />

Again, using a sound card will not *blow* the input stage. The input stage was designed around laptop and typcial OEM 2-channel sound cards and MoBo sound. Some soudcards (particularly upgraded ones) have a lot of gain and it may *overdrive* the input stage, and the only problem is increased distortion. The iFi will usually take the full output of the typical OEM 2-channel sound card, however, most sound cards will "clip" loud peaks when turned up all the way. This can cause distortion even at low listening levels, which is why we usually recommend starting at 70-80% on the volume level for the sound card. The reason for the excess gain in the sound card (or any preamplifier for that matter) is to be able to compensate for recordings made at a lower level.

Whether the sound card itself is clipping, or a "hot" soundcard is overdriving the input stage of the iFi, the resulting distortion sounds about the same.

[007]

gotit