speaker switch

[sramsay]

Hey All,

(First post!)

I have a pair of Audioengine 2 speakers and an Audioengine D1 DAC hooked up to my Mac. This is a marvelous setup for listening to music (at least to my virgin ears), but now that I'm making some headway with synthesis and mixing, I'm understanding the need for proper monitor speakers.

Leaving aside the difficult choice of what monitors to buy, what sort of switch can I (should I?) place between the DAC and the sets of speakers that would let me easily switch back and forth between the two? Or perhaps I'm thinking about this all wrong . . .

[dsan@mail.com]

If you mean "switch back and forth between the two" sets of speakers, this device will get you 3 sets of speakers and phones:

http://www.samsontech.com/samson/produc ... /ccontrol/

However, this is a pro audio device and what you have is consumer electronics. Meaning, low sound levels from the DAC.

I'm not sure if the Samson will accept the DAC and give you proper loudness. Best to read the manual first.

You should probably consider an audio interface:
http://www.sweetwater.com/shop/computer ... nterfaces/

HTH

Happy Musiking!
dsan

[BertKoor]

To decide what type of switch you must know what type of signal you switch. The D1 DAC has regular "line" level outputs, so the speakers are active (built in amp) and not passive (then you'd switch proper speaker level high wattage)

Mackie makes the BigKnob, but SM ProAudio has budget passive switches that are excellent too.

[sramsay]

Huh. It occurs to me that there's no reason to have a dedicated switch at all, since I can just route each set of speakers through a USB hub and select which one I'm using from the OS.

But I guess I wasn't entirely clear on the difference between a DAC and an audio interface. Reading around, it looks like a DAC is kind of a sub-class of audio interface. Given that I don't need analogue in (I use mainly just midi controllers, soft synths, samples, and so on), is there any reason to have one? Is it common to route ordinary speakers through DACs and monitors through audio interfaces?

The larger question here, I suppose, is how people set up their systems so that they are able to use different kinds of speakers for the use for which they were intended: near-field monitors for working with sound, and ordinary speakers for just listening to music.

[BertKoor]

Huh. It occurs to me that there's no reason to have a dedicated switch at all, since I can just route each set of speakers through a USB hub and select which one I'm using from the OS.

I'm afraid it doesn't really work like that, or at least it's not that helpful.
A USB hub will let you use more USB devices than your PC originally had ports, but that's it. You can plug and unplug at the hub, but your PC will still see the original device unplugging. That means that with each switch you need to tell your software you have switched device, and pick it from a list of the non-default devices. It's far more convenient to keep everything plugged in.

But I guess I wasn't entirely clear on the difference between a DAC and an audio interface. Reading around, it looks like a DAC is kind of a sub-class of audio interface. Given that I don't need analogue in (I use mainly just midi controllers, soft synths, samples, and so on), is there any reason to have one? Is it common to route ordinary speakers through DACs and monitors through audio interfaces?

Yes, a DAC like this is a third of what we'd call a proper Audio Interface. Second part is ADC, but the third part is Midi interfacing on the ancient 5-pin DIN plug.
It doesn't matter what you use, as long as it fits the purpose. And in your case the DAC seems to fit fine.

The larger question here, I suppose, is how people set up their systems so that they are able to use different kinds of speakers for the use for which they were intended: near-field monitors for working with sound, and ordinary speakers for just listening to music.

With a monitoring select switch
But maybe you miss the point: "monitoring" speakers are excellent for "regular" listening. I'd recommend that any minute. Or if you have rather good hifi speakers, those can be used for monitoring as well. I want for both scenarios the best uncoloured and detailed sound I can get!