Audio help for a noob

[Robert Barlow]

Okay so, I'm taking a piano class in college and the piano takes a 1/4" jack, and so I got a adapter for a 3.5mm so I could use headphones with it. And then, I bought the splitter below hoping I could just run a 3.5mm cable from my phone to the piano, while also using headphones. That way I could listen to music/metronome whilst I'm learning piano. And it just won't work. Any help/suggestions at all would be much appreciated.

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[SpookDroid]

I think the problem is that you're trying to (if I understood correctly) to use the splitter in 'reverse'. You´re connecting two sources of music/audio (phone and piano output) into a single 'sink' (the headphones, or input). Those cables are mostly meant to do the opposite: Have one output split to two audio inputs, like two different headphones.

Now, while technically possible to connect two audio sources into a single audio sink since it's all electrical currents and they will flow anywhere there's a connection (you can connect old microphones into a headphone jack and hear the music through the mic, for instance), devices these days are protected and impedance-controlled. When using splitters, the signal loses power because of the split, but also the resistance that the devices 'sense' changes, and that might trigger a device to 'close up' or not to work properly (most of the time, you get noise and feedback from strong radio signals).

If you really want to do that, you're missing an 'ingredient' in your audio recipe: A mixer. That would allow the signal from the piano and the signal from the phone to be fused together and then output as a single signal into the headphones.

 

[Robert Barlow]

That's what I assumed the problem would be! And I googled and googled and couldn't figure out what I would need, so I thought a cheap splitter might do it, and it didn't, but I couldn't find what else I would need to make it happen. A mixer. Got it, I'll try this out and see if it works, any suggestions on a type of mixer, or will any one do? Thank you so much for your help and clarity!

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[SpookDroid]

Actually the splitter would most likely work with old equipment... it might sound a bit noisy and volume might be low, but it would have worked. Now things are a bit more 'protected'.

As for mixers, I really couldn't say, the only one I've used was an old mixer from school I used when making a mock newscast. But I'd say for your needs, you don't need the fancy ones with per-channel equalizers and digital processing, so any signal mixer with the correct input and price tag (read: Cheap haha) should do.

 

[Mooncatt]

I was just looking around and at best, your starting price for basic 2 channel mixers is about $50, and those are passive. Meaning they don't have their own power source and the reviews say you could loose a notable amount of volume. Most also seemed to be mono, and you'd only get sound from one speaker. Powered mixers are definitely the best way to go but the prices rise pretty steeply. Most don't even have headphone style jack inputs. You'll most likely need to get cables like this to work with every mixer I've seen so far.

http://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B0000...ag=hawk-future-20&ascsubtag=UUacUvbUpU4951759