Hi- i read on a post that there is an adapter to use instead of the standard black yellow and green plugs for the computer. the green outlet seems to be the only wone working and depending which plug i put in there is the speaker set that works. i.e center, rear of front. help? i dont have an adapter????
As I understand it, this adapter is used ONLY to adapt a standard 2-channel stereo output to the 3, 1/8" plugs of the Dell 5650 5.1 system. These 3 plugs would normally plug into the front, rear, and center/sub outputs on a computer designed to output 5.1 channel sound.
To make this clear, what this means is that the output you get from your 2-channel stereo system, using this adapter with the Dell 5650 5.1 system, will NOT be full 5.1 surround sound...it will be 2-channel stereo signals intermixed so that it plays from the 5650 system through the Dell amplifiers and speakers...nothing more.
This cannot be over-emphasized. The adapter does NOT create true 5.1 sound from a 2-channel stereo output system.
If you are hoping to get true 5.1 output from a 2-channel stereo system, you will be disappointed.
All this adapter likely does is split/mix some of the 2-channel signal into the rear channel, and split/mix some of the SAME 2-channel signal into the center-sub channel, just so you will get some output from those speakers. There may be some low-pass filtering for the sub-woofer input.
It is almost certainly a very simple passive circuit consisting of resistors, capacitors, and possibly an audio transformer or two.
Look for circuit on Do-It-Yourself electronic sites and build it yourself...or you're almost certain to be ripped-off.
Posted on Jan 19, 2009
More information:
To see what this adapter looks like, and how it is used, see this webpage
http://support.dell.com/support/edocs/ac...
Download the appropriate .pdf file for your language. The adapter and how it is used is shown in the lower right corner of the document. As can be seen, it is used to adapt a standard 2-channel stereo output from various audio devices to the Dell 5650 inputs. From the images provided, it is a 100% passive adapter as I suspected in my earlier comment, and should be extremely easy and cheap (less than US$10) to make with simple electronic soldering skills.
I just tried this and it worked "OK". Use at your own risk. It's a dirt-simple method of getting the 2 channel stereo to play on all the speakers of the 5650 system.
I took 2 "Y" stereo adapters (off the shelf items (e.g. RadioShack) I got them for about US$4 each), and connected them like this. Picture it as the bottom "tail" of one "Y" stuck on to one of the top "antlers" of the other "Y" adapter.
It works but remember that it doesn't produce 5.1 output, it just outputs the 2 channel stereo from all the speakers of the 5650. It sounds "better" than just a 2 speaker system, but personal preference will make a huge difference.
The first Y adapter male 1/8" input connects to the headphone stereo output of my CD player.
The "Front" cable from the 5650 goes to one of the female 1/8" outputs from this first Y connector.
The 2nd Y adapter male 1/8" input connects to the remaining female 1/8" output from the first Y connector.
The "Rear" cable from the 5650 goes to one of the female 1/8" outputs from this 2nd Y adapter.
The "Sub/Center" cable from the 5650 goes to the remaining female 1/8" output from this 2nd Y adapter.
It is important to note:
1) Your stereo device electronics may not "like" being loaded to multiple inputs like this. It is POSSIBLE the stereo output on the device (CD player, etc) could be damaged.
2) the input connectors on the ends of the "Y" adapters will depend on what kind of output connectors YOUR stereo system uses.
3) that the "rear" speakers are getting exactly the same signals as the "front" speakers. There is no audio delay such as you would experience in a true 5.1 signal.
4) that the "sub-woofer" is getting a signal ONLY from either the left or right channel of the stereo input, and the "center" speaker is getting a signal ONLY from the other channel of the stereo input. The sub-woofer is also getting the full spectrum of frequencies from the stereo signal. That's not necessarily a bad thing as the Dell amplifier may have its own low-pass filter. Either way, it won't damage the 5650 sub-woofer. This is where the "mixing" components mentioned in earlier comment would come in (capacitors and resistors) to blend the 2 outputs so that the "sub-woofer" and "center" channels get a bit of signal from both the left and right channels.
EXAMPLES: Y adapters that worked for MY CD player connected to Dell 5650 amplifier
http://www.radioshack.com/product/index....
http://www.radioshack.com/product/index....
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Forget the colors yellow, green, black. They are not relevant. The business end of those colors occur inside the box. Dell manufactured these "bass ackwards". You need a 3-way headphone splitter and that will solve your problem. I bought a RadioShack Headphone Splitter Cable model 42-2458. Hope this helps.
Posted on Dec 25, 2010
On a seperate note my 3 into 1 adapter has been bent and as a result the speakers can cut out occasionally as not all the signal is getting through, can anyone suggest where one of these might be available, i live in the uk but i am willing to get one shiped from anywhere
Posted on Sep 18, 2008
Hi Gracie,
If you're taking about the 3 into 1 adaptor for the 5650 it should have come with the speakers. I suggest you call Dell customer care with your order number and explain that you didn't receive this!!
Cheers,
R
Posted on Jan 11, 2008
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DELL is of no help. Where can i buy the 3 into 1 adaptor for the 5650? i bought the speakers used, and it should have come with the speakers, but did not.
THIS MAY BE YOUR ACTUAL PROBLEM. YOU MAY NOT NEED AN "ADAPTER".
I just realized you may be asking the question the wrong way, simply because you don't know how audio computer connectors can be assigned by the user.
So, I'm inputting this possible solution under the classification "I have the same problem."
What you REALLY may need to ask is "How do I modify my computer's Blue, Green, and Pink audio connectors so they output 5.1 sound signals?"
You see, the basic issue is that these 3 connectors are multi-purpose.
This may be your situation and why you can only get your "Green" connector to output an audio signal.
Of the 3 "audio" connectors on most recent computers, here is how the rear-panel audio connectors are usually configured by default.
(seehttp://www.hobby-hour.com/electronics/so...
Green=Stereo Line-output, front speakers, headphones
Pink...=Stereo Microphone Input
Blue...=Stereo Line-input
As in your case, that means that no matter how your system software settings are configured, you will always have an audio signal OUTPUT on the Green connector. However, your Pink and Blue connectors may be configured as INPUT connections for a microphone and another device such as an external stereo device like an iPod output.
BUT, THIS MAY BE YOUR ACTUAL PROBLEM:
However, you can configure your computer SETTINGS to change how these 3 connectors are used. On some computers, you may have to change an internal motherboard jumper or 2, but on many computers, this is a strictly software change and very easy to do from the keyboard. This will let you connect the Dell 5650 5.1 Amplifier (or any other 5.1 amplifier with similar connector) to your computer and have full 5.1 sound output the way it is meant to be.
This will change the connectors from the above Default usage, to
Green=Front Line Output
Pink=Sub/Center Output
Blue= Rear Line Output
Your computer user guide will instruct you how to do this. If your computer has both front and rear audio connectors, the rear connectors are usually set to the 5.1 audio output, whereas the front connectors remain set to Microphone, Line-in, and Line-out. Again, internal motherboard jumpers may be involved depending on the model of computer.
On MY computer, I had to do this. It can vary depending on your Operating System, your audio drivers, your motherboard, and/or your sound card, so I can't give you a single set of instructions. But, the process will be something similar to this. Using the mouse, click on the following:
StartButton>>Settings>>ControlPanel>>Sound Effects Manager>>SpeakerConfiguration
Then, when I'm on that tab, I individually set the Blue, Green, and Pink connectors to be "Rear Speaker Out", "Front Speaker Out", and "Center/Sub-woofer Speaker Out" respectively. I then click "OK" and those 3 connectors now OUTPUT the audio signals for 5.1 sound needed by the Dell 5650.
i have windows Xp and i dont under stand what your saying.... i cant find sound effects manager...
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