Miniature Speaker to Laptop Audio Jack

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   Hi everyone,

Currently trying to output sound from the laptop through this miniature speaker:

 http:/z.rs-online.com/web/p/miniature-speakers/7564618/ - http://nz.rs-online.com/web/p/miniature-speakers/7564618/
The setup so far is just a mono 3.5mm Audio Jack to the two input pins of this mono amplifier board:

 https://www.sparkfun.com/products/11044 - https://www.sparkfun.com/products/11044

The amplifier is powered with 5V and then I've connected the miniature speaker listed above to the two output pins of the amp.

Just want to confirm whether this setup would work? It is currently not outputting any sound at all. The same configuration however works successfully if I change the audio input from the audio jack to just digital tones from the Arduino so I think I must be misunderstanding something on the audio jack connection to the laptop. Any help would be appreciated.
Thank you.

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JoshuaGates Members Profile Send Private Message Find Members Posts Add to Buddy List New Member Joined: 24 June 2016 Status: Offline Points: 8	Post Options Post Reply Quote JoshuaGates Report Post Thanks(0) Quote Reply Topic: Miniature Speaker to Laptop Audio Jack Posted: 23 July 2016 at 12:50am
	Hi everyone, Currently trying to output sound from the laptop through this miniature speaker: http:/z.rs-online.com/web/p/miniature-speakers/7564618/ - http://nz.rs-online.com/web/p/miniature-speakers/7564618/ The setup so far is just a mono 3.5mm Audio Jack to the two input pins of this mono amplifier board: https://www.sparkfun.com/products/11044 - https://www.sparkfun.com/products/11044 The amplifier is powered with 5V and then I've connected the miniature speaker listed above to the two output pins of the amp. Just want to confirm whether this setup would work? It is currently not outputting any sound at all. The same configuration however works successfully if I change the audio input from the audio jack to just digital tones from the Arduino so I think I must be misunderstanding something on the audio jack connection to the laptop. Any help would be appreciated. Thank you.

DMorison Members Profile Send Private Message Find Members Posts Add to Buddy List Old Croc Joined: 14 March 2007 Location: Aberdeen Status: Offline Points: 1649	Post Options Post Reply Quote DMorison Report Post Thanks(0) Quote Reply Posted: 23 July 2016 at 4:43pm
	It appears the input expects a balanced signal by default, so if you feed it 2 sides of an unbalanced, stereo feed, most of the signal will cancel itself out. Read the instructions or datasheet to see how to convert it to accept single ended (or as they call it, ground referenced) input. You'll also need to adopt a method of converting the stereo output of the laptop to mono - Rane's Tech Note entitled "Why not Wye?" includes notes on the simplest method, just using a few passive resistors.

bob4 Members Profile Send Private Message Find Members Posts Add to Buddy List Old Croc Joined: 29 February 2004 Location: Finland/Germany Status: Offline Points: 1843	Post Options Post Reply Quote bob4 Report Post Thanks(0) Quote Reply Posted: 23 July 2016 at 10:56pm
	Try connecting the speakers directly to your audio output jack. You will probably not gain much by using the amplifier board. Most laptop audio outputs should be able to easily drive a pair of small full range drivers. I've done it with my macbook pro. Don't expect too much, but looking at the specs of those miniature speakers they should be pretty similar to headphone transducers anyway (except for the lower impedance).

JoshuaGates Members Profile Send Private Message Find Members Posts Add to Buddy List New Member Joined: 24 June 2016 Status: Offline Points: 8	Post Options Post Reply Quote JoshuaGates Report Post Thanks(0) Quote Reply Posted: 24 July 2016 at 4:27am
	Hi guys thanks for the responses. bob4 I've tried a direct connection setup in the photo attached (apologies for it not being elegant) and it still is unable to. Also DMorison thanks so the problem is mainly in the sound output being stereo not mono? I'll have a look into that conversion then and update on the effects. Thanks guys Edited by JoshuaGates - 24 July 2016 at 4:32am

bob4 Members Profile Send Private Message Find Members Posts Add to Buddy List Old Croc Joined: 29 February 2004 Location: Finland/Germany Status: Offline Points: 1843	Post Options Post Reply Quote bob4 Report Post Thanks(0) Quote Reply Posted: 24 July 2016 at 8:09am
	You should get sound for sure, it's probably a mistake in the wiring. You could butcher a cheap miniplug-rca cable by cutting off the RCA connector, and stripping the cable. That way you're less likely to mess up the wiring. EDIT: that picture is broken, can't see it. If you make sure it's small enough you can upload it into your personal account on speakerplans Edited by bob4 - 24 July 2016 at 8:11am

JoshuaGates Members Profile Send Private Message Find Members Posts Add to Buddy List New Member Joined: 24 June 2016 Status: Offline Points: 8	Post Options Post Reply Quote JoshuaGates Report Post Thanks(0) Quote Reply Posted: 26 July 2016 at 7:38am
	Hey just thought I'd give an update. So turns out that there was no signal at all coming from the mono audio jack connection I used so you were right there was something wrong in the wiring (although I couldn't see it as I assumed the audio jack was wired properly but it must be broken somewhere). I took apart another audio jack from an old headset and used that connecting 2 of the 4 wires (one was mic) and it is successfully outputting sound now. Thanks for your help!