secretdubai

Hello,

I need to buy some kind of audio cable that has a volume control in it.

Such as this:
http://www.radioshack.com/sm-4-ft-in...i-2552561.html

or this:
http://www.proporta.com/F02/PPF02P05...194&t_mode=des

Does anyone know if these items or similar are stocked anywhere in the UAE, and if so where?

I tried to make my own such device by splicing the volume control from some cheap ear buds onto an audio extension cable... it didn't work.

Thanks in advance.

shiva

Have you tried Radioshack in MOE or City Centre?
Also try CompuMe in MOE, Carrefour, Virgin or head to Satwa, dont ask where but whenever i cant find something I usually get it eventually in Satwa

secretdubai

Thanks I will try those places.

Before I knew this thing actually existed, I knew what I needed and I asked in Radioshack in Al Ain (was visiting there) but they didn't have anything, nor did they even know of anything. That was when I came up with the idea of making my own, which didn't work.

Then after extensive Googling - it's hard when you don't know the name for what you want - I found those things. But they seem only to be in the US.

Eeyore

What's the purpose of this cable? I'm guessing it's *not* for headphones, because you could easily buy a set of headphones with a volume control pretty much anywhere in Dubai.

Bear in mind that the two examples you posted will *only* work to control the volume of a set of headphones plugged into them; they can't be used for any other purpose.

secretdubai

Really? I thought they would limit the volume of the signal going into the headphones, and therefore they would limit the volume of a set of speakers they were plugged in to (mini ipod speakers that have no volume control).

The situation is that I have a Griffin ikaraoke microphone that has the most catastrophic feedback - the only way it is even bearable is by facing the speaker three metres away upside down into the floor - but there is no way to reduce the microphone level. I figured that by using an inline volume control between the microphone and the speakers, this might limit things. The ipod's own volume controls don't work while the ikaraoke system is plugged in (and it has just three settings pertaining to background music levels - low/medium/high - and nothing relating to the microphone levels).

I could also get different speakers with volume control I suppose, but I bought these tiny ones specially for travel. They run off battery or mains, and they are amplified, and really really tiny with a nice sound.

Eeyore

It's not necessarily as straightforward as that unfortunately; it's all do with voltage and impedance and other dull but important electronic bollocks like that.

How are your speakers connected to the iPod? Via the headphone socket? If so, you *might* get away with it, but there's also a possibility that you could end up under- or overdriving the amplifier built into the speakers.

EDIT - I've just had a look at the iKaraoke manual online, and I think I can see the problem. I'm guessing that you've connected your speakers to the "line out" socket on the Griffin? If so, do you normally connect them to the headphone socket on the iPod?

secretdubai

Yes - the speakers are connected to the line out on the ikaraoke. If I connect them directly to the iPod then things are fine, but of course there is no output from the ikaraoke at all, just the regular ipod.

The speakers I have are the Logic3 i-Station Traveller. I got them because they were tiny and amplified, which is needed for the ikaraoke (so I seem to remember reading in the manual or somewhere).

I suppose it might be that I have to get new speakers, but with any speakers the mic feedback is still an enormous problem. I can't use the device in the car at all for example.

Eeyore

I would say that's your problem. The speakers are expecting a headphone-level output, and you're giving them line level. The iKaraoke isn't designed to be connected to those sorts of speakers, it's intended for you either to tune in an FM radio or connect it to a line input on an amplifier.

Those in-line volume controls will be expecting headphone level too, not line level. You might be lucky, but you might also get nothing but distortion out of one.

MJC

Is this a two way argument or can anyone join in?

secretdubai

Aha. Thank you for this, I had no clue there was a difference.

So what I need is either a speaker that expects line level, or something that would convert line level to headphone level, if such a thing exists? Any recommendations you have for an appropriate speaker - preferably really tiny - would be great. Was I wrong in thinking I needed amplified speakers?

And MJC please do join in. All this advice is really useful, I am very much a newbie to audio matters. I just want a mini karaoke system that works

Eeyore

That would be ideal. Unfortunately, most such devices are the type that plug in underneath the iPod (where its own line level output is), so you wouldn't be able to use the Griffin at the same time.

You'd probably have to have one custom-built; it wouldn't be difficult for someone with electronics experience. Although as I say, you *might* be lucky with one of those inline headphone amps.

No, not at all; without an amp, you wouldn't get any decent volume out of the speakers.

Have you tried tuning in a radio and using it that way? You'll have full volume control then.

secretdubai

But the plug there is the same as the plug on the Griffin, the small-size audio jack plug.

Thanks so much for all this help by the way!

Any recommendations for a tiny cheap lightweight speaker that expects line in and has its own volume control and preferably runs on batteries as well as regular power? Or am I asking for the moon?

How would I find such a person, do they exist in the UAE?

I don't currently have a radio, but this is of course another option. It would probably be my cheapest speaker option, come to think of it. Plus I read somewhere that the Griffin can have static problems with line out, but not with FM output.

I need a cool small cheap radio though, but not the kind of "Panasoanic" ultra-shite-cheap that one buys in the souqs.

MJC

And I'm in fits of giggles thinking of our erstwhile diarist leaping around the flat a singing "Love Shack" and "I will survive" on her very own karaoke machine.

I'm pleased I'm not your neighbour!

Eeyore

Is it? I assumed the nanos used the same multipin connector as other iPods.

A small portable radio would indeed probably be your best bet... they can usually run on either batteries or mains, and you'd be able to do away with a speaker cable. And wherever you go, you can tune in to the local top hit stations spinning the platters that matter.

Try Carrefour/Geant... they have a pretty good selection IIRC.

secretdubai

It's more Girls Aloud and Atomic Kitten, but yeah, the neighbours probably hate me