I am about to take delivery of a new monitor, a Dell Ultrasharp U2724D, and I have a question about the audio…
I know this sounds confusing, but hear me out…
I built my computer a few years ago, sadly the audio broke a few days later, I first the rear output stopped working, then I used the front output and a few days later the cable I used caught my chairs armrest and my computer fell on it’s side, during this the headphone jack broke.
I currently use the headphone out on my Philips monitor and run it to a generic noname analog amplifier to my Roth Audio OLi RA-1 speakers, this works fine, but there is an issue with the new monitor.
It does not have a headphone out, but a line out.
Would you expect a generic amp to work with that?
I bout the amp seven/eight years ago at the Swedish chain store Kjell & Company, it is labelled “Roxcore A32” and has two RCA inputs at the back.
I have no idea about this.
Most amps expect line-level audio anyway, so you should be fine. I’m surprised the already amplified “headphone out” into the amp didn’t sound horrible.
Sorry, I forgot to thank you for putting me at ease.
Have a great weekend!
It has been great, I have just run the amp on a low volume.
And I just realized that I have a record player with a line out that I can test it with.
If your video card supports HDMI, the audio should be carried over that. HDMI is video+audio.
Source: My PC uses HDMI to connect to an 8K television.
Oh I use Displayport to run the audio to my monitor, it has worked great.
It will be fine. I have a weird daisy-chain of devices hooked up to my monitors so that my personal computer, work computer, and Nintendo switch are all capable of running through my speakers (and monitors).
As far as I understand, “Line” output signals are usually un-amplified, so that is likely better for plugging into an amplifier than a “headphone” output—but honestly, a computer monitor is not a purpose-built audio device, so its likely just a standard 1/8 inch phono jack amplified audio output regardless of labelling, amplified by both the computer running it and the monitor itself.
This is not digital data you’re working with but a literal fluctuation with electrical energy to mimic a sound wave-form so anything with a phono plug is compatible with anything else—it’s pretty simple technology.
The worst case scenario (assuming this stuff is all properly made) is a buzz coming from the amp when no other sound should be heard.
I am also curious about the broken front panel head phone jack and failure of the rear panel audio out.
In the case of the front panel, is it physically damaged so it no longer works or did it just stop working after the computer toppled. If it’s the latter, you may wanna open up the case and see if your front panel connectors on the motherboard came undone (you’ll need to consult your motherboard diagram to find where those are but since you said you built the computer I assume you know that).
As for the rear panel—standard check for driver updates or system sound settings being incorrectly prioritized. I have an asus motherboard that I selected specifically for optical audio output because I didn’t want electrical interference from a simple phono plug (and I was being precious at the time) but the optical output will occasionally stop working and I’ve never been able to fix the issue—likely just a software glitch because a restart usually fixes the issue. I now have my Klipsch powered speakers connected both via optical out and USB as a backup, which brings me to my final piece of advice:
If all else fails, just get a USB Digital Audio Converter and use that as your system sound output if you want to continue using your amp and speaker setup, OR, just get a pair of actual computer speakers with USB connection—dealer’s choice.
Thank you for the very detailed answer, the headphone jack in the front had it’s connector rings ripped out buy the cord that was connected at the time of the topple.
The rear audio out just stopped working when I got it a nicer cable, the cable I tried to give it was a normal but better quallity 3,5mm -> RCA cable which worked fine in my old computer even after it stopped working on my current clmputer.
I have a Gigabyte B550 motherboard with a Ryzen 5600x and 32GB ram.
Currently I use Displayport to carry the signal from my computer to my monitor and my monitor acts as a DAC.
Long term planning is to get a micro Hi-Fi unit from Denon and use TOSlink from my motherboard to get the signal to the Denon unit and power my speakers from that.
EDIT, forgot this part:
I have also thought about getting an Audioquest Dragonfly DAC, in general I dislike getting new USB devices ever since Logitech broke my trust and installed an unwanted program through Windows Update just by having a mouse connected.
If you’re feeling adventurous, you could cut your front panel audio wires and connect them to a new 3.5mm jack inside the case. It might be a lil janky but it would get the job done for <$10
AudioQuest Dragonfly wouldn’t be a bad way to go. I have a Red on my PC because the onboard mobo audio picks up USB noise. I’ve also got a Cobalt for my phone/headphones. They have a firmware update utility for the Red/Black that you manually install and can uninstall afterwards, the Cobalt ships with current FW and hasn’t been updated yet. That said, they’re pretty expensive for what they are and I got both of mine 50+% off. If you’re considering a “proper” audio setup, I’d go straight to to the Denon unit you’re looking at
I just realized that I have a record player with a line level output I can test with…
