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How to plug a USB male plug into an adapter that also functions to DAC to output to a 1/8" male jack?

Tags:
  • Headsets
  • Hewlett Packard
  • USB
Last response: in Other Consumer Electronics
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November 11, 2013 2:01:45 PM

Question:
I have an Hp Premium Digital Headset, Model # HUD-02. It connects to my computer notebook via the USB port. It features both audio listening through the headset and an attached microphone for use when speaking into the computer for phone calls, etc. Now this is a good quality headset. However, I’d like to be able to plug the headset into a standard portable AM/FM, Cassette, CD player, which uses a 1/8th inch standard jack. The problem is the portable player doesn’t accept a male USB plug in. So, with that being said, here’s what I’ve been trying to find. I want to find a reliable electronics supplier that has an adapter allowing me to connect my male USB into the female USB port of an adapter that has a male 1/8th inch jack on the other end of the adapter. This way I will be able to use my Hp headset with my portable player.

I have tried Google-ing such a request, and found some supplier in (I believe) China. I wrote them describing the situation, and asking them to confirm that what I saw them selling is indeed what I am looking to buy and info on their return policy (if necessary). They never replied. Perhaps it comes down to translation issues between Chinese and English. I don’t know. But the point is I did try on my own before contacting the good folks at Tom’s Hardware.

I need a reliable source and answer to this problem, and I was hoping Tom’s Hardware experts can help.

Hopefully you folks will be able to tell me a place, hopefully in the USA, where I can find the adapter described in my question above.

Thank you

More about : plug usb male plug adapter functions dac output male jack

a b α HP
November 11, 2013 2:16:41 PM

If the headset ONLY has usb you would actually need a device that would convert analog to digital(and be compatible with the headset). Such a device would require power and be at least the size of a flash drive(no including any battery). On top of this, the digital to analog converter built into the headset requires power as well.

You are look at something that I do not think is worth it. You could in theory make it so the usb portion of the headset has 2 x 1/8 jacks(and the headset has the matching plugs in its end), but that would require some work.

If the headset on the other hand had USB to 2 x 1/8(3.5mm) jacks then it would just be a matter of unplugging the usb dac and connecting the headset to the portable player.
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November 11, 2013 2:30:49 PM

Nukemaster is right, you will need power and a converter. Disregard my post. Sorry
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November 11, 2013 4:13:37 PM

reedo_43 said:
Nukemaster is right, you will need power and a converter. Disregard my post. Sorry


Hello folks:
I am not able with my level of knowledge to understand what Nukemaster wrote completely. However, something tells me you don't understand something about what I am actually asking. Let me explain.

You see, my Hp Headset has a USB Male Plug on the end of the cord. If I plug that plug into my computer then I get the audio in my headset. What I want to do is be able to plug the Hp Headset into a very basic portable music player that has AM/FM, Cassette, and CD capabilities. In order to do that, the end of the cord coming from the Hp Headset has to be a 1/8th inch (I believe a 3.5mm jack) analog jack.

Now I don't know what kind of adapter does this? However, I've been told that it is not just an adapter that is needed here. I've been told that there's got to be some kind of Digital to Analog Converter (DAC). Which probably has to be in the audio stream even before it reaches the adapter (if it exists) that allows me to plug a 1/8th jack into my portable music player.

One more thing:
I have tried Google-ing such a request, and found some supplier in (I believe) China. I wrote them describing the situation, and asking them to confirm that if what I saw them selling is indeed what I am looking to buy and info on their return policy (if necessary). They never replied. Perhaps it comes down to translation issues between Chinese and English. I don’t know. But the point is I did try on my own before contacting the good folks at Tom’s Hardware.

Please keep in mind, that my level of audio knowledge is very limited. So if you can kind of talk to me in layman's terms then I'd really appreciate it. Thanks.

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Best solution

a b α HP
November 11, 2013 5:01:57 PM

To simplify it I will try to break what is happening down.

Lets take your basic walkman/discman/ipod(while digital in nature, ipod still pushes analog sound when it comes out the 3.5mm jack) and plug it into headphones with a 3.5mm(I am in Canada so call it 3.5mm but 1/8 inch is the same thing) jack you are taking an analog signal in the form of voltage and using it to drive the speakers in your headphones.

This is an analog signal and the voltage actually is what makes the speakers move forward and backwards moving air to make sound you can hear.

Now HP headset can not actually take analog sound in any forum it ONLY takes digital audio(think of perfectly timed pulses of voltage representing 1's and 0's). This digital audio comes from a USB port on your laptop and the headset has a DAC(Digital to Analog Converter) that will take the digital signal and turn it into an analog signal and amplify it enough to drive the speakers in the headphones(It gets the power needed[5 volts DC] from the computers usb port.).

So even if you have a cable that could push analog sound into the usb port, it would do not good as the system is NOT designed to take that kind of signal(this does not include the lack of power). This is also why you can not plug a digital signal like SPDIF into an analog set of speakers and expect to hear music.

So as you can see, you simply can not get this to work without actually modifying the headphones(after the DAC). OR with a ADC(Analog to Digital Converter). and ADC would turn the analog signal into the perfectly timed pulses of voltage for a digital system to use, but again it would need POWER and also have to be able to work with USB protocols.

If you happened to have a headset like this, you could just disconnect the analog part from the digital part of the system to use the headset, but yours seems to be permanently attached to the DAC portion.

Note the 2 x 3.5mm jacks on the actual DAC portion of this headset(you could even use it to drive powered speakers if you wanted).
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November 13, 2013 9:31:35 PM

Nukemaster:
First: Let me say thank you for your input to this question. I really do appreciate the assistance.

Second: My knowledge of audio stuff is extremely limited. For me I turn on an electronic piece of equipment like a portable radio, tape and cd player, set the volume to a reasonable level and enjoy the music or radio program. How voltage drives the speakers to make the sounds we hear--well, this is really amazing stuff. But it isn't something which I've spent time learning about. However, let it suffice to say, I am simply impressed how voltage can create the complex sounds we hear from our speaker systems. Yet, going into exactly more of an explanation of how exactly this is working is not further necessary here. But thanks for the preview of what is actually happening, however it really works.

Third: When you say: "plug it into headphones with a 3.5mm", I am reading the meaning of this as: you're plugging the music device into the headphones or headset. In my question, I have both headphones and a headset and each can plug into the music player or computer, not the other way around as you word it.

Fourth: I somewhat get the fact that my Hp Headset gets the digital signal from my notebook computer and with its built in DAC makes it an analog signal which powers my Headset speakers. Great! That it: "(It gets the power needed[5 volts DC] from the computers usb port.)."--Wonderful!

I sure hope I'm making you smile! : )

Fifth: Quoting you: "So even if you have a cable that could push analog sound into the usb port, it would do not good as the system is NOT designed to take that kind of signal(this does not include the lack of power). This is also why you can not plug a digital signal like SPDIF into an analog set of speakers and expect to hear music."
Kind of confusing English usage here.
However, I kind of get what you are meaning here.
What means: SPDIF?
Most importantly, however, I want you to realize that I finally understand that what is being output to the USB female port on my computer is a digital signal. I think what you're talking about here is converting the pre-existing digital signal to an analog signal before it reaches the USB port and sending the analog signal to be output by the USB port. Where I would then plug the USB male plug from my Hp Headset into my computer's USB female port to hear the sound.

In conclusion: I get that what I would've liked to find as a possibility is not practical. Whatever the technical reasons may actually be, I am convinced now that I just need to go out and purchase a headset system that has the 1/8th jack at the end to plug into my portable music player or my computer's jack port. Either way, I'll be happy. I'll just save my Hp Digital Headset for my digital needs through my computer. It's obvious to me that there are obvious electronic needs involved for each type of device.

That's all I really needed to understand here. There are many options at retail or even online to purchase an analog capable headset. My plan now is to go out and get a good quality analog headset sometime in the future.

Thanks again.
Lotus100




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a b α HP
November 14, 2013 5:53:02 AM

Lotus100 said:
Nukemaster:
First: Let me say thank you for your input to this question. I really do appreciate the assistance.

Second: My knowledge of audio stuff is extremely limited. For me I turn on an electronic piece of equipment like a portable radio, tape and cd player, set the volume to a reasonable level and enjoy the music or radio program. How voltage drives the speakers to make the sounds we hear--well, this is really amazing stuff. But it isn't something which I've spent time learning about. However, let it suffice to say, I am simply impressed how voltage can create the complex sounds we hear from our speaker systems. Yet, going into exactly more of an explanation of how exactly this is working is not further necessary here. But thanks for the preview of what is actually happening, however it really works.

Third: When you say: "plug it into headphones with a 3.5mm", I am reading the meaning of this as: you're plugging the music device into the headphones or headset. In my question, I have both headphones and a headset and each can plug into the music player or computer, not the other way around as you word it.

Fourth: I somewhat get the fact that my Hp Headset gets the digital signal from my notebook computer and with its built in DAC makes it an analog signal which powers my Headset speakers. Great! That it: "(It gets the power needed[5 volts DC] from the computers usb port.)."--Wonderful!

I sure hope I'm making you smile! : )

Fifth: Quoting you: "So even if you have a cable that could push analog sound into the usb port, it would do not good as the system is NOT designed to take that kind of signal(this does not include the lack of power). This is also why you can not plug a digital signal like SPDIF into an analog set of speakers and expect to hear music."
Kind of confusing English usage here.
However, I kind of get what you are meaning here.
What means: SPDIF?
Most importantly, however, I want you to realize that I finally understand that what is being output to the USB female port on my computer is a digital signal. I think what you're talking about here is converting the pre-existing digital signal to an analog signal before it reaches the USB port and sending the analog signal to be output by the USB port. Where I would then plug the USB male plug from my Hp Headset into my computer's USB female port to hear the sound.

In conclusion: I get that what I would've liked to find as a possibility is not practical. Whatever the technical reasons may actually be, I am convinced now that I just need to go out and purchase a headset system that has the 1/8th jack at the end to plug into my portable music player or my computer's jack port. Either way, I'll be happy. I'll just save my Hp Digital Headset for my digital needs through my computer. It's obvious to me that there are obvious electronic needs involved for each type of device.

That's all I really needed to understand here. There are many options at retail or even online to purchase an analog capable headset. My plan now is to go out and get a good quality analog headset sometime in the future.

Thanks again.
Lotus100

Spdif is a digital audio connection/format.
http://en.wikipedia.org/?title=S/PDIF

A digital signal would look like this

while an analog signal would look like this
Zoomed

Full song


These images are for reference, but in the first analog signal you can see the voltage moving above and below a center point. That is voltage pushing the speaker forward then pulling it backwards(it works by powering an electric magnet in your speakers that pushes the cone forward or pulls it back towards a permanent magnet.). It is very cool indeed.

A digital signal played on an analog system without converting can sound like beeping or screeching(When they had Digital Audio tapes, placing one into a normal tape player was interesting[in a bad way] indeed).

More info on speakers?
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Loudspeaker

The actual digital to analog happens within the headset system(the headset has a small device inline with the cable. chances are they hid the DAC inside of that).

You can find reviews for many headsets on the internet to help you pick what to get in the future.
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