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Introductions / Re: Hello from Northern Virginia
« on: Apr 12, 2016, 02:58 am »
Welcome Steven!
I imagine your budget is small to non-existent - but two ideas that may make your life easier if you have any budget to spend:
1) Without looking at the impedance transformer you have, I am going to assume it is not actively summing the two stereo channels into a single mono channel. Most DI boxes are intended to take an unbalanced mono signal (e.g. guitar) using a two conductor 1/4" TIP/SLEEVE connector (tip +, sleeve G) and convert it into a balanced mono signal using a either a three conductor TIP/RING/SLEEVE connector (tip +, ring -, sleeve G) or an XLR connector (pin 1 G, pin 2 +, pin 3 -). A headphone connector uses a 1/8" three conductor TRS connector for unbalanced stereo (tip L, ring R, sleeve G). Basically - my guess is the DI box is only lifting the TIP/SLEEVE off of your TIP/RING/SLEEVE connector. If this is the case you might be missing the right channel of audio entirely.
If your PCDI box doesn't arrive in time you could DIY with a few basic parts, a soldering iron, and a basic electrical schematic.
2) On the audio playback front - using something like VLC will certainly work, but the possibility of error is extremely high. If you want to reduce that you could look into a show control software like QLAB by Figure 53. You can rent a license for something like $3/day. If you need it for a week it'll cost about $20 and is a commercial grade show control solution.
If you have any other technical questions I'll be happy to help as my knowledge and time permit. I lean heavily towards the technical side of entertainment and not as much on the creative.
I imagine your budget is small to non-existent - but two ideas that may make your life easier if you have any budget to spend:
1) Without looking at the impedance transformer you have, I am going to assume it is not actively summing the two stereo channels into a single mono channel. Most DI boxes are intended to take an unbalanced mono signal (e.g. guitar) using a two conductor 1/4" TIP/SLEEVE connector (tip +, sleeve G) and convert it into a balanced mono signal using a either a three conductor TIP/RING/SLEEVE connector (tip +, ring -, sleeve G) or an XLR connector (pin 1 G, pin 2 +, pin 3 -). A headphone connector uses a 1/8" three conductor TRS connector for unbalanced stereo (tip L, ring R, sleeve G). Basically - my guess is the DI box is only lifting the TIP/SLEEVE off of your TIP/RING/SLEEVE connector. If this is the case you might be missing the right channel of audio entirely.
If your PCDI box doesn't arrive in time you could DIY with a few basic parts, a soldering iron, and a basic electrical schematic.
2) On the audio playback front - using something like VLC will certainly work, but the possibility of error is extremely high. If you want to reduce that you could look into a show control software like QLAB by Figure 53. You can rent a license for something like $3/day. If you need it for a week it'll cost about $20 and is a commercial grade show control solution.
If you have any other technical questions I'll be happy to help as my knowledge and time permit. I lean heavily towards the technical side of entertainment and not as much on the creative.