CD player: uhh... is this what I think it is?

Gullible Jones · 2005-08-04 02:21:58

I've noticed that my CD drive has a headphone jack and volume control on it. At one point I tried plugging my headphones into the jack, turning up the volume on the volume control, and playing an MP3; I wasn't surprised that I didn't hear a damn thing, even with CD Audio at maximum, External Amplifier on, and the CD input properly plugged into my mobo. What came as a surprise was that I didn't hear a damn thing when I tried the same little experiment, but played the music from a CD.

So, what's the use of the little built-in jack and amplifier? I assume they're not vestigial... Anyway, as long as they're there, is there a way I can use them? It would be nice to have a functional audio jack at the front of my computer...

Snowman · 2005-08-04 04:03:02

Xmms has an option where you can use the volume control of the CD-ROM drive when playing CDs. I've never used it, though.

phrakture · 2005-08-04 05:01:53

Gullible Jones wrote:

I've noticed that my CD drive has a headphone jack and volume control on it. At one point I tried plugging my headphones into the jack, turning up the volume on the volume control, and playing an MP3; I wasn't surprised that I didn't hear a damn thing, even with CD Audio at maximum, External Amplifier on, and the CD input properly plugged into my mobo. What came as a surprise was that I didn't hear a damn thing when I tried the same little experiment, but played the music from a CD.
So, what's the use of the little built-in jack and amplifier? I assume they're not vestigial... Anyway, as long as they're there, is there a way I can use them? It would be nice to have a functional audio jack at the front of my computer...

IIRC that's a hold-over from "the old days" - I think if you have that stupid little cable from your CDROM to your sound card it might work...

Gullible Jones · 2005-08-04 10:47:13

I've got the "stupid little cable"...

(Uhh... Why is that cable stupid? :? )

tomk · 2005-08-04 11:01:45

Stupid, as in redundant, superfluous, obsolete - not a direct reflection of the cable's IQ, right phrak?

soloport · 2005-08-04 11:37:16

Stupid as in, hard to click into and out of place in its usual out-of-reach spot, usually runs diagonally through the whole of the box, is in the way on a constant basis, useless and obsolete.

Gullible Jones · 2005-08-04 12:25:12

I don't need it? Damn! Then why is it in there?

Gullible Jones · 2005-08-04 12:36:55

Hah! Removed it, and guess what? Remember that whistling, popping crap I was getting with CD audio turned too high? Gone now! :shock:

medicated · 2005-08-04 13:38:00

I recall using that jack on the front of my cdrom..once upon a time. It was years ago, but I used it to listen to a cd. My cdrom had a play button on the front of it as well. Hmmph.. I just pushed that button and behold..music!

T-Dawg · 2005-08-04 14:50:06

The cable is there in case the OS does not support the neccessary decoding and extraction software. Most days thats not a problem...

phrakture · 2005-08-04 14:58:08

tomk wrote:

Stupid, as in redundant, superfluous, obsolete - not a direct reflection of the cable's IQ, right phrak?

soloport wrote:

Stupid as in, hard to click into and out of place in its usual out-of-reach spot, usually runs diagonally through the whole of the box, is in the way on a constant basis, useless and obsolete.

Yup... biggest problem I had was that that cable is usually like 8 inches long, so it becomes a stretched barrier directly down the center of your case.

Pengiun has the right of it - the cable is for analog audio from the CDROM directly to the sound card... for instance, without the cable, you need to check "use digital audio" (or something like that) in xmms to play music from a CD.

paranoos · 2005-08-04 18:09:22

i'm pretty sure you don't need that stupid cable for this jack to work, since it doesn't need the sound card to do anything.

some drives also have play/stop buttons on them. if you put an audio cd in the drive and hit play, it'll play it through those headphones, and through your soundcard if you have one. if you don't have those buttons, you'll have to use software to play the cd, but you can use that headphone jack to listen.

so yes, it won't play mp3s, because it's not connected to the soundcard's output in any way.

Arch Linux

#1 2005-08-04 02:21:58

CD player: uhh... is this what I think it is?

#2 2005-08-04 04:03:02

Re: CD player: uhh... is this what I think it is?

#3 2005-08-04 05:01:53

Re: CD player: uhh... is this what I think it is?

#4 2005-08-04 10:47:13

Re: CD player: uhh... is this what I think it is?

#5 2005-08-04 11:01:45

Re: CD player: uhh... is this what I think it is?

#6 2005-08-04 11:37:16

Re: CD player: uhh... is this what I think it is?

#7 2005-08-04 12:25:12

Re: CD player: uhh... is this what I think it is?

#8 2005-08-04 12:36:55

Re: CD player: uhh... is this what I think it is?

#9 2005-08-04 13:38:00

Re: CD player: uhh... is this what I think it is?

#10 2005-08-04 14:50:06

Re: CD player: uhh... is this what I think it is?

#11 2005-08-04 14:58:08

Re: CD player: uhh... is this what I think it is?

#12 2005-08-04 18:09:22

Re: CD player: uhh... is this what I think it is?

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