single aux input - two sources? opinions please

[doh_stupid_fingers]

I've got a 2003 Honda Element EX with a single aux mini-jack input on
the factory stereo. I've had an XM SkyFi plugged in there for the
oast year and it sounds fine. I want to add my Sirius PNP3 to the car
as well (I'm on the road all the time) and use the same aux input, if
possible, rather than FM modulation, for optimal sound quality.
Obviously, I wouldn't have both on at the same time.

Can I just use a mini-jack y-cable, like the kind found at Radio
Shack? I've called local car stereo places and have gotten both "oh
sure no problem" to "no way man" answers. One place recommended I try
to get a minijack A/V switch.

Do I run a risk of blowing up my radios? Will the sound suffer? Any
other ideas?

Thanks in advance!

sf

[MZ]

> I've got a 2003 Honda Element EX with a single aux mini-jack input on
> the factory stereo. I've had an XM SkyFi plugged in there for the
> oast year and it sounds fine. I want to add my Sirius PNP3 to the car
> as well (I'm on the road all the time) and use the same aux input, if
> possible, rather than FM modulation, for optimal sound quality.
> Obviously, I wouldn't have both on at the same time.
>
> Can I just use a mini-jack y-cable, like the kind found at Radio
> Shack? I've called local car stereo places and have gotten both "oh
> sure no problem" to "no way man" answers. One place recommended I try
> to get a minijack A/V switch.
>
> Do I run a risk of blowing up my radios? Will the sound suffer? Any
> other ideas?
>
> Thanks in advance!

You can't "Y" two sources together. You need to buy a switch. They have
A/V switches at Walmart. Radio Shack used to have audio switches.

[doh_stupid_fingers]

On Fri, 18 Feb 2005 12:19:37 -0500, "MZ"
> wrote:

>> I've got a 2003 Honda Element EX with a single aux mini-jack input on
>> the factory stereo. I've had an XM SkyFi plugged in there for the
>> oast year and it sounds fine. I want to add my Sirius PNP3 to the car
>> as well (I'm on the road all the time) and use the same aux input, if
>> possible, rather than FM modulation, for optimal sound quality.
>> Obviously, I wouldn't have both on at the same time.
>>
>> Can I just use a mini-jack y-cable, like the kind found at Radio
>> Shack? I've called local car stereo places and have gotten both "oh
>> sure no problem" to "no way man" answers. One place recommended I try
>> to get a minijack A/V switch.
>>
>> Do I run a risk of blowing up my radios? Will the sound suffer? Any
>> other ideas?
>>
>> Thanks in advance!
>
>You can't "Y" two sources together. You need to buy a switch. They have
>A/V switches at Walmart. Radio Shack used to have audio switches.
>

Thanks for the input, no pun intended. I called the place that
recommended the switch and they'll install it next week. Funny how
some of the other stereo places thought the y cable would be no
problem. What would happen?

sf

[MOSFET]

Call me stupid (many do), but why can't you just use a Y adaptor? I don't
really see why that would be a problem. I think better advice would be to
try a Y adaptor first as this is the cheaper option. I see absolutely no
way that any harm could come of it.

MOSFET

"MZ" > wrote in message
...
> > I've got a 2003 Honda Element EX with a single aux mini-jack input on
> > the factory stereo. I've had an XM SkyFi plugged in there for the
> > oast year and it sounds fine. I want to add my Sirius PNP3 to the car
> > as well (I'm on the road all the time) and use the same aux input, if
> > possible, rather than FM modulation, for optimal sound quality.
> > Obviously, I wouldn't have both on at the same time.
> >
> > Can I just use a mini-jack y-cable, like the kind found at Radio
> > Shack? I've called local car stereo places and have gotten both "oh
> > sure no problem" to "no way man" answers. One place recommended I try
> > to get a minijack A/V switch.
> >
> > Do I run a risk of blowing up my radios? Will the sound suffer? Any
> > other ideas?
> >
> > Thanks in advance!
>
> You can't "Y" two sources together. You need to buy a switch. They have
> A/V switches at Walmart. Radio Shack used to have audio switches.
>
>

[mayhemkrew]

Yea nothing happens. I actually do this in my Honda Pilot with an XM Roady2
and my iPod. If you play both devices, you hear both devices, nothing has
happened with the stereo or the plugged in equipment.

"MOSFET" > wrote in message
...
> Call me stupid (many do), but why can't you just use a Y adaptor? I don't
> really see why that would be a problem. I think better advice would be to
> try a Y adaptor first as this is the cheaper option. I see absolutely no
> way that any harm could come of it.
>
> MOSFET
>
> "MZ" > wrote in message
> ...
>> > I've got a 2003 Honda Element EX with a single aux mini-jack input on
>> > the factory stereo. I've had an XM SkyFi plugged in there for the
>> > oast year and it sounds fine. I want to add my Sirius PNP3 to the car
>> > as well (I'm on the road all the time) and use the same aux input, if
>> > possible, rather than FM modulation, for optimal sound quality.
>> > Obviously, I wouldn't have both on at the same time.
>> >
>> > Can I just use a mini-jack y-cable, like the kind found at Radio
>> > Shack? I've called local car stereo places and have gotten both "oh
>> > sure no problem" to "no way man" answers. One place recommended I try
>> > to get a minijack A/V switch.
>> >
>> > Do I run a risk of blowing up my radios? Will the sound suffer? Any
>> > other ideas?
>> >
>> > Thanks in advance!
>>
>> You can't "Y" two sources together. You need to buy a switch. They have
>> A/V switches at Walmart. Radio Shack used to have audio switches.
>>
>>
>
>

[Cyrus]

In article >,
"mayhemkrew" > wrote:

> Yea nothing happens. I actually do this in my Honda Pilot with an XM Roady2
> and my iPod. If you play both devices, you hear both devices, nothing has
> happened with the stereo or the plugged in equipment.
>
> "MOSFET" > wrote in message
> ...
> > Call me stupid (many do), but why can't you just use a Y adaptor? I don't
> > really see why that would be a problem. I think better advice would be to
> > try a Y adaptor first as this is the cheaper option. I see absolutely no
> > way that any harm could come of it.
> >
> > MOSFET

In most cases nothing bad will happen. But in the world of audio, its a
much less than desirable way to route signal.

--
Cyrus

*coughcasaucedoprodigynetcough*

[MZ]

> Call me stupid (many do), but why can't you just use a Y adaptor? I don't
> really see why that would be a problem. I think better advice would be to
> try a Y adaptor first as this is the cheaper option. I see absolutely no
> way that any harm could come of it.

Well, aside from being the perfect way to introduce hum (sometimes it
doesn't)...

It is essentially shorting your device.

To illustrate, picture device 1 playing a sine wave and device 2 playing a
sine wave 180 degrees out of phase. What happens when you hook their
outputs together? i = v/R. If i is too high, then it could conceivably
damage the device. It's going to depend entirely on the device - that is,
its voltage output, its output impedance, and the max current it can handle.
Usually you'll be ok, but if these devices are worth something or are
difficult to install/uninstall, I just wouldn't risk it.

[doh_stupid_fingers]

On Sat, 19 Feb 2005 02:16:08 -0500, "MZ"
> wrote:

>> Call me stupid (many do), but why can't you just use a Y adaptor? I don't
>> really see why that would be a problem. I think better advice would be to
>> try a Y adaptor first as this is the cheaper option. I see absolutely no
>> way that any harm could come of it.
>
>Well, aside from being the perfect way to introduce hum (sometimes it
>doesn't)...
>
>It is essentially shorting your device.
>
>To illustrate, picture device 1 playing a sine wave and device 2 playing a
>sine wave 180 degrees out of phase. What happens when you hook their
>outputs together? i = v/R. If i is too high, then it could conceivably
>damage the device. It's going to depend entirely on the device - that is,
>its voltage output, its output impedance, and the max current it can handle.
>Usually you'll be ok, but if these devices are worth something or are
>difficult to install/uninstall, I just wouldn't risk it.
>

If there's any chance it'll screw something up, I'm not gonna risk it.
The place that's going to install it said they'll order the switch I
need. Also, that way I can maybe have both units on to see what's
playing and switch from one to the other when I see something I want
to hear.

thanks for the comments,
sf

[Scott Gardner]

On Sat, 19 Feb 2005 07:09:47 -0500, doh_stupid_fingers
> wrote:

<snip>
>If there's any chance it'll screw something up, I'm not gonna risk it.
>The place that's going to install it said they'll order the switch I
>need. Also, that way I can maybe have both units on to see what's
>playing and switch from one to the other when I see something I want
>to hear.
>
>thanks for the comments,
>sf

That's pretty clever - I hadn't considered that you could keep the
satellite receiver turned on even when you're not listening to it, and
keep an eye on the "currently-playing" display to see if there's a
song worth switching over for.

Scott

[MOSFET]

>
> Well, aside from being the perfect way to introduce hum (sometimes it
> doesn't)...
>
> It is essentially shorting your device.
>
> To illustrate, picture device 1 playing a sine wave and device 2 playing a
> sine wave 180 degrees out of phase. What happens when you hook their
> outputs together? i = v/R. If i is too high, then it could conceivably
> damage the device. It's going to depend entirely on the device - that is,
> its voltage output, its output impedance, and the max current it can
handle.
> Usually you'll be ok, but if these devices are worth something or are
> difficult to install/uninstall, I just wouldn't risk it.
>
Hmmm. Well, I suppose that makes sense, but you would never play two
sources at once. So I suppose we are both right in that there is no
potential harm as long as you don't play both sources at once (your first
answer gave the impresson that merely Y-ing two sources together may be
dangerous), but if you don't trust yourself and you value your gear, you may
not want to take this chance.

I know it's better to be safe than sorry, but in the real world, wouldn't
you need two high-voltage sources playing EXACTLY the right sine waves at
exactly the right time (at full blast!) to cause damage? I say this because
I have Y-ed tons of stuff in my life with no problems nor have I ever heard
of anybody frying anything because of Y-ing.

MOSFET

[MZ]

> Hmmm. Well, I suppose that makes sense, but you would never play two
> sources at once. So I suppose we are both right in that there is no
> potential harm as long as you don't play both sources at once (your first
> answer gave the impresson that merely Y-ing two sources together may be
> dangerous), but if you don't trust yourself and you value your gear, you
> may
> not want to take this chance.

Yeah, I don't think it's a big chance anyway. Most output devices are
capable of withstanding shorting the terminals, I think. And that's
basically what you'd be doing if both were going at the same time. I'd
actually be more concerned about noise/hum that could be introduced in this
manner.

> I know it's better to be safe than sorry, but in the real world, wouldn't
> you need two high-voltage sources playing EXACTLY the right sine waves at
> exactly the right time (at full blast!) to cause damage? I say this
> because
> I have Y-ed tons of stuff in my life with no problems nor have I ever
> heard
> of anybody frying anything because of Y-ing.

No, it doesn't really matter what they're playing. I just used the sine
wave example to illustrate my point. If you've got two output devices with,
say, 100 ohm output impedances (typical) and an amplifier input of about 10k
ohms (also typical), then what would normally be passing less than 1mA of
current would then be passing more like 10mA. Like I said, it's probably
not enough to cause damage in most cases, though some output devices may be
a little iffy.