Jack split box

[J Pearce]

Anyone come across a budget jack split box?

 

We're trying to lose the cheap moulded jack splitters we use (cable based splits) as they disintegrate so quickly. We started with a whole new set (40 odd) in September and most have already died.

 

It also ties in with moving away from moulded cables to proper cables that can be fixed or have parts salvaged for the next round.

 

We want a small box with 2-4 jack sockets on it. It would then be used with a stereo jack cable to provide multiple headphone outs from keyboards.

 

I've seen the MTR splitter, but £25ish is pretty steep for a plastic box with 4 jack plugs wired in series (though the MTR does have some current limiting circuitry, but we don't need that).

 

I could build them, but to build 40 of them is going to eat a lot of my time, and if they can be had for a tenner or so we'd rather buy them.

 

Chris Beesley? I can see lots of buyers if you plugged it well enough!

[Chris Beesley]

http://cpc.farnell.com/AV01724 :P More outputs than you wanted tho.

[J Pearce]

See I'd searched 'headphone split' and 'split' and 'jack split', not junction switch :P

 

Anything simpler? I don't mind the price, but the volume pots introduce more potential for students breaking it and its a bit big for our aims. The description talks about mono, our keyboards do strange things if they're mono'd with a 2 pole jack plug due to the phase processing they apply to make it sound 'good'...

 

Potential solution though.

[Chris Beesley]

All the rest are active units such as AV15809 or AV17474

[J Pearce]

Thanks for your efforts Chris.

 

Anyone else?

[dB or not dB]

I know you don't want to build them but these boxes from Canford Audio are shaped to accept 3 D-series panel jack sockets so no drilling, just need soldering -

Canford Audio Y-splitter box

49-399 Universal Hexagonal Y-splitter box £2-71

43-273 Neutrik NJ3FP6C Jack socket (Panel) £3-94

So cost = £16-70 each incl VAT. Less with bulk buying.

[MarkPAman]

I have the very thing you're after here, but after spending half an hour hunting it down I've realised that it's home made anyway. :P

 

I know that making 40 of anything takes time, but get a little production line going & it shouldn't be too bad!

 

• Drill your box to take the required number of these in a straight line.
  
• Mount the sockets with the pins pointing towards you.
  
• Get three pieces of solid wire (nicked fron offcuts of twin & earth?), and thread them through the holes in the jacks.
  
• Apply solder, using a decent sized iron.
  

 

Should only take a few minutes each box. ;)

[J Pearce]

Mark, thats my exact plan if I resort to making them. Just seeing if anyone made them before I resign two days to soldering and drilling.

 

I've already got two days of turning long XLR-jack leads into XLR leads and short XLR-jack adaptors as it is!

[Yorkie]

Can you get those stacking jack sockets, and eliminate soldering? Admittedly I've never used them.

[J Pearce]

I've seen stacking phonos, but not jacks.

 

Though the box idea is also partly to get rid of weight pulling on the keyboards, as the headphone sockets are only cheap and are soldered straight to the pcb. We've discounted the solid plastic splitters for the same reason.

[Rob_Beech]

Whilst I do know exactly what you're after (though can't recommend anything other than what has already been said), I'd be interested to know the exact application for this.

 

I know you say keyboards, but, a 4 way split from a keyboard? 40 of them? I'm just interested in what this is used for. Also, be aware that with these passive solutions, it depends upon the headphone amp in the keyboard and the impedance of the headphones as to whether it'll be hard work for the am,p to drive 4 pairs. Many headphone amps in keyboards really only drive down to 100ohms or so, and aren't very good at that. If you shove 4 lots of 64ohm headphones on it then it's going to cry at you.

 

Rob

[TomHoward]

I've seen them time and again in schools, with those kind of splits in those kind of quantities. I opened one of the boxes up once for some reason and it was exactly as described above - a project box with five jacks mounted, and three solid pieces of wire bridging the pins on all five. Unfortunately I couldn't give you a model number but they weren't complicated.

 

A concurrent post has been automatically merged from this point on.

 

http://www.morganacousticsltd.co.uk/headphonesplitters.html - 4 way split is £16 via retail. For 40 of them you might as well contact the manufacturer direct, they must have someone / somewhere that makes them up.

[tall_phill]

It may not be quite what you want, but the ProCo HJ4P is something to have a look at.

 

I have toured with a stack of these, driven off power amps, and they are quite sturdy.

[J Pearce]

Rob,

The application is keyboards in music classrooms. Usually only two headphones are needed, but sometimes 3 or 4 are needed, or two headphones and a feed to our Coomber foolproof CD recorder.

 

4 sockets gives one input, with 3 outputs. The keyboard would then be linked in using short stereo jack leads.

 

Our keyboards are happy to drive 2 pairs, by 4 you can hear the amp struggling if you've got lots of bass going on, but they seem to survive... The vast majority of the time they only drive 2 pairs.

 

 

Tom,

Thanks for that link, it may well prove useful!

[J Pearce]

Still haven't really got anywhere with this, have just fired an email off to Morgan Acoustics and will see what we can work out.

 

Anyone have any other ideas? Making them myself isn't going to happen til at least summer...

 

We've also decided to petition Coomber to start making keyboards built like their CD players, with 4 headphone outs, easily purchasable spares and servicing, and the usual bombproof construction. They'd make a fortune if they marketed it properly!