Ipod - hooking up to speakers?

M

muffin1973

Registered User
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633
Hi all,

Getting married in September abroad - have decided to download the music we want onto an Ipod and bring that with us and just hook it up to the speaker system in the venue we're using.

Can anyone advise the correct question to ask the venue re hooking it up - I'm a bit clueless about Ipods but have been told that I will have to check out the size of the cable from the speakers in the venue cos it'll be different to the one in the Ipod??? Am I even asking the right question here?! Basically I'm just worried the Ipod we bring over won't be compatible with the speakers over there and we could end up with no music which would be horrendous ;)

thanks

M
 
muffin1973 said:
Hi all,

Getting married in September abroad - have decided to download the music we want onto an Ipod and bring that with us and just hook it up to the speaker system in the venue we're using.

Can anyone advise the correct question to ask the venue re hooking it up - I'm a bit clueless about Ipods but have been told that I will have to check out the size of the cable from the speakers in the venue cos it'll be different to the one in the Ipod??? Am I even asking the right question here?! Basically I'm just worried the Ipod we bring over won't be compatible with the speakers over there and we could end up with no music which would be horrendous ;)

thanks

M
Click to expand...
I would say that your best bet for compatibility and sound quality is to bring an iPod - 2 or 3 RCA cable, i.e. red (right), black (left) and yellow (for video - not required for a wedding as you will be listening to audio files rather than playing videos. (If using an iPod nano or other model which does not have video, you can save a few quid and buy the 2 RCA version i.e. stereo only).

The Apple "[broken link removed]" has such as a cable but it is expensive. You can buy equivalent cables from third parties in the likes of the O2 Experience store for under 20 Euro.

Just to add to this, you should also consider ripping your music in iTunes at higher than 128kbps, i.e. use the "Higher Quality" setting or 160kbps or even 192kbps (in Edit -> Prefernces -> Advanced -> Importing), as while you might not notice the additional quality on your headphones on the go, you certainly will when played through big speakers in a public place.

I also recommend turning off the Equaliser and keeping the iPod volume at about 75 percent, when connected to external speakers. The base management will be better in the mixing desk or amp you are connected to.
 
u will need this

[broken link removed]

Maplin have a few places around the country, alternatively order it online
 
Just to add a bit to MonsieurBond's post: contact the venue and make sure they have both an amplifier and a mixing desk/mixer as well; you will be connecting your iPod to the inputs on the mixer (using the red and white ends of the cable mentioned earlier); the mixer should already be connected to the amplifier and the amplifier to the speakers.

Also if you can contact them online/see via webpage that the speakers are sufficently large, i.e. box mounted on a wall (ceiling speakers won't be up to the job).

S.
 
badabing said:
u will need this

[broken link removed]

Maplin have a few places around the country, alternatively order it online
Click to expand...

I'd probably spend a little bit more than this myself and get gold-plated connectors.
 
gold plated connectors not much use as the original mp3 sound quality is not good anyway..
 
badabing said:
gold plated connectors not much use as the original mp3 sound quality is not good anyway..
Click to expand...

That does not necessarily have to be the case, as previously pointed out tracks could be ripped at higher bit rates or even using the lossless encoder, then you are just limited to the quality of the iPods sound processing and outputs.
 
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