1. It could be that you have a stereo splitter. You need a stereo to Right and Left MONO splitter. Having your headphones work when you plug in makes this the most likely scenario.
Basically, you are shorting the right and left channels together.

2. & 3. You will need some sort of mixer to do this. Or you could build a little project box with some switches to change functions and outputs.

4. Exactly How much space do you have?

Did you actually get the MA-12c speaker monitors? If you did then they are pretty much designed for computer use as that is what the "C" at the end meant. But yeah you probably need to go to a music store and buy a mono left/right to stereo 1/8" cable. They do make them as I own a few that I use on my sound modules and through my mixer I use from time to time.

I use the passive versions of these speakers attached to my actual AV receiver in my game room. Mine are the black with red trim model MS-30 and they sound pretty sweet for as old as they are.

cyclone3d wrote:

1. It could be that you have a stereo splitter. You need a stereo to Right and Left MONO splitter. Having your headphones work w […]
Show full quote

1. It could be that you have a stereo splitter. You need a stereo to Right and Left MONO splitter. Having your headphones work when you plug in makes this the most likely scenario.
Basically, you are shorting the right and left channels together.

2. & 3. You will need some sort of mixer to do this. Or you could build a little project box with some switches to change functions and outputs.

4. Exactly How much space do you have?

Hm I thought I did buy one of those. Would it be ok if you linked to an amazon product page?

This is what I bought:

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000068O3C/ … 0?ie=UTF8&psc=1

I would prefer to have something the size of like a book. I definitely don't have room for a big receiver (or money for that matter). If I need something I could find a way to make it work, I have some vertical space I could utilize but very little desk space.

CrossBow777 wrote:

Did you actually get the MA-12c speaker monitors? If you did then they are pretty much designed for computer use as that is what the "C" at the end meant. But yeah you probably need to go to a music store and buy a mono left/right to stereo 1/8" cable. They do make them as I own a few that I use on my sound modules and through my mixer I use from time to time.

I use the passive versions of these speakers attached to my actual AV receiver in my game room. Mine are the black with red trim model MS-30 and they sound pretty sweet for as old as they are.

Those are the exact speakers yes. I bought a 3.5mm that splits into left and right channel, but I guess I didn't buy the right kind of cable? It's all a bit confusing.

Ok.. that cable should work.

What happens if you plug the splitter cable directly into the sound card without the extension cable?

What happens if you use the extension cable and the splitter at the same time with your phone?

Sounds like a bad connection to me. Maybe the splitter is not working properly with the extension cable.

cyclone3d wrote:

Ok.. that cable should work. […]
Show full quote

Ok.. that cable should work.

What happens if you plug the splitter cable directly into the sound card without the extension cable?

What happens if you use the extension cable and the splitter at the same time with your phone?

Sounds like a bad connection to me. Maybe the splitter is not working properly with the extension cable.

I plugged the splitter directly into my X-fi gamer card. It works, but it is really noisy. The noise only happens when audio is playing. I don't get any noise in my headphones at all. I don't get any noise when I plug the speakers into my phone.

These speakers seem really sensitive. If I have them turned on and I touch the cable when it is not plugged into anything, I heard sounds and pops on them. I am not really sure what to do.

impedance mismatch, not that those are great speakers or anything

rasz_pl wrote:

impedance mismatch, not that those are great speakers or anything

My MS-30s sound better than the Klipsch satellite front channels they replaced so I don't think they sound that bad at all! Although you are correct in that in my AV receiver I had to change it to 6ohm from the default 8ohms. But I would think the X-Fi could handle them just fine.

mothergoose729 wrote:

These speakers seem really sensitive. If I have them turned on and I touch the cable when it is not plugged into anything, I heard sounds and pops on them. I am not really sure what to do.

That would indicate that the contacts inside the the speakers where you plugged in the jacks could be loose and or dirty. Do the pops happen when you move the cable closer where they plug into the speakers or at the sound card?

mothergoose729 wrote:

This is what I bought:

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000068O3C/ … 0?ie=UTF8&psc=1

That's quite cheap for such a cable. The one I got from Thomann, sold by Thomann's in-house label, was twice as expensive in Euros.

Some of those cheap cables are wired wrongly internally, have bad solder connections, or have inferior shielding. All of those may cause the issues you describe (besides dirty contacts on the sound card and monitors).

Another thing to keep in mind with monitors is that they are designed for music production, and therefore have quite different aural characteristics from normal consumer speakers. They are more likely to bring out inconsistencies and other unpleasant features in the sound, which you don't hear on standard consumer model headphones.

Hey guys, I know the roland monitors are necessarily the highest quality speaker, they just really fit my setup aesthetically. I love the look.

When I say that I touch the cable and they make noise, I mean the 3.5mm jack at the end. Rubbing it with my thumb produces audio while the speakers are powered on.

I put the line in to the monitors in the middle input and for some reason that works a little better. If I plug it directly into my sound card, I still get a faint buzzing noise but the sound is actually pretty good. Problem is I need to hook these up to an audio switcher at some point. The more cables I add to the chain, the more buzzing I get. Is there any way I can make these speakers less susceptible to noise?

Rubbing the 3.5mm plug will pretty much get you noise on any powered speakers or headphones the other end is plugged into.

I would take the speakers apart and re-solder the plugs. If the cable doesn't have a snug fit when plugged in, you probably need to replace the plugs.

Could also be that the capacitors inside the speakers need replacing... especially on the amplifier board.