Is normal sound card enough?

[bobnf]

I am running my mp3's on my computer into my Denon 5800. The wire out of the sound card is a single that splits into an RCA jack. I am losing the right speakers.

Do I need a new sound card ?

Thx,
bobnf

[mixadude]

That depends, it could just be dirt. How old is your computer? Most of them suck air and contaminants (dust, hair, skin flakes) through every hole and those 1/8" connections can be finicky.

Try blowing out the jack with some canned air followed by a little (very little) contact cleaner. Also the cables themselves might be flakey, particularly the 1/8 tip ring sleeve to stereo rca splitter. Might otta check it with a meter, and while you're at it check it clear through the other cables attached to it.

[mixadude]

The other issue of course is whether the sound card or on-board sound in your computer is adequate for your needs even if the cables and connections work. You haven't mentioned what sound card or mobo you have.

Some motherboards have very good onboard sound like my Asus A7N8X deluxe, but most do not. I will say however that the quality has gotten considerably better overall in the last couple of years, and many have s/pdif digital outs as well.

There are many usb sound devices that are very good as well... google for em and then ask questions. I use em for gigs on my laptops, cause I use software that supports multiple sound devices, so my computer system sounds don't all of a sudden come blaring out of a 100KW system in front of God and everybody. Embarrasing at best. Also they tend to have rca or 1/4" phone connector on em (well the ones I use), much more reliable.

Good luck ;)

[AudioInfinity]

A final option, have you checked your amp with other sources?

[sam9]

I have found the 3.5mm jacks and wires troublesome. Try a couple of different ones, That much more likely to be the problem than the sound card.

[swicken]

First off, you're listening to MP3s, which suck to begin with. And second of all, yes, doing it that way sucks pretty hard.
Get a sound card with coax or optical out. If you're not too horridly concerned about sound quality just go with a Audigy/Audigy 2 Platinum. There is audiophile solutions available as well, but really, if you're just listening to MP3s it really isn't worth it.
If you play games and want sorround sound, there are cards that encode into sorround (as a lot of games don't dont dolby/dts encoding, computers kinda work on a different premise generally)
Anyway, hope that helps.