Galaxy JIB/R RCA Combiner

This box is perfect for the right application. Here's some tech info because the manual isn't totally clear.First, this is not a "direct box". If you need an unbalanced-to-balanced converter to take a stereo line signal and run it 100+ feet, this is not the right product. But this is also significantly cheaper than anything with a transformer in it. While this has XLR and 1/4" TS outputs, they are not balanced.On the other hand, if you need to mono sum stereo or 3 or 4 line level signals, that's exactly what this box does and similar solutions are surprisingly hard to find. You should never use a Y-cable to combine multiple outputs to a single input - this box uses a resistor network to do it the right way. As a bonus is has DC-blocking capacitors so you don't have to worry about phantom power from the soundboard blowing up your device's headphone jack.

BTW: I got the RCA Combiner - why the put these different things together as one product I don't know.Does the job it is supposed to. KUDOS for them making and selling this, when NOBODY else seems to be doing it!Pros: It exists. If you want to hook your phone or mp3 player to a mono input (guitar amp... mono pa input...) you NEED this!!!Cons: This should be built into a cable for ninety-nine cents. It is CRAZY to have it exist as a piece of equipment for tens of dollars...But... I didn't want to solder my own resistance bridge... And this is the ONLY product I could find for sale that does it!!!It works perfectly...Again... If you have something with a mono 1/4" input (like, say, a guitar amp or PA channel or gear) and want to hook up a stereo cell phone or mp3 player or whatever... you gotta have something like this. Or you'll blow or distort your stuff, if you're not lucky.

Massive DB loss. Which is such a bummer as it does exactly as I needed. It cleanly takes 2 channels and brings them down to 1. But it loses a lot of signal to do it. Would be perfect if it could be done with out the signal loss.

Horrible sound loss. Plugged in a dj controller rca to it and xlr to wall and sound quality was extremely low/poor. Used a y connector of rca to xlr and immediately noticed a huge quality improvement.

It's a simple fix for several AV/LiveSound issues. If you're running a Mono system, this lets you use a single channel for a stereo device (2 actually). tape/CD decks, computers, iPods, handheld recorders typically have RCAs, and those cables are always handy. I prefer an RCA to 1/4 inch, but they're not always at arms reach, and it doesn't solve the stereo/mono issue. It also let's you put 2 devices on a single channel if you have a smaller board. Lastly, many boards have RCA inputs for CD/Tape/Computer, but they don't let you EQ them or assign them to sub buses. It's just a convenient device to have around, especially for smaller boards and when you don't need stereo (like in a general PA setup).NOTE: this is a passive device, so it should be as close to the device and board as possible to avoid interference

Wish there was a 4.5 rating I could give. Seems to work well enough and as intended. No useful technical documentation included, and as another reviewer pointed out there is a significant db loss from this passive device, which is the trade-off for it not adding any noise.For my intended purposes, the standard audio jack output from PC going through this effectively killed the signal so much that I could barely get any sound out of the spare KRK Rokit5 G2 monitor I had intended to use at my office desk. However, that same output chain going to a Behringer Eurolive B210D still had plenty of signal for that speaker's Gain to work with. So, back to "half-jacking" a standard 1/8" cable with a 1/4" adapter until I find another solution for that, since I can't keep the PA speaker on my desk...As for the unit being reviewed, I still see plenty of potential other uses I have for it now and in the future & will continue to play around with different configurations to discover what works and what doesn't. Anything with either a pretty hot line level going into the box or something with plenty of headroom on the Gain beyond it should work fine.N'Joy

No it doesn't have an internal amp or transformer. No - no volume or tone controls, No it won't give you stereo output. And, no it won't power your Luke Skywalker replica light saber. It will, exactly as described, take a stereo input, combine the stereo L/R signals into a monophonic signal and output that (monophonic) signal via two clearly-marked output ports to the amplifier or recording device of your choice. Recently used to provide stereo-source music to a large outdoor event via a PA amp and several widely-space speakers (which, without this combiner would have had large portions of the audience listing to only the left or right stereo channel) - worked perfectly.

Who knew reliably converting a stereo line signal (headset in this case) reliably down to mono was a little trickier than splitting a mono signal to stereo.I have this to use one of the (stereo) headset mixes on my Zoom LiveTrak L12 to feed a ReAmp box to re-amp my (mono) raw guitar recording (I can only get it out as a stereo signal ...) in my home studio. As my ReAmp box expects a balanced line, I use the XLR connection; plus meanwhile it is nice to know it also has an unbalanced 1/4 output available.Nice little bit of kit for my application.