[LMB] OT: another stupid CD question

[Mark Allums]

Meg Justus wrote:
> Can you plug a set of computer speakers into the 
earphone jack on a Walkman-type CD player and have
it work?  I have a perfectly good set of relatively
new computer speakers, and the real problem seems to
be that  the CD drive on my computer makes my MP3 CDs
sound scratchy because it's old and decrepit (it's not
the speakers or the sound card -- because sound I get
off the Internet sounds fine, but anything audio
uploaded via the CD drive sounds bad, even copied
onto the hard drive), and since I'm probably going
to end up replacing the entire computer in the next
few months, anyway, I don't want to spend any more
money replacing it.  I don't want to use earbuds when
I'm home.
> 
> Megaera
> who has already proved herself amazingly ignorant on 
these subjects, so not worried about embarrassing herself again


You can, if it doesn't also have a line-in jack.  Line-in is preferable 
for lots of technical reasons, the main one being it'll sound better. 
In theory, you should turn up the volume on the earphone jack to eight 
or nine if you use it.  (ANd adjust the volume on the speakers 
accordingly.)  Some speakers made for iPods and the like are designed to 
work in the headphone jack.  Look for one of those, if you are buying 
speakers.

--Mark Allums