OK, so at work there is an old ghetto blaster with RCA inputs. These inputs have a toggle switch for normal line-level operation as well as a path that includes a pre-amp for vinyl (like I said, this is an OLD ghetto blaster)
Anyway, I've been plugging in my MP3 player to the inputs and it's not loud enough. I have to crank the volume on both the MP3 player and the ghetto blaster to get something that's even 1/4 of the volume of normal FM radio.
So I was wondering if I could engage the pre-amp without damgaing the MP3 player. When I turn the MP3 player down to almost zero, there is no distortion, however, it is quite bassy. Actually, that is good in this case.
I know my dynamic range is greatly reduced with the low-output of the MP3 player, but where I work, it really doesn't matter as it's so noisy anyway.
So yeah, in a nutshell, does the preamp actually affect the device that's sending the signal, or is all the amping occuring inside the amp, as opposed to on the line connecting the player to the amp?