I have installed Volumio an RPI 4 and have a 3.5mm audio cable plugged into the headphone output. I do not have a DAC. Does the other end of the 3.5mm cable have to be plugged into a headphone? Can it be plugged into the headphone port of a small radio? As is stands, I cant get any sound output from the RPI. I am not that interested in super high-quality sound and only want to use Volumio to listen to internet radio news in my office where there is lots of interference for MW and FM radio broadcasts. Any help most appreciated.
Your message wasn’t 100% clear to me. Are you suggesting connecting the headphone port of the Pi to the headphone port of a portable radio? That wouldn’t work. However, if you have a cable with a headphone jack on one end and 2xRCA plugs on the other, you could connect the headphone jack of the Pi to the AUX input (the name can vary) of a hi-fi or portable radio, etc. That does work.
The 3.5 output has garbage sound so try to get a dac .
For listening to news, as the OP mentioned, it is more than adequate.
The 3.5mm socket on the Pi is audio out, at enough power to run headphones.
You’d need to connect the other end of the cable to your active speakers, or a line level input on an amplifier with speakers attached to get useful sound output.
Otherwise, just plug your headphones into the socket for listening.
As noted above, it isn’t good quality sound, but may be adequate for your use.
Success! I plugged the 3.5mm cable from my Logitech system into my RPI 4 audio port and it works marvelously. Even the quality of the sound when playing music is a lot better that I expected. I have obtained a DAC form JayCar Electronics (New Zealand) so will be curious to see what improvement that offers. I still have a few issues like connecting to my NAS but the main purpose was to get internet radio working and I am happy with that. Many thanks for all your help.
GCN