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I dont think it's a good idea to plug a set of headphones directly into an Aux output on my mixer. er, i dont know if it's a good idea; but i dont want to learn the hard way.

Is it safe to plus a pair of stereo headphones into an Aux out? i believe the out is stereo, but what if it's mono?

do i need some sort of adapter or something?

Comments

moonbaby Fri, 04/18/2008 - 01:08

The Aux outs on a board are not "amplified". They are a relatively low-level signal that is designed to drive a fairly high-impedance load. Most commercially available headphones are much lower an impedance than the Aux out is designed to "see". At best, you'll get a fairly weak signal, and it may be very distorted.
Just curious, why do you want to use the Aux to drive 'phones directly?
I have had to adapt an Aux mix to drive phones many times. Currently, I'm using an Aux mix to drive a small headphone amp, which in turn, is driving not headphones, but a couple of these little digital handheld voice recorders (!). The recorders are of the lowest level, mainly for sermons, and they don't sport a dedicated line level input. The only inputs are these 1/8" stereo mic ins. The only way that I've been able to get a relatively clean, hum-free signal to them is via a headphone amp signal. I made up an "attenuation/adapter" cable for it to go from the headphone jack on a small Mackie 1202 mixer to the recorders. I drive the Mackie with the live boards' Aux 6 bus. I know that it sounds whacked, but that's what has worked fer me. And everyone should have a nice compact mixer like the 1202 to "multi-task" live gigs!

rockstardave Fri, 04/18/2008 - 05:14

moonbaby wrote: Just curious, why do you want to use the Aux to drive 'phones directly?

i have 6 aux sends on my board, and i'm just curious about using 6 different mixes when doing live recordings.

i figured that each member of the band could have their own mix via the Aux sends.

if I can get each instrumentalist (notice i didnt say musician, haha) their own mix, then i could - in a live multitrack situation - keep all amps at fairly low volumes and pump whatever they need through headphones. it would certainly cut down on bleed into the drum OH mics.

i'm sure this is a fairly common thing. what can i use to make the aux a "louder" signal? i dont want to have to buy a headphone amp for each Aux/headphone mix.

thoughts?

Cucco Fri, 04/18/2008 - 07:21

Sorry - not too many options there.

If you want 6 different mixes, you're going to need 6 different headphone amps. Or the Mackie unit (something 56x or something).

Or you can get by with maybe 4 or so -
Send the main mix with the lead/vox/guitar low in the mix to the drummer and bass. Then send that main mix with each musician on their own aux to a headphone amp.

In any case, you're going to need to bite the bullet and do it the right way.

You may just want to invest in a hear-back system. $1500 and you're set with one of the coolest capabilities to hit the planet (as far as headphone monitoring is concerned...)

hueseph Fri, 04/18/2008 - 08:53

mwacoustic wrote: Unless I'm reading the description incorrectly, the B@#$%#ger headphone amp I linked to above has 8 independent channels. (Essentially 8 headphone amps in one box).

Seems like an easy, inexpensive solution which would do exactly what the OP is looking for...

Edit: Yeah it does look like it will accept separate inputs for each channel.