Using the Headphone Output

The headphone output is perfectly acceptable for audio in many live situations (see audio interfaces for more information). The key is to make sure you do it correctly.

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Some people try to use those headphone adapters like in the first picture above and then connect that into a direct box on stage. The problem with doing it that way is that the headphone output is a stereo output while the inputs on direct boxes are mono. You risk severely harming your sound quality by doing that. The best way is to get a cable like pictured in the third picture (like this). You would then plug the two 1/4" ends into two separate direct boxes or a stereo direct box (less common). If you need to run mono, then you still need the split cable. What you'll do is plug one of the 1/4" ends into a direct box and just leave the other dangling. Then you'll set your output to mono. If you use MainStage then my friend David Pfaltzgraff at DPfaltSound has a video covering this that I'll attach below.

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