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How to Hook up a Headphone Amp to a Mixer

A headphone amp drives sound through a set of headphones instead of through a loudspeaker system. The amp's primary function is to give an engineer the ability to split the signal at an appropriate amplification to multiple artists/musicians in a studio setting. Most mixers have a single monitoring headphone amp built in for the engineer and outboard headphone amps for the unpowered monitor/auxiliary output for artists. Hooking up a headphone amp to a mixer will give you a more in-depth ability to monitor your recording or performance.

Things You'll Need

  • Mixer
  • Headphones
  • Headphone Amp
  • 1/4-inch TS (Tip Sleeve) Cable
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Instructions

    • 1

      Connect the AC adapter from your headphone amplifier to an electrical outlet. This is necessary because most headphone amplifiers require additional power to reach ideal volume.

    • 2

      Connect the 1/4-inch (TS) cable to an auxiliary/monitor output on your mixer. Auxiliary/monitor outputs are different from the main output and are best with a headphone amp to increase mixing/monitoring capabilities through your headphones.

    • 3

      Connect the opposite end of the 1/4-inch cable to the input of the headphone amp. Headphone amps only use a single cable because it only outputs sound in mono.

    • 4

      Plug in your headphones to any available output jack/connector on your headphone amp. Depending on the make or model there may be multiple connectors; they will either be labeled as outputs or they may be numbered.

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Recording Music

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