Use "Headphone" Output With Speakers?

[pianomankd]

Hey everyone,

Quick question - if you are unable to separate R/L outputs and split the "stereo" sound, is it okay to just use the "Headphone" output and straight to the speaker to get an equal sound?

Thanks in advance from a newb with this!

I have a JBL Eon and a Bose L1 Pro 8

Cheers!

[Tasten-Bert]

Hi,

yes, that should work. I use this way at the rehearsal room and go from Headphone Out direct into the mixer, so I can‘t imagine why you shouldn‘t be able to go into a line input of your JBL or Bose.

Cheers from Germany

[harmonizer]

If the input jack on your JBL Eon is a mono input, then I would think that you are only going to get one side of the stereo output (either the L or R from your Nord's headphone jack) into the audio that is amplified by your JBL Eon. I am not seeing how the result would be any different than using a plain old TS cable from either the L or R output on the back of your Nord.

[Tasten-Bert]

Yep. Using one input only on either the JBL or the Bose reduces the signal to a mono one. If I had taken some more time, I should have added that I use a TRS -> 2 TS jacks cable, the TRS at the nord‘s headphone out and the two TSs into two different mixing console inputs, panned hard left resp. right.

At the Bose L1 you could either use the two inputs or with a TRS-TRS cable could use the AUX input. But be aware that in any case with one speaker only your signal will only be the mono one. To avoid this you could use both, the JBL for one channel and the Bose for the other.

Cheers from Germany

[Schorsch]

Yep. Using one input only on either the JBL or the Bose reduces the signal to a mono one.

Does it? I thought you would just hear the "half stereo" signal, means either just the right ot the left channel and missing the other one, different from mono where both L+R are combined into one - or am I wrong here?

[Elias]

There is a fundamental problem if the input is expecting a balanced signal. Here is why: in a headphone output the "left" signal flows between tip and sleeve, and "right' signal between ring and sleeve. A balanced input on the other hand expects a single (mono) signal on tip/sleeve and a polarity inverted signal on ring/sleeve. A balanced input works by subtracting these two signals, which results in noise cancellation. If a headphone signal is fed into a balanced input, the sound you get will be "left-rigt", which will sound weird.

If a TRS or (TRRS) cable is used, you get this cancellation. A TS cable on the other hand will short ring to ground, and no cancellation will happen.

[maxpiano]

Bose L1 Pro 8 has a stereo Aux IN input, that's the one I would use to connect it to the Headphones output of the Nord.

[Tasten-Bert]

Yep. Using one input only on either the JBL or the Bose reduces the signal to a mono one.

Does it? I thought you would just hear the "half stereo" signal, means either just the right ot the left channel and missing the other one, different from mono where both L+R are combined into one - or am I wrong here?

I‘ve already expected that someone jumps in here. Had I taken more time here as well I would have explained it that way - either the left or the right channel, whichever you take. But in any case mono.

My favourite solution would only be using two active speakers, one for each side resp. channel.

Cheers

[Tasten-Bert]

Bose L1 Pro 8 has a stereo Aux IN input, that's the one I would use to connect it to the Headphones output of the Nord.

Yep, and you‘ll benefit from the case that the Bose‘s preamp mixes the two stereo channels to one mono one.

Cheers

[Tasten-Bert]

There is a fundamental problem if the input is expecting a balanced signal. Here is why: in a headphone output the "left" signal flows between tip and sleeve, and "right' signal between ring and sleeve. A balanced input on the other hand expects a single (mono) signal on tip/sleeve and a polarity inverted signal on ring/sleeve. A balanced input works by subtracting these two signals, which results in noise cancellation. If a headphone signal is fed into a balanced input, the sound you get will be "left-rigt", which will sound weird.

If a TRS or (TRRS) cable is used, you get this cancellation. A TS cable on the other hand will short ring to ground, and no cancellation will happen.

My thoughts were based on my personal situation, using a TRS -> 2 TSs cable and using two independent input channels at the mixer. You can as well plug a cable like this in two inputs of the JBL or the Bose, it‘ll get mixed to mono internally then.

Cheers