Using Headphone Jack As Output?

damasp · Post by **damasp** » 23 Mar 2013, 19:41

Sometimes the low output level of my E3 is frustrating, especially when I'm not using my mixer and preamp. I've read that some of you use the headphone jack as an output jack, since it seems to be give a louder volume.
Is this is harmful to the keyboard to use the headphone jack this way? I'm just looking to play mono right now and I'm thinking of plugging a 1/4" cable out of the headphone jack and 1/4" other end into a powered speaker. Would this give me a significant power boost?

Thanks guys!

Post by **Darren** » 23 Mar 2013, 19:47

You won't damage your Nord by using your headphone jack to go into a line input. However, the signal coming from the headphone jack is amplified so it will likely distort the input of your powered speaker. You should use the line out and run your volume at 75-80% to get a good signal in your situation.

Arjan P · Post by **Arjan P** » 23 Mar 2013, 20:08

damasp wrote:I'm thinking of plugging a 1/4" cable out of the headphone jack and 1/4" other end into a powered speaker.

Be careful: By plugging a mono 1/4" jack into the stereo phones output you may be shorting one of the outputs (on the 'ring' contact - always forget if that's right or left). You could damage it by doing so! Ofcourse, by using a stereo plug there's no problem.

damasp · Post by **damasp** » 23 Mar 2013, 20:27

Would I need to get a stereo adapter plug for the headphone jack even if I just want the left channel/mono into my speaker?

mjbrands · Post by **mjbrands** » 24 Mar 2013, 01:46

damasp wrote:Would I need to get a stereo adapter plug for the headphone jack even if I just want the left channel/mono into my speaker?

Nope. It is not actually a headphone jack, but a mono line-level output, so it should work fine for what you describe.

Yesterday I toyed around with one a bit in a music store and to me it seems like it does actually have a mono jack (not a mono signal on a stereo jack, if that makes sense). That still doesn't explain why the issue the original poster has occurs. I still can't see a reason why the mono-to-stereo jack thing doesn't give a (mono) signal on both ears of the headphone.

Arjan P · Post by **Arjan P** » 24 Mar 2013, 03:05

mjbrands wrote:Nope. It is not actually a headphone jack, but a mono line-level output, so it should work fine for what you describe.

Maybe we're not talking about the same output here, but the 'Headphones' output certainly is a stereo jack type. Not only is it in the specs, but I hear stereo when using a headphone. The separate Left and Right outputs are indeed unbalanced mono.

hammondking · Post by **hammondking** » 24 Mar 2013, 08:32

As ArjanP noted, plugging a mono plus into a stereo jack results in some distortion, and could ultimately damage the headphone amplifier circuit. Probably won't, but you never know. Best to use a stereo splitter.

Basically what you're doing is analogous to running both both speaker outputs from your home theatre amp into one speaker. The left and right amps are shorted together, and have a tug of war to try to drive the speaker. Can't be good long-term.

JiminWales · Post by **JiminWales** » 24 Mar 2013, 16:18

If you put a mono jack in a stereo socket it will certainly short out one channel of the head-phone amp to ground. This is unlikely to cause damage because most amps nowadays can survive this indefinitely. But, better to be safe and use stereo to split mono adapter lead and only use one of the mono plugs at the amp. Most headphone amps now are made with ordinary audio grade operational-amp chips because most headphones are fairly high impedance, so performance with a line level load shouldn't sound distorted provided the output volume level isn't too high.

If your amp has ordinary 1/4" mono unbalanced inputs, you could use a balanced (TRS) jack lead, the "ring" connection won't be connected to anything at the amp.

I wouldn't recommend attempting to mix the stereo to mono for sound quality reasons (stereo sounds don't always merge well into mono). I know Nord have put merged mono on the line output jacks if you only use one and provided a mono option for the sample playback, but unless the sound has different elements panned hard left or right, the best way of going mono is simply not to use one channel. To put it another way, if you take one mic away from a stereo pair, you have a mono mic setup!

Jim

fccmt · Post by **fccmt** » 25 Mar 2013, 16:49

you should connect your nord line outs into a DI a then into your mixer preamps. Never connect directly into the mixer because it may cause some damages. You have to match the high impedance unbalanced signal from your Nord to the low impedance inputs. Mismatch will affect the tonal quality and also the signal level.

rb4u1 · Post by **rb4u1** » 26 Mar 2013, 01:21

I have taken the headphone signal and run it directly to my QSC K10
Using a typical cable Tip/Sleeve cable and it was functional. I didn't
have a problem at all.

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