Discuss Studio 2|4 / 24c, 2|6 / 26c, 6|8 / 68c, 18|10 / 1810c, and 18|24 / 1824c USB 2.0 Interfaces Here
2 posts
Page 1 of 1
Hey there, hope this is the right place for this topic. I'm new(ish) to audio interfaces and am slowly learning about how to route signals in and out of these things, and I came across something I don't understand today. I am trying to put together a live show with my 1810c, and want to route a click track to a line out to some headphones. I noticed when I do that, 1 of 2 things happens:

1. I use cheap akg headphones with three black rings on the 3.5 mm jack, and I get two identical mono signals (one in each ear).

2. I use any other headphones I own, all of which have two black rings on the jack, and I get a mono signal, always on the right. I also feel like the audio quality is lower, but it's hard to tell between headphones.

Why is this happening? From what I understand two black rings means the headphones support stereo. Can you not get stereo from a single line out? (For what it's worth I'm using ableton and sending the click to line 3 out). Will the signal always be on the right headphone bud if it's got two black rings, and why do I get signal in both buds when there are three rings? Is there a better way to route a click track out of the interface?

Sorry for the long post and barrage of questions, and thanks in advance for any help.
User avatar
by SwitchBack on Sat Jul 02, 2022 5:47 pm
Hi and welcome to this forum :)

The answer is one part technical and one part coincidence.

The only analog stereo output sockets on your interface are the headphone outputs. All other analog outputs are mono. For stereo you have to use two of them, one for the left and one for the right channel. That goes for the main output and also for the line outputs. The outputs all use 'stereo' sockets but there's only a signal on the 'tip' contact. The 'ring' contact is wired (via a resistor) to ground. This allows for impedance balanced connections to balanced line inputs, for less cable noise. Long story but it explains why you get a signal on one ear when you plug regular 6.3mm TRS jack stereo headphones into a line output.

Your AKG on the other hand has a 3.5mm TRRS jack plug, probably because it also has a microphone. So there's an extra ring on the jack and it's wired different from headphones with a TRS jack. But the 3.5mm to 6.3mm adapter you're using with it is almost certainly designed for a one ring TRS jack. Some of those adapters don't work at all with TRRS jacks and some do like yours depending on the shape and position of the ring and sleeve contacts inside.

Long story short: for stereo from line outputs you have to use two outputs, and the correct adapters to go from 2x TS to TRS and then to TRRS if you want to use the AKG too.

Oh, and low impedance headphones need a low impedance output, i.e. a proper headphone (amp) output.

2 posts
Page 1 of 1

Who is online

Users browsing this forum: No registered users and 5 guests