This is a theoretical question as I don’t have one of the three in the subject.
So the question is if I want to just use headphones to listen to what I’m playing do I plug my guitar straight into the Focusrite, or can I use it in conjunction with my amp and switch between the two. I would want the sound off from the amp when listening via headphones.
I would note that my amp has a headphone socket but is doesn’t work.
I would also note that my headphones are Bluetooth SHOKZ OpenRun Bone Conduction headphones
If you want to use the amp (which amp?) without hearing it you will need to plug headphones into it probably.
You can take a line out from the amp to the Focusrite and into the computer, and connect headphones to the computer or more likely to the Focusrite’s headphone but typically this wont silence the amp.
And I dont think BT headphones would work with a Focusrite anyhow.
The amp is a Roland Cube 20GX, and as I noted the headphone socket doesn’t work!
So if I connect the amp to the Focusrite, and with the bluetooth SHOKZ OpenRun headphones ‘connected’ to my pc I will be able to hear sounds through my headphones and also from my amp!! The whole point of this is so that I can I don’t have sound from my amp but can hear my guitar in my headphones, together with any backing track from my pc.
Stuart if you plug a set of headphones into the amps socket, does that cancel the sound from the amps speaker ? On my Mustang I use a short 3.5mm jack in the phones socket to keep the amp quiet. The line outs then go into my audio interface and I plug my headphones into that…no sound from the amp. If that works just leave the headphones plugged into the amp and monitor via the Focusrite.
Something like this
That would be a temporary solution and you could pick up a short cable like I use later.
Did the same on my old Behringer amp which had a 1/4 jack, using one of these
Yes you can plug directly into the focusrite (or other Audio Interface of your choice), apply any amp sims and/or effects in software, but as has already been said it’s unlikely bluetooth will work with a focusrite (or other Audio Interface of your choice), so you’d need to invest in a pair of cheap wired headphones - Amazon has a few Black Friday deals under £15 - or a bluetooth dongle which you can get for under a tenner.
Sadly, to use your amp in the way you want to, you’ll most likely need to bite the bullet and get the headphone socket fixed. I’ve no idea what that would cost but a fair price would probably be in the region of £30-£50 (assuming it’s a wiring issue that just needs skill with a screwdriver and soldering iron, rather than blown electronics), a great deal cheaper than replacing the amp.
Now you know why they say “Steal a man’s wallet and he’ll be poor for a day. Teach him to play an instrument and he’ll be poor for the rest of his life.”
It does, which is good, but have noticed that the socket is also a line out which is probably not good as I guess it means that it cancels the sound when plugged into the Focusrite. I guess the easy answer is to just pull the plug out to hear sound from the amp!
I don’t want to connect headphones to the AI but will use my bluetooth SHOKZ OpenRun headphones ‘connected’ to my pc to hear guitar through the AI.
It’s odd as plugging in a old pair of headphones cancels the sound from the amp but also I can’t hear anything through them. perhaps the headphones are duff!!
Have you checked the headphones on other devices to rule them out as being the problem ?
Just checking as I am sure you have. Might have to agree with Ian and advise getting the socket looked at. Sorry.
As @theoldman66 suggested, with Bluetooth headphones you will get significant latency, probably so much to make it unusable even if you find a way to get it working.
@Stuartw you have to understand what a Focusrite or AI is. It replaces you sound card on your computer so you can plug a guitar or mic into you computer and control it volume on each device plugged in. The Focusrite also has a headphone and speaker out puts so everything will run through the Focusrite, so unless you have a bluetooth jack the headphones won’t work.
Yes that’s what Latency is it the time it takes for the signal to travel to the computer then trough the computer to then through the bluetooth jack to the head phones.
How much? That depends completely on the setup. It ranges, at best, from over 30ms, which is just about on the verge of being usable (assuming you are lucky enough to get that which you probably won’t), to nearly 1/4 second, which is completely unusable.
Most Bluetooth headphones will give you over 50ms latency, which most people find unusable.
Some of the more recent Bluetooth earbuds support Bluetooth 5.0 which offers a lower-latency mode for gaming, but this only seems to be available on the newest earbuds, and probably isn’t supported on your computer. And even then, the latency is usually over 50ms: gaming audio is far less latency sensitive than playing an instrument.
Frankly, you need wired headphones. Bluetooth just will not work. They don’t need to be fancy or expensive: a $8 set of wired earbuds from your local cut-price store will be infinitely better for this than the best Bluetooth headphones (just make sure the cable is a decent length or get an extension cable).
So the headphones connected via bluetooth to my pc wont work when the AI is connected. As noted by @theoldman66 I will need a bluetooth dongle for the AI to run by headphones. All seems a bit complicated to be honest.
OK. I’m going to have to re-think the whole thing. As my ears have lost the ability to hear most of the high frequencies I use plastic ears to compensate. Using the SHOKZ OpenRun bone conduction headphones allows me to keep my plastic ears in but still hear sound through headphones. Saves a lot of faff when doing Teams meetings, etc.
The idea was that I used the AI in conjunction with headphones so that It was just me hearing what I’m playing & not others in the house or the neighbours. Because of this I generally have the amp on very low volume.
Thanks all for your help with this but I may be in the end not achieving what I want and wasting my money.
