Getting the Axe-Fx to play through headphones/speakers?

Chaos351

Chaos351

Member
Cross posting this from Reddit so apologies to anyone who sees it twice:


I've had an Axe FX II for a few years now and Tuesday I should be getting my Axe FX III in, I've been wondering now for a while if I can get my Axe FX to play through my headphones/computer speakers via USB or something?

As it is right now my options are pretty much:

  1. Plug the Axe FX into my Focusrite 18i20 and put on a different pair of headphones to record, or listen through my monitors via the 18i20.
  2. Plug in some headphones directly into the Axe FX and record that way.


Problem is, my main mixing headphones (analogue 7.1 headphones) can't be plugged into the Focusrite or Axe FX, so I'm stuck using different headphones or my monitors for tracking, thus not allowing me to get the full sense of the recording and kind of guessing/hoping the track works. I know mixing through headphones is typically a no-no, but I've gotten used to how they respond and enjoy wearing them. I'm pretty lost on how to get the Axe FX to play through the headphones though.



For starters, I've tried ASIO4ALL and that didn't seem to help me.





Thank you for any help!
 
Your system is only as good as its weakest link.

Spending good money on quality gear like the AxeFX, and not having equally as good gear to monitor it through is a waste of money IMHO.

My opinion is go buy some better suited equipment to monitor through.
 
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rossipedia said:
The AxeFX III has a 1/4" headphone jack right on the front. I'm not sure I understand what the problem is
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As I said, my main headphones are 7.1 analogue surround sound. They are what I prefer mixing (and even tracking, if able) on. When I'm recording things with my Axe FX, I'm forced to wear different headphones that have a different sound to them than the ones I personally prefer. My hope is that I'm able to have the Axe FX's sound be played through my main headphones to cut out some extra steps for me.
 
Callan said:
What do you plug your 7.1 headphones into?
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My computer's sound card. It's a gaming headset (Razer Tiamat 7.1 v2) that, as I've said, I enjoy wearing and I've grown accustomed to its sound. Unfortunately, I can only listen to the guitars after recording because I can't figure out how to get the Axe FX to play through those headphones. I'm not trying to get it to play through my monitors or anything fancy.
 
What DAW are you using? Use the USB connection to the axe and let it act as the soundcard, and you can monitor through the axe
 
Chaos351 said:
My computer's sound card. It's a gaming headset (Razer Tiamat 7.1 v2) that, as I've said, I enjoy wearing and I've grown accustomed to its sound. Unfortunately, I can only listen to the guitars after recording because I can't figure out how to get the Axe FX to play through those headphones. I'm not trying to get it to play through my monitors or anything fancy.
Click to expand...
Does your computer sound card have a line input port available, at the same time your headphones are plugged in ?
 
Callan said:
Does your computer sound card have a line input port available, at the same time your headphones are plugged in ?
Click to expand...

It does have a line in port available, though I usually have it disabled due to using a different microphone than the one on my headset. I suppose I could try plugging the headphones jack into the line in port and listen like that? I was hoping to be able to listen to it via the USB input though, if possible.
 
The Tiamat has multiple 1/8" plugs to accommodate all 8 audio channels in 7.1. The AxeFX III, and most music recording audio interfaces, have stereo outputs.

If you want to use the Tiamat with your AxeFX III, you'll need a 1/8" to 1/4" stereo headphone adapter, and you'll want to use the green "Front L/R" cable coming from the headphones. You don't want to use the hardware USB soundcard at all, that'll just make things unnecessarily complicated.
 
If you want to use your Tiamat with your AxeFX while they are plugged into the sound card, I'm not sure you can do that, as I don't believe the USB sound card part of the Tiamat system has Line-In capabilities.

Honestly the Tiamat is a great headset, it's just not designed for audio production, it's designed for gaming (which it's really good at).
 
rossipedia said:
If you want to use your Tiamat with your AxeFX while they are plugged into the sound card, I'm not sure you can do that, as I don't believe the USB sound card part of the Tiamat system has Line-In capabilities.

Honestly the Tiamat is a great headset, it's just not designed for audio production, it's designed for gaming (which it's really good at).
Click to expand...

I'm going to assume then, at this point, that this is my answer. I was hoping there'd be a super simple way of being able to play/record with my Axe FX while using my gaming headset to listen, but so far it doesn't seem like that's possible. Guess I'll just have to stick with the way I've been doing it in the past. Oh well. lol

Thanks for all the help though, everyone!
 
IMO get used to tracking and mixing in stereo.

A decent pair of headphones (for example HD650) plugged directly into the Axe will sound much better than your 7.1 set. The headphone out will likely sound better than the Focusrite also.
 
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