Plug Amp Line Out Or Headphone Out Into PC Line In?

DarkDragoon

New member
I plan on getting a decent interface soon-ish but I would like something in the meantime just for messing around at night really. I have a Marshall Valvestate VS30R that has two 1/4 inch outputs, one is labeled Line Out, the other Headphones. My PC has a Line In port and I was wondering could I plug either of the amps outputs, or even the guitar direct into my PC's Line In with a 1/4 inch to 3.5mm adapter I have but I've seen conflicting answers.

I know that Headphones are usually considered low level, nearly if not completely unamplified signals, and I'm assuming Line Out on the amp is post-amplification so high level, and so I'm unsure if the Line In on the PC is expecting a low level or high level signal.

I figure if I try the Line Out and keep the the amp turned down while plugging in I and turn it up as I check I should be alright with not blowing anything but I'm not 100% certain and would like some feedback.

Any info on this or if anyone has done or still does this would be super helpful =)
 
A headphone is not low level, it starts mic, then guitar, then line consumer level, then line pro level, the. Headphones, then speakers, in terms of ooomphf. Speakers probably should also go desktop speakers, small high, large high, PA, big PA and then stadium PA. with care, your kit can span two or three of these happily.
 
"Line Out" on your amp would not be 'post amp', otherwise it would say 'Speaker Out' and indicate an impedance (8 ohms, for example).
 
Most PCs do not have LINE level inputs, though some Macs do. They typically are looking at a mic level, so if you go in there, as suggested, use the headphone output where you have the ability to really control it down to zero and then work up from there.

Some specs on the PC and its soundcard would help.

If you do have a soundcard with a LINE IN labeled jack, you should be able to go into that from either, though with the headphone out, you'll need a stereo to mono adapter, unless your LINE input on the PC is also stereo.

If you have a mono mic input, e.g., a combo "headset" type 3/8" plug (1 mono in, 2 stereo out, TRRS plug), you'll need an adapter to get the stereo headphone out down to the appropriate input/mic "ring" on that jack.
 
If you’re trying not to bug people, you’ll want something plugged into that headphone jack in order to kill the amp’s speaker output. Whether you actually use that to get into the computer or not is up to you, though if it has its own headphone volume which doesn’t affect the tone/overdrive from your amp, that’s probably better. The line out probably won’t have any such thing, and in many cases you end up having to turn knobs that you’d rather not just to get the level down and then it sounds stupid because the amp isn’t set to sound good.

Do either of these outputs have speaker emulation built in? Without it, it’s not going to sound anything like what you’re used to. You can add that kind of thing in the computer, of course.

But the built in soundcard on your machine is not likely to give you very good latency numbers for monitoring, which is probably going to be the worst part of the whole thing. There will be a noticeable delay which will make it nearly unplayable anyway.
 
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