can I plug headphones in and out while interface is on?

G

gene12586

Member
Hi all,

Very dumb question, but I thought I'd ask. I'm playing guitar and singing, feeding that into my audio interface, and feeding the output of the interface into my computer and DAW. I have only one pair of headphones and so what I've been doing is plugging headphones into audio interface and monitoring through the headphones... Then as soon as I'm done with the live monitoring and want to fiddle with the recording in DAW, I unplug the headphones, then plug into my computer.... and then when I'm done with that I unplug from computer and plug back into interface to play some more live and monitor through headphones. For the plugging and unplugging of the headphones back and forth between interface and computer, I've been doing it while both the interface and computer are still powered on. Is there any risk of doing this (i.e., could I damage something)? Would it be wiser to turn off both interface and computer every time I want to unplug headphones from one device and plug into the other? I assume I can do it while everything is powered on, but I thought I'd ask just to be sure because it's worrying me.

Thanks,

Gene
 
Hy Gene (I bet you get that A LOT!) Not a dumb question at all. There is no danger in 'hot plugging' headphones or any other 'small signal' connections in most audio setups. There are however a few caveats. Keep final volume controls to speakers and cans to minimum whilst re plugin to avoid pops. These are VERY unlikely to damage modern speakers etc but can be annoying and is easily avoided. Be especially careful when swapping mics with phantom power switched on.

Some ten years or so ago we were strongly advised to power down EVERYTHING before making/changing connections (who here remembers the 'Fussywire' hot swapping disaster?) Gear has improved greatly now and you can plug in and out with pretty much gay abandon (I always did anyway and never had a problem) just remember to keep final volumes shut.

The main exceptions are, power amplifiers, only connect their outputs to specified loads, never any inputs. Do not connect phantom power to anything that should not receive it i.e. JUST microphones and P powered kit such as inline pre amps. N.B. dynamic mics are fine on 48V. Ribbons I would be wary of but I have never seen a documented case of damage and the BBC had 48V present on all their XLRs and the Coles 4038s (slurp!) lived on!

Dave.
 
ecc83 said:
Hy Gene (I bet you get that A LOT!) Not a dumb question at all. There is no danger in 'hot plugging' headphones or any other 'small signal' connections in most audio setups. There are however a few caveats. Keep final volume controls to speakers and cans to minimum whilst re plugin to avoid pops. These are VERY unlikely to damage modern speakers etc but can be annoying and is easily avoided. Be especially careful when swapping mics with phantom power switched on.

Some ten years or so ago we were strongly advised to power down EVERYTHING before making/changing connections (who here remembers the 'Fussywire' hot swapping disaster?) Gear has improved greatly now and you can plug in and out with pretty much gay abandon (I always did anyway and never had a problem) just remember to keep final volumes shut.

The main exceptions are, power amplifiers, only connect their outputs to specified loads, never any inputs. Do not connect phantom power to anything that should not receive it i.e. JUST microphones and P powered kit such as inline pre amps. N.B. dynamic mics are fine on 48V. Ribbons I would be wary of but I have never seen a documented case of damage and the BBC had 48V present on all their XLRs and the Coles 4038s (slurp!) lived on!

Dave.
Click to expand...
Hi Dave,

Thanks a bunch for your response.
I'm a little confused about what you're saying about "fussywire".... So my interface is a motu896mk3 hybrid and I use the firewire port on it... but I have a new imac, and I use a chain of adapters to plug the interface into the thunderbolt port on my imac. So can I still plug headphones in and out of interface and computer without worry?.... Or should I not do that because I'm using the firewire port on my interface?

Thanks,

Gene
 
gene12586 said:
Hi Dave,

Thanks a bunch for your response.
I'm a little confused about what you're saying about "fussywire".... So my interface is a motu896mk3 hybrid and I use the firewire port on it... but I have a new imac, and I use a chain of adapters to plug the interface into the thunderbolt port on my imac. So can I still plug headphones in and out of interface and computer without worry?.... Or should I not do that because I'm using the firewire port on my interface?

Thanks,

Gene
Click to expand...
Sorry mate! Fire Wire. My name for it because it was big problem in the audio world a few years ago. Only certain chipsets would work properly (or at all!) with certain AIs and, as said, there was a 'hot plugging' problem. Some folks even managed to get the plugs in the wrong way around! That is all but impossible with USB. I don't have TB on anything but did have a phone that was USB C and I liked the reversible connector on that. Pretty robust plug as well.

And yes, you can plug your cans into any HP jack you like, any time. I think FWire is pretty foolproof these days but check the relevant manuals.

Dave.
 
You can’t hurt anything plugging headphones in and out. It’s a good idea to turn the headphone knob down before plugging them in, but only because you can’t be sure how loud it’s suddenly going to get.

But why are you doing this at all?!? You’re already plugged into the interface. Monitor your mixes through your interface. They’re basically already plugged into your computer, why do you think you need to change holes?
 
ecc83 said:
Sorry mate! Fire Wire. My name for it because it was big problem in the audio world a few years ago. Only certain chipsets would work properly (or at all!) with certain AIs and, as said, there was a 'hot plugging' problem. Some folks even managed to get the plugs in the wrong way around! That is all but impossible with USB. I don't have TB on anything but did have a phone that was USB C and I liked the reversible connector on that. Pretty robust plug as well.

And yes, you can plug your cans into any HP jack you like, any time. I think FWire is pretty foolproof these days but check the relevant manuals.

Dave.
Click to expand...
Thanks!
 
ashcat_lt said:
You can’t hurt anything plugging headphones in and out. It’s a good idea to turn the headphone knob down before plugging them in, but only because you can’t be sure how loud it’s suddenly going to get.

But why are you doing this at all?!? You’re already plugged into the interface. Monitor your mixes through your interface. They’re basically already plugged into your computer, why do you think you need to change holes?
Click to expand...
Hey ashcat,

I tried to think of some legit reason to reduce the cognitive dissonance I'm feeling about this... but I'll just tell the truth: it's because sometimes I do really dumb things and then keep doing them...

Thanks man,

G
 
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