rogonzab
304 posts
Jun 02, 2013
3:14 PM
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HI,
Today I put an mp3 player on my tube amp (Laney Cub 10), using a adapter in order to converter a mini jack to the normal jack size.
The sound was great! a litle compresed, but way better than my current computer speakers, great bass.
It is this behavior bad to the amp, or bad to the tubes, or bad to the speaker?
I guess that if I turn the volume way up is going to put extra stress on the speaker, right?
If my memory serve me right, a few weeks ago a similar thread was open, but I cant find that thread.
Thxs!
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SuperBee
1177 posts
Jun 02, 2013
3:19 PM
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I've done this quite a bit. I can't imagine why it might be bad news for the amp. I don't see the difference in principal with plugging a device into a ss amp. I do that nearly every day, to play backing tracks for practice, or just to listen to music while I work on the house.
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Rubes
706 posts
Jun 02, 2013
3:37 PM
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I think ultimately there are a few impedance issues....but if it sounds ok well what the heck! Just not too loud.. ( I run an iPod into my Champs lo gain input, works for me! )
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One of Rubes's bands, DadsinSpace-MySpace
Old Man Rubes at Reverbnation
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tookatooka
3331 posts
Jun 02, 2013
4:11 PM
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I run my phone MP3 output into the Aux socket of my Roland MicroCube without any problems.
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Rick Davis
1871 posts
Jun 02, 2013
4:33 PM
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It won't hurt your amp. Lot's of players do this to break in new speakers in their amps.
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-Rick Davis
The Blues Harp Amps Blog
The Mile High Blues Society
Tip Jar
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puri
92 posts
Jun 03, 2013
6:34 PM
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Me & my friend do that to break in the amp, speaker & new tubes every time we get new thing installed.
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didjcripey
553 posts
Jun 04, 2013
12:07 AM
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@ Rubes: I may be mistaken, but I believe that the output from anything like a MP3 player is line level, which is Hi Z, so no mismatch
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Lucky Lester
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Rubes
708 posts
Jun 04, 2013
2:04 AM
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Ahhhhhhhhhh Lester I think you may be right! :~}
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One of Rubes's bands, DadsinSpace-MySpace
Old Man Rubes at Reverbnation
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Frank
2478 posts
Jun 04, 2013
3:10 AM
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The info below is from Amp Expert Skip Simmons posted over at bluesharmonica.com
Most two-channel amps will work amazingly well as a way to play along with pre-recorded music. With the right adapter, a computer, CD player, Ipod. etc. will sound pretty good when plugged in to the same input as a guitar or mic would use. Use the lowest-gain input if you have a choice.
Of course, your harp mic will be plugged in to the other channel, and you will be able to mix the volume to match the music.
Sure, it's a compromise, but it really sounds like you are "in the band" when its all coming out of the same speaker. Try it!
Skip Simmons
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kudzurunner
4108 posts
Jun 04, 2013
4:06 AM
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The main issue, as I've experienced it, is mono vs. stereo. Remember: when you plug a harp mic into an amp, it's a mono mic! The amp's 1/4" input is mono, obviously. But when you run a cord from a CD player (which is what I've used) or mp3 player, a 1/8"-to-1/4" male/male cord, each end of that cord will be either mono or stereo. (Stereo ends have more bands than mono ends.) Radio Shack sells cables with both sorts of ends: mono/mono, stereo/stereo, and, possibly, stereo/mono. And I'm honestly not sure which is optimal, although I'm quite sure that at least one of those cables is sub-optimal and will give you just one of the two channels--either the left or the right channel.
In other words, if you use the wrong sort of cable, you may only get half to two-thirds of the mix, depending on how much stereo separation the mix contained. If the harp is only in the left channel, you may find yourself listening to a harp track with almost no harp in it.
Can somebody with expertise clarify this? I assume that what I want is a cord in which the 1/4" end is mono, so that the L and R channel are summed, but I'm not sure whether the 1/8" end (the iPod end) should be stereo or mono. I'm not sure whether it's even possible to get a stereo-to-mono cable, but I believe that's probably optimal.
Last Edited by kudzurunner on Jun 04, 2013 4:09 AM
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lumpy wafflesquirt
721 posts
Jun 04, 2013
9:41 AM
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my street cube is stereo and has a stereo MP3 aux input.
and still has two more channels to use.
:^)
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"Come on Brackett let's get changed"
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Rick Davis
1882 posts
Jun 04, 2013
2:04 PM
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I use a cable with 1/4 phone plug on one end (for the amp) and 1/8 phone plug on the other (for the iPod), both mono. It picks up both channels and blends them.
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-Rick Davis
The Blues Harp Amps Blog
The Mile High Blues Society
Tip Jar
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messy ventura
73 posts
Jun 05, 2013
7:55 AM
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Ah ha. Now I know why Jeff Beck's guitar solo(s) track was missing from the Truth CD I was running through my amp. So Radio shack can solve this ?
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5F6H
1626 posts
Jun 05, 2013
8:32 AM
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There are 2 things to be aware of, neither is a serious problem, or going to blow anything up:
#1 As Adam says, you can lose a channel if plugging a stereo jack plug into a mono jack socket, some mixes have some instruments in the L but not in the R & vice versa (Chess did this a fair bit in the mid 60's). A 2 channel amp, or ensuring the L&R are summed before the amp's input, a mono 1/4 jack Y splitter will do the job (RCA to 1/4" jack adaptors are handy). Even then, you can hit problem #2...
#2 the "OOPs effect". Some recorded tracks in a multi-track recording can be out of phase with each other, so when you sum the L&R an instrument/voice/group buss can be largely cancelled out, or at least reduced in volume (like Carey Bell's harp on Buster Benton's Spider in my Stew CD). You can check for this by listening & comparing via headphones.
Otherwise, listening to CDs/mp3 via an amp is a perfectly feasible idea...I do it ALL the time, you'd be amazed how good music can sound through a tweed bassman (L in one channel, R in the other). A comfortable, indoors, listening level for recorded music will typically be far less than if you were playing an instrument through the amp, maybe a W or two? Even with a relatively low gain, hi-z tube amp, it's often easier to take he signal from a players headphone out (usually have a level control), than from the stereo RCA outs in terms of dialling in.
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Last Edited by 5F6H on Jun 05, 2013 8:38 AM
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kudzurunner
4110 posts
Jun 05, 2013
9:20 AM
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The most common situation in which I play CDs or mp3s through an amp is when I'm playing the streets and am on break. It's a great thing to play some blues on the "amp stereo" as you're setting up, or as you go on break.
Greg Heumann might be surprised to know that the default CD in my street CD player is his DURACOOL. I just love that first song, "Treat Me Like the Dog I Am."
https://itunes.apple.com/us/album/duracool/id343874731
Last Edited by kudzurunner on Jun 05, 2013 9:22 AM
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blueswannabe
204 posts
Jun 05, 2013
7:32 PM
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I used my iPod with an adapter - small jack to 3/4 jack and let the iPod play my blues playlist for 9 hours at a moderate but loud level while I was working to break in new amp speakers. I think the adapter was mono. I had no issues. I used this technique a couple of times. I m careful not to crank the volume too high so as not to blow the speaker.
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