spacecowboy Posted August 10, 2021 Share Posted August 10, 2021 Hi guys, Slight technical question ahead... my drummer has built an incredible sound proof drum room in his back garden pretty much a studio it's huge, we want to put his Roland TDK kit in there and my bass amp and then we want to jam with headphones using loops and samples on his Macbook pro; before I go spending money, does this look right to everyone here? If my bass and his drums went to a stereo mixer and then the output from the mixer went in to a DAW on the mac (so we can record too should a good idea land) then have an output channel on the DAW which feeds from the mac in to a stereo headphone amplifier then I and he have a pair of headphones each from that amp, can we can play with no latency and hear the whole mix, live drums, bass and samples from the DAW? Would this in theory work? Or have I completely made that more hassle than it needs to be? Opinions, experience and advice greatly appreciated. Thanks, Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Crawford13 Posted August 10, 2021 Share Posted August 10, 2021 (edited) This would work, I would probably just take a DI out of your amp and not use the cab, given he is using an electric kit. Also no real need for a mixer, as long as you have an audio interface with 2 inputs your DAW could be the mixer. Also if your interface has more than 2 outputs you could technically ditch the headphone amp, and set up different sends from your DAW and both control your own mix straight from the DAW. Edited August 10, 2021 by Crawford13 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dad3353 Posted August 10, 2021 Share Posted August 10, 2021 16 minutes ago, spacecowboy said: ...Slight technical question ahead... All that would work, but there may be simplifications. I would assume that the drummer has monitors for himself..? Or does he only ever play with headphones..? Sound levels are not an issue for me, so I never play my e-drums with headphones; it's so much better, and more comfortable with a pair of monitors. If he does the same, then I'd ditch the headphones altogether, for jamming, and just play through your amp and his monitors. No need to go stupidly loud; you both have control over the volume in the studio. A feed into the DAW works, of course, so recording is no problem, and playing back through a headphone mixer is fine, too (although he could route the mixed playback through his monitors, too, and listen in comfort...). If there are no monitors, I'd recommend taking the headphone feed from the mini-mixer (no latency, and just simpler...). Again, DAW playback could also be routed into the mixer, and thus into the 'phones. Your diagram would work; I'd do it slightly differently, but the idea is valid. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bartelby Posted August 10, 2021 Share Posted August 10, 2021 (edited) Focusrite 8i6 would be a good interface. Bass into one of the front inputs, 2 line ins from the drums (if he wants stereo) on the back. it even has 2 headphone outs Use the DAW as the mixer... Edited August 10, 2021 by bartelby Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ped Posted August 10, 2021 Share Posted August 10, 2021 Yup, avoid those headphone splitters too as they’re quite noisy. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nail Soup Posted August 10, 2021 Share Posted August 10, 2021 I think there is some redundancy in your set up and you could do it more simply. I think the main options have already been mentioned above …. I would follow one of those. Good luck with the jam, hope you get what you want from it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
spacecowboy Posted August 10, 2021 Author Share Posted August 10, 2021 Guys, Thank you all so much for your advice, thanks for taking me through it. The Focusrite 8i6 sounds like it would tick all boxes here? I'll have a good dive in to that as I also wanted an audio interface in my house for my bass too. Thanks! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ped Posted August 10, 2021 Share Posted August 10, 2021 Yep that would be perfect. I also jam with my band though headphones and have tried loads of bodges to get it to work. Last time we used a Jamhub which was great, but I’m replacing that with a Zoom L8 which will do everything in one, including recording. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
spacecowboy Posted August 10, 2021 Author Share Posted August 10, 2021 21 minutes ago, ped said: Yep that would be perfect. I also jam with my band though headphones and have tried loads of bodges to get it to work. Last time we used a Jamhub which was great, but I’m replacing that with a Zoom L8 which will do everything in one, including recording. Oh now that sounds very interesting! Another thing to look up! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
spacecowboy Posted August 10, 2021 Author Share Posted August 10, 2021 Wow yeah that L-8 looks fantastic! Need more funds! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ped Posted August 10, 2021 Share Posted August 10, 2021 21 minutes ago, spacecowboy said: Wow yeah that L-8 looks fantastic! Need more funds! Runs on batteries too!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sammybee Posted August 10, 2021 Share Posted August 10, 2021 Even simpler solution. You could get away without any audio interface..... route DI from your bass, DI from his Drums, and the line out from the MacBook into the mixer. As you have a soundproof room, why on earth would you use headphones? Take the output from the mixer into his Drum Monitors, and voila! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ped Posted August 10, 2021 Share Posted August 10, 2021 1 minute ago, sammybee said: Even simpler solution. You could get away without any audio interface..... route DI from your bass, DI from his Drums, and the line out from the MacBook into the mixer. As you have a soundproof room, why on earth would you use headphones? Take the output from the mixer into his Drum Monitors, and voila! Jamming through headphones with digital drums is amazing. You get a properly ‘produced’ stereo sound and can get the levels perfect. I find it a really comfortable way to jam, especially with a physical feedback device like a Bassboard or Backbeat. I actually prefer it to a ‘loud’ jam with big amps and acoustic drums tbh. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sammybee Posted August 10, 2021 Share Posted August 10, 2021 1 minute ago, ped said: Jamming through headphones with digital drums is amazing. You get a properly ‘produced’ stereo sound and can get the levels perfect. I find it a really comfortable way to jam, especially with a physical feedback device like a Bassboard or Backbeat. I actually prefer it to a ‘loud’ jam with big amps and acoustic drums tbh. Makes the 'incredible sound proof room' a bit redundant though I was thinking as the OP (or his drummer) had gone to the trouble and expense of building it, then play in it using headphones a bit daft. Unless of course they live under Heathrow flight path and are trying to keep the sound out rather than in! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
spacecowboy Posted August 10, 2021 Author Share Posted August 10, 2021 Yeah a little bit more context is he'll play his acoustic kit by himself in the room and that's what the sound proofing is for, for me and him we're combining some learning we're both doing and sometimes that'll be done later at night and we're both happier saving our ears at that point as well as staying on our neighbours good sides as @ped says the sound quality through the headphones is brilliant and it's not going to leave me with any ringing in the ears! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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