Expert: Steven L Smith - 1/17/2008

Question
I have a 12 channel 4 bus mixing desk (Soundcraft Spirit M12) which i'm using to do small studio recordings, theres a soundproof booth with a window i'm using as a control room/vocal booth and the main room with a drum kit in.

I'm trying to set up a headphone foldback system for all band members across the two rooms, so I decided to use one of the Aux busses with a headphone splitter/amp..however..it seems that the aux output is mono.. therefore only the left headphone works..

Is there any way to convert the mono output to TRS stereo?   

The only other thing i can think of is using a y cable and 2 aux busses to make it stereo..but this  seems a waste of an output when i could use it for something else.. plus it would mean i would have to turn two volume controls at the same time for left/right..

Or if there's any other way round it?

Thanks,

Luke Taylor

Answer
Luke-

I had this same problem a few years back, and I managed to solve it for about $1.49!

All you need is an adaptor from Radio Shack or someplace like that to take (I assume) 1/4" mono phone plug and convert it to a 1/4" stereo phone plug.  If you have basic soldering skills, you could even make one yourself. Essentially what you're doing is making a short between the tip and the ring to drive both sides of the headphones with one bridged mono signal, but you're doing it with an adaptor and not with an actual short circuit.

I've never dealt with this company before, but something like the first item on this page (http://www.ceitron.com/audio/aadapt.html) might do the trick. Then, depending on the gender of your plugs, you might need something like the coupler on that page.

Hope this helps!

-Steve