What i'm trying to do is mix in pc, mic, and tv then mix out headphones and 2.1 speakers. Ideally, i will be able to properly drive an expensive set of headphones for primarly gaming. I currently run a 1/8" trs from tv to soundcard, but also have toslink and rca outs to work with. The sound card outputs to 1/8" trs that is split to speakers and headphones.
After much research, i came up with this:
tv <------------------- rca --->| |<--------- 1/4" trs----> expensive headphones
| |
| mini mon |
| behringer mon800 |
| |
asus xonar <------- rca ---->| |<---------- rca to 1/8" trs -----> 2.1 speakers
^
|
mic in
So my trouble is that i have no idea if this will work. I've never used any real audio equipment before. Will it mix both in and out like i think? Also, will this degrade quality to the headphones by running it through the mixer like that? That would defeat the whole purpose. As i understand it, this should actually amp the headphones twice, and i know i don't necessarily want to amp a reduced snr.
The xonar doesn't support more than one line in, so i need the hardware mixer. Alternatively, i could use a creative fatality hd, especially if it's better for gaming (?). I would lose hardware mixer volume control but gain the input mixing software. However, will it mix output if headphones are plugged in along with speakers using the 1/8" trs to rca? Or do the speakers cut out when headphones are plugged in like my tv? A switch could be ok, but i'm not going to climb behind my computer every time and unplug the jack.
Or, am i just completely off base and there is a better/simpler way? There seems to be so many options that i hesitate to spend money on any of them.
thanks
reference:
behring mini mon mon800 http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000MJ40D2/ref=ox_sc_act_title_1?ie=UTF8&m=ATVPDKIKX0DER
xonar essence stx http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16829132010
creative fatality hd http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16829102033
