Hum from stereo Y-cable in Record/Phones jack to mixer

My landlord paid a visit Sunday morning to complain about the volume. Ok, so I got a big carried away but the amp sounded soooo good! He told me not to use that amp without headphones under any circumstances. I was a bit traumatized by this new zero-tolerance policy, and couldn't even look at the amp until last night when I plugged the F-50's RECORD/PHONES jack into my little Behringer mixer and AKG K141 Studio headphones. That sounded a lot better than I remembered with just headphones, but only with a MONO cable.

With a 1/4" stereo Y-cable connecting the F-50 to the mixer, all I got was hum. I never had any problems with headphones plugged in directly, and the cable I used was fine a few days ago. I haven't verified whether the cable went bad or not, but does anyone know if a ground loop also a possibility?

Yes a ground loop is possible as the sleeve in your amp is gounded and the sleeve on your mixer is grounded. Most people use a mono 1/4 jack from the record out to the mixer as it really is not a stereo output.

I've used an Ebtech HE-2 for years for ground loop problems. Ground loops are almost guaranteed when running stereo amps or effects.

- Pat

Cheers, shytfaycse. I'll stick to mono cables for mixers.