Will this work to play bass with PC?
 

Howdy ya'll, I'm new here and just got a bass guitar for Christmas. I've done some searching around the internet and I know ya'll get this question a lot, but I wanted help with playing my bass along with my PC. The thing is my bass didn't come with an amp and I'm reluctant to buy one as I live in a dorm. From what I gathered looking at other peoples posts, they just asked without seeming to look into the matter themselves, which seemed to lead to many different answers. So, I thought I'd make it easier on ya'll if I just described my proposed setup and you could tell me if it'll work or not.
Could I use this mixer (http://www.amazon.com/Behringer-502-...ehringer+mixer) to directly connect my bass and hear it through my headphones (AKG k240 studios)? Then connect my PC sound card (Asus Xonar DG) to the CD/Tape input on the mixer and also have it play through the headphones. And lastly, could I connect the mixer's output the amp for my bookshelf speakers and use that sort as an amp for when I wouldn't be disturbing anyone?

Keeping things simple here....

Yes.

Yes.

Yes. It probably won't have the best tone on the planet but it will work. ;)

Just be sure you have all the right cables and adapters! (1/4" cable for bass to mixer, RCA to 1/8" for PC to mixer, and probably another RCA to 1/8" to run the tape out to the amplifier.)

If you have the right cables and adapters, you can do all of that. I would be careful of bookshelf speakers pushing bass, though. They're not made to take instrument level, especially bass, and you'll have to watch yourself to keep from blowing them, unless you have a really super pair of bookshelf speakers.

on another note, that particular mixer is available used all day every day for anywhere from 5 to 20 bucks on guitar center. the bookshelf speakers would work better run off the mixer than straight from the bass. you'd have a little better luck keeping the low end rolled back, too.

and with a little more of a budget, you could find a similar mixer with usb output.

there's a "nady mm-14fx" for 9.99, #108471715. way fewer features than a full on mixer, but cheap and should work.

Thanks christw for the quick response. I've definitely got all the cables and adapters already just lying around from other audio stuff.

JimmyM, I'll make sure to watch out now. I'll probably play through my headphones 99% of the time anyways, but thanks for the heads up.

basscooker, I'll be sure to check out Guitar Center then. You just saved me $20. Thanks

If your bass is passive, you will lose a little top end due to the low input impedance of the mixer.

Get yourself a mini USB mixer
Works both analog and USB
http://www.sweetwater.com/store/detail/X302USB/
Other brands also.

Pay attention to the passive note by dincz

I practice in hotel rooms a lot. I have RealTek HD Audio Manager in my laptop. It lets you set the lows to several different bottoms; from 40 Hz up to 400 Hz. If you are playing along with Itune downloads, it will allow you to speed the track up or slow it down. Has a lot of 'room sounds' but they won't help through headphones. You don't need expensive phones - anything $40 and up will sound fine if you set the bass correctly. Bass adaptor is from R Shack, which you can find just about anywhere.