+ Why won't my SD card work with my TourBus?

Recently, a number of JamHub TourBus studios were shipped with incompatible SD cards. TourBus studios work with any SanDisk SD card up to 64GB, including the popular SanDisk Ultra and Extreme cards. If your TourBus will not format the card it was shipped with, please contact us at info@JamHub.com for a free replacement.

+ Can I use a JamHub studio with acoustic drums?

Yes! In fact, things still sound clear and controlled. Just hang a mic or two above the drum kit and plug that into the JamHub. Or, use a small mixer and three mics to create a great stereo drum sound. We recommend a mic above the snare, a mic above the toms and a kick drum mic. Pan the two area mics left and right, put the kick down the middle and send the stereo mix into one of the JamHub sections. Because the drums don’t need to compete with amps the sound quality is great.

+ Will a JamHub studio make acoustic drums quiet?

No. You’ll still have to deal with loud drums, but the overall rehearsal volume can be lower if there isn’t a loud bass amp, loud guitar amp(s), a loud keyboard amp and a loud PA competing with one another in the room. And, if you rehearse this way, you’ll hear it all better.

+ Can I use an acoustic guitar?

Absolutely! Acoustic guitars without pickups: Put a microphone in front of the guitar and plug the microphone into a mic input on the JamHub studio.

Acoustic guitars with pickups: If you want to go direct, get a mono-to-stereo jack and plug it into the guitar end of your stereo cable. You might find that with one of the new "for acoustics" Direct Inject (DI) boxes or floor pedals, that you like the sound and control of the acoustic better. There are a lot of engineering reasons for using one (impedance matching is the biggest of them), that’s why DI boxes are used by the pros. If you’re going to play an acoustic, you’re going to need a DI box someday.

+ What instruments will not work with a JamHub studio?

We haven't found any! Some companies have dedicated their existence to creating instruments that can be played anywhere and anytime… one even has an electronic accordion line (not just one model, but an entire line of them!). Horn players can use silent practice inserts and cases to quiet horns and create a headphone signal that you can send to your JamHub. Guitars, bass, drums, hand percussion, keyboards, accordions, wind instruments, even a thermine will work! Just look for a headphone jack on the gear and you’re ready to start jamming quietly with your JamHub studio.

+ Any tips for new users?

Here are our top tips to prep you for your first jam:

• Use good TRS (Stereo) cables and plug the cable going from the JamHub instrument input jack directly into the headphone output jack on your modeling amp, keyboard or drums.
• Use headphone extensions so you can move around as much as you want.
• Use good headphones for good listening. The JamHub is acoustically transparent. If your headphones lack quality, the JamHub won’t make the headphones sound better.
• Get each player to pick up a microphone, even if they don’t sing. Once you put on the headphones and enter the silent rehearsal studio environment, you can’t hear the outside world very well. It’s easier to communicate if everyone has a mic and you can hear each other in the headphones.
• Guitarist, a modeling amp with a foot pedal allows you to control the volume of your sound so you can turn up for leads. Make sure you’re not clipping the preamp (check the Trim LED for red) at max volume or it will sound distorted. Keyboard players, use your instrument’s volume control to do the same.
• Turn down any trim controls of unused sections to minimize outside electromagnetic noise.

+ Why no EQ?

A JamHub studio is not designed to alter your sound, but to distribute it and give you more control over what you want to hear. Create the best possible sound before sending your signal to the JamHub, then use the JamHub to share it with your band mates.

+ What file type does TourBus record?

The JamHub TourBus records a stereo WAV file in CD quality.

+ I only hear my instrument in one ear, why?

The JamHub is a stereo listening environment so your JamHub’s ¼″ instrument inputs are stereo inputs. They use stereo connectors, also called TRS connectors where T (tip) = left, R (ring) = right and S (sleeve) = ground. Standard mono instrument cables use TS connectors where T (tip) = signal and S (sleeve) = ground. When a mono cable is connected to a stereo input, the tip from the mono cable gets to the tip (left) of the stereo input, but the mono cable isn’t sending anything to the ring (right) side. This could be why you’re only hearing it in the left earpiece.

Most devices that we envisioned being connected to JamHubs’ instrument inputs (amp modelers, keyboards, e-drums, etc.) have stereo headphone outputs. These can be quickly and easily connected to JamHub stereo inputs with a stereo cable (TRS male on both ends). We offer our own accessory Stereo Connection 5-pack for this very purpose.

However, if you do have a mono signal, your JamHub comes with ’mono-to-stereo‘ adapter(s) (one with Bedroom, two with GreenRoom and TourBus). The adapter basically turns a mono cable into a stereo ’dual mono‘ cable so that you can hear your signal on both the left and right sides. This works well for connecting instruments like electric bass, acoustic/electric guitar or any mono instrument that sounds good on its own when plugged in directly.

+ Where can I buy more mono/stereo adapters?

Additional JamHub mono-to-stereo adapters are available on our JamHub Store. However, if you are interested in listening to your sources in stereo and don’t know how — tell us the makes & models of the gear that you’re connecting, we’d be glad to reply with more specific recommendations and options for getting it all connected. Feel free to drop us an email at info@JamHub.com, we’re happy to help.

+ Can I connect my guitar amp directly to a JamHub studio?

…through the Speaker out? No. You should not connect your amp’s speaker output jack to anything other than a speaker or other device that can handle a speaker-level signal. Connecting it directly to a JamHub input will quickly cause serious damage to your JamHub and will also void your warranty. This can also cause irreparable damage to your guitar amp. This is true even if your guitar amp is a tiny ‘1 Watt’ tube amp.

…through the Line out? It is possible to connect your JamHub from the ‘line out’ jack on your amp, however we do not recommend this because most guitar amps’ line outputs don’t mute the amp’s speaker or disengage its circuitry. Amps can suffer damage from running without a speaker (or at least a ‘dummy load’) connected.

The sound from an amp’s line output jack is often very different from what you’re used to hearing from that amp’s speaker. Unless it’s a ‘speaker emulating’ line output, most guitarists describe it as comparatively ‘harsh’ or ‘thin-sounding’.

The line outputs from most amps usually carry a mono signal. When connecting to a JamHub’s stereo instrument input, use an included mono-to-stereo adapter to get the signal into both sides of the headphones.

…through the Headphone out? Some guitar amps have direct, speaker-simulated headphone outputs that mute’ the amp’s speaker when engaged and sound very good into headphone systems. Those without speaker-emulated outputs tend to sound bright/harsh/tinny compared to the way they sound through the amp’s speaker.

We recommend that the best, easiest and most versatile way to get great, ‘silent’ electric guitar tone with a JamHub is to use an amp modeler like a POD, Boss, DigiTech, ToneLab, Zoom, etc… We’ve tried them all and they’re all great in their own different ways. Feed the stereo headphone output from any of these into any JamHub stereo instrument input and you’re ROCKIN’ ALL NIGHT!

+ Can I mic an amp?

You can mic your amp into any of the JamHub’s XLR mic inputs. Dramatic variations in the guitar tone can be achieved by experimenting with where the mic is placed relative to the amp’s speaker.

+ Can I connect my guitar and stomp boxes direclty?

A guitarist can connect ‘stomp box’ type effects pedals directly to a JamHub. If the last box in the chain has a mono output, you’ll want to use an included mono-to-stereo adapter to get the mono signal into both sides of the JamHub stereo input.

For electric guitars, we recommend using an amp modeler (i.e. Line 6 POD, etc.) because they include simulations of the ‘amp’ and ‘speaker’ components of guitar tone, as well as lots of built-in effects. Most users find that using only basic stomp boxes with no built-in ‘amp’ and/or ‘speaker’ emulation will result in harsh and thin-sounding guitar tone. Acoustic/electric guitars can go in directly (using an included mono-to-stereo adapter), or through a stereo effects processor.

+ Is the USB output stereo or multitrack?

The USB output carries the stereo mix that you create at the JamHub’s ‘R’ section. It works really well for capturing song ideas, making demos, critically listening to the band’s (and student’s) performance, etc. We considered this however the challenge can down to pricing for you. JamHub models with USB (GreenRoom & TourBus) have 21 audio inputs with a stereo instrument input & a mic input on each section X 7 sections which would have significantly increased the price for everyone.

However, by connecting the Tracker MT16 (cable included) to one of the display ports out, you can record separate stereo .WAV tracks for each section (JamHub Bedroom with 5 sections, and the Greenroom/TourBus with 7 sections).

+ Can I use a JamHub as a monitor mixer for live performances?

Many of our customers are using their JamHubs for live performance monitoring with in-ears, etc., by splitting their sources to feed the JamHub and the PA independently. To watch a demo, go to: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jAE51pjdzFc.

+ Do SoleMix remotes add inputs?

Each SoleMix remote adds an additional headphone mix, but does not add additional instrument or mic inputs.

The SoleMix remote has a headphone output and can access all sections (1 through R) on the JamHub. Unlike those JamHub sections though, remotes don’t have inputs. It might help to think of them as ‘remote listening stations’. Our original intent for them was to allow musicians whose access to the JamHub is blocked by their gear (drummers, keyboardists, etc.) to create and adjust their mix from where they are playing.

With SoleMix remotes connected to all four ports, a GreenRoom or TourBus is capable of creating 11 unique mixes from whatever sources are connected to the JamHub’s seven input sections. A BedRoom with a SoleMix remote connected to its single remote port is capable of creating 6 unique mixes from whatever sources are connected to the JamHub’s five input sections.

+ Why can't I hear the built-in effects on instruments?

We decided to leave the effects off of the instrument inputs, as the sources that we envisioned being connected there (e-drums, amp modelers, keyboards, etc.) generally have their own effects built-in. The JamHub’s built-in effects are fed equally by all of the XLR mic inputs. How much or little of the chosen effect that any section hears is controlled by each section’s FX knob, which acts as that section’s individual ‘effects return’. There is no FX Master send or return knob.

Think of the FX on the XLR microphone inputs as the virtual rehearsal ‘room’ you are sharing with your bandmates. You can dial in how the room sounds by changing the FX type, and how ‘big’ the room is by adding more or less of the effect.