Dumb monitoring question

Headphone outs are amplified and are not "line level." You "can" do anything you want. Cheers.

Yes, I'm still using the onboard sound chip. (Oh the shame!!) Running a cable from the back that I can get to easily isn't exactly my problem. The problem is disconnecting the regular speakers and then connecting the monitors when I need to use them. Right now in order to do that, I'll have to move all the stuff from around the tower and then turn it around to get at the speaker jack. Then do it all again when I disconnect everything and plug the regular speakers back in. Like I said, it's in a tight spot currently and kind of a pain to get at that way. It would be much easier to leave everything the way it is now and just use the front jacks when I want to use the Tascam's. But if it's going to hurt something, I'd rather not risk my new toys. Since the headphone sounds like it is probably amp'd according to yep, I suppose I'll be alright if I just turn the Windows Mixer (there isn't a separate headphone volume control anywhere) down far enough before I connect? I know the "right" answer is to get a proper audio interface and not use the cheap onboard sound at all, but that requires another piece of gear and will therefore have to wait for a bit longer. In the meantime I just want a workaround that is not going to ruin my new gear. I was mainly looking for either a "eh, give it a try" or an "OMG DON'T DO THAT!! It'll ruin everything!" Thanks for the replies.

Give it a try.Volumes down to start with and there should be no problems :)

Sell your kids......problems solved and spare cash for new shiny equipment.

I do something similar. I bought a little adapter that is for 2 people to plug headphones into the same mp3 player to listen. I use it to easily plug and unplug from a convenient area on the desk.

Four sets of inputs, three speaker outputs, headphone jack. Works very well. Cheap, too.