Hi
So I'm a total newbie, only ever plugged my guitar into an amp until a few days ago when I got an AXE I/O and the Amplitube 5 Max bundle, having gone all in on IK. Since then I've been ripping my non-existent hair out to try and be able to listen to everything via my Windows 10 computer's speakers, or my Jabra USB headset, and to be able to jam along to songs on Spotify or YouTube.
I've finally found out what to do after trying all sorts of stuff, and I'm just posting this in case it's useful for any other newbies. This will save you downloading ASIO4ALL or Virtual Audio Cables, although you will need Voicemeeter.
The key to it, I've worked out, is to give up on listening to output via your computer. You need to listen via (in my case) the AXE I/O or presumably your Focusrite or whatever interface you have. Once you have achieved serenity in this regard then life gets easier. Doing anything else introduces (or did for me) horrible latency and made me want to just go back to plugging into an amp.
So here's how I did it. First, forget using anything else inside Amplitube 5 than the AXE I/O ASIO. You don't need it. Basically you can stay away from the settings inside Amplitube 5.
Second, make sure the monitor dial on your AXE I/O is turned all the way to DAW unless you want to hear the unprocessed signal as well.
Third, download Voicemeeter Banana (easy to find and loads of tutorials on it). You're only going to use a bit of what it does, but that's fine. Maybe you'll get into podcasting and stuff as well.
In Voicemeeter's Hardware Input 1, look for 'WDM: Line In 1/2 (3 - IK Multimedia AXE I/O) and set that. No need to muck around with any of the channel settings at this point.
In the Hardware Out section on the right hand side of Voicemeeter, set output A1 to 'AXE IO ASIO'. For me it was right at the bottom of a verrrrry long list. Don't be tempted to do dual outputs or anything; that will introduce the horrible latency, or it did for me.
Finally, in the sound settings on your PC, check that the playback device is set to Voicemeeter Aux Input (VB Audio Voicemeeter AUX VAIO).
Now plug your guitar in, and get a YouTube video or something playing. You should see input bars flickering on Hardware Input 1 and the AUX Virtual Input on Voicemeeter. On both those channels, press A1 to route your audio out back to the AXE I/O. You can control the level in the Master Section on the lower right hand side, and obviously this is a sort of virtual mixing desk so you can change the mix of the two sources at the same time too.
Plug your headphones (sorry no Bluetooth) or monitor speakers into the AXE I/O and you should be happily jamming along from there. I get zero latency and a pretty perfect experience. I'd rather be able to have my speakers plugged into the PC than the AXE I/O but whatever, and I dug out a pair of wired headphones from the back of the cupboard that work fine for late night stuff. You do need an adapter for the larger size of jack though, if you haven't already worked it out.
This won't do anything for being able to play YouTube and Spotify together or anything more complex like that, and it isn't a totally perfect solution. But it does work for jamming with the streaming service of your choice, or music from within the browser like Musicgurus, or Guitar Pro.
Anyway, sorry if everyone else knows this but I searched long and hard to work out what to do, and with Amplitube 5 being new there wasn't that much help available. Suffice it to say I no longer regret my purchase and am now happily staying up far too late playing with 80s thrash presets.
