Headphone amp?

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chestwick91

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I need a headphone amp that i can plug at least three sources in to (three amps) I don't care if its a rack unit (19inch) or if its a unit that sits on my desk. I am new to the headphone amp so don't know much about them, but all the ones i see are only able to plug in one or two stereo inputs...any ideas
thanks guys
 
I use the Symetrix 304 in my studio. It only takes one input. It does sound fairly nice however.

There is a discontinued Symetrix model (1U full rack space unit) that allows independent operation of each headphone channel if you want. I can't think of the model number at present. You might go to eBay and punch in "Symetrix" and "headphone" and see what comes up.

P.S. Here's the link to the PDF sheet... http://www.symetrixaudio.com/repository/506Edata.pdf
 
I just bought a nice non-rack unit made by Rolls; I think the model # is RA53b. Under $90 from Music123, accepts five headphones using either 1/8 or 1/4" jacks, and has multiple connection options to accept signals - 1/4" mono or stereo plugs, XLR, or RCA. It provides plenty of power, and is working out well so far. The only drawback I can see is that it has no on/off switch - if it's plugged in, it's on. I have it plugged in to a power strip with its own on/off switch, so that's not much of an inconvenience.
 
I use a Beri Powerplay Headphone amp...it's great! I know people don't like beri stuff, but it's not in the signal chain, and the quality of sound isn't imperitive...it's the cheapest and most versatile my local store had.

Jacob
 
jkokura said:
I use a Beri Powerplay Headphone amp...it's great! I know people don't like beri stuff, but it's not in the signal chain, and the quality of sound isn't imperitive...it's the cheapest and most versatile my local store had.

Jacob
Click to expand...
How much did it cost you, how many channels and how long have you had it.
What do you NOT like about it?

Im think about getting one myself.
 
BitchyKitty said:
How much did it cost you, how many channels and how long have you had it.
What do you NOT like about it?

Im think about getting one myself.
Click to expand...
About 100 Canadian, 4 channels (3 outs per channel - total of 12 headphone possibilities) and I've had it for about 8 mos. The only think I'd change about it is related to how I use it for my monitors not my headphones. I use the outs of my 1010 to go to the ins of the headphone amp. From there I use the main outs to go to my monitors - but there's no volume control for that! I can control the volume for the headphones, but not the main outs... I might have it set up wrong but that's the only thing I'd change. I might be able to change it DIY style though...

jacob
 
Sometimes you have to redefine a problem to be able to find a solution.

My questions are:
what are the sources you want to be able to add to a headphone mix?
from where do they originate?
do you want to listen to them simulaneously?

My other question is:
are you asking the headphone amp to do something that mixers are designed for (i.e. combining multiple sources)?

There are many ways of configuring listening paths.

Here is something you can try:

Draw a map of your signal paths and where you would like to be able to intercept them (i.e. to monitor them). This can often help to improve the layout and wiring of your equipment, and can help to untangle some of the difficulties you experience.

Having said that, The Beri headphone amp is a versatile unit, and great value for the price. It (the four channel headphone amp at least) will accept a stereo pair as main, can add another stereo pair across all the headphone outputs, and can accept a different stereo signal in each of the channels.

If you have a need to run monitors, you can take this from the main stereo send. Alternatively, if you want to control monitor level, you can use one of the headphone channels and its control for this purpose.

Some people send their mixer mains to the monitor, feeding recorded output via a couple of spare channels on the desk. Others (including me) send their control room outs to the monitoring path, feeding recorded output into the two-track input on the desk and switching this to control room out. Yet others have the monitoring system quite separate from the mixer, instead going straight from recording device into it. All are fine, and all have their particular benefits.
 
I pretty much agree with the Gecko!
(You can have your pie and chips for free :D )
A mixer with 4 sub-groups and/or 4 or more monitor sends might also help.
 
I bought the 8 channel berhi. Gives you phone out on the front and back for every channel. I plugged two phones into the 8 channel, one front one back and both worked so I'm guessing you could run 16 sets of phones if that's needed. The sound isn't great, but I refuse to put headphones on my head so it doesn't really bother me and the musicians generally don't care since half their car stereos are comprised of tapedecks pumping 20 watts into the lone speaker in the car, which of course is the driver side dash tweeter.
 
I have two of the Oz audio units, they sound great and take an input into each channel, switchable to the main input, and have two outs per channel.
 
GmanJeff said:
I just bought a nice non-rack unit made by Rolls; I think the model # is RA53b.
Click to expand...
The Rolls RA53B is fine until you actually try to drive four or five sets of relatively low impedance headphones with it, then the sound turns to pure distortion. It sounds great driving one or two pairs, though. I'd stay away from Rolls unless you can test the unit with all (at once) of the kinds of headphones that you may eventually combine.

Many inexpensive headphone amps have problems like this. Interestingly, the four-channel Behringer 4700 is designed to deal specifically with low impedance phones (like the Sony 7506s) without turning to crap. First time I've ever made a Behringer recommendation! :)

Unfortunately, the other Behringers don't fare as well.
 
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If you need three sources going to one set of headphones, that's called a mixer.
 
Presonus HP4, 99 buck, works great for me, also has main monitor mute button which really comes in handy. Best to use balance cables for a clean signal and plenty of gain for this box.
 
chestwick91 said:
I need a headphone amp that i can plug at least three sources in to (three amps) I don't care if its a rack unit (19inch) or if its a unit that sits on my desk. I am new to the headphone amp so don't know much about them, but all the ones i see are only able to plug in one or two stereo inputs...any ideas
thanks guys
Click to expand...
Hi chestwick91...
Behringer single space rack mount headphone amps come in 4 and 8 channel configurations for $110 and $140 respectively, are quiet and can handle a couple sources, or individual inputs, on each channel. They can sum the master signal to mono.

We use them in a small production studio, and they have held up for 7 years without issue. Bear bones, effective, economical.
 
Let me reiterate what I said above: Watch out for the mix of headphones that you may encounter. Each pair of headphones that you add to the amp lowers the total impedance seen by the unit, and some headphones have lower impedance than others. Make sure that whatever unit you choose can handle the minimum impedance that you may present to it.

Some of these units will tell you what impedance they can handle, others won't. If there's no spec for it, be suspicious! The Rolls unit that I tried failed completely in this area. And the various Behringer units have very different characteristics. The HA4700 can handle a combined impedance as low as 8 ohms, which should get along with pretty much any combinations of headphones on the market, so the 4700 is a pretty safe choice. The HA8000, on the other hand, will only go as low as 100 ohms. It would be quite easy to violate this limit with a few pairs of Sonys or other low impedance phones. And the Amp800 doesn't even give a spec, so I'd expect the worst.

I don't know what the specs are on some of the other units on the market, but be sure you look into it before you buy. You could find a unit that seems fine until one of your clients brings along a pair of phones that you hadn't expected, and suddenly your nice clean headphone signal turns to mush.

That's exactly what happened to me with the Rolls unit. It sounded great until I actually went to use it in a session. So there I was, embarassed that I couldn't provide a clean headphone mix to four or five sets of phones. The result was NOT subtle.
 
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