Multiple Headphones in a mixer?

  • Thread starter Thread starter Fariz
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Fariz

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Hey, how do i put in Multiple Headphones in a mixer? do i need somekind of external hub? if yes what is it called?
 
You need a separate stand alone unit. They're called Headphone amps, I have this one I got through MusiciansFriend, ART headphone package That particular one was great for me, I just needed a unit so I could let everyone have a sound reference and of course needed some extra headphones. The headphones aren't the greatest, but they're fine for just reference headphones and not mixing.
 
That company also makes smaller numbers of outputs, such as 4 - I was just looking at one in a shop.

I'd advise you get the unit and buy decent headphones separately...
 
The kind of headphone amp you buy will also depend on your needs--will everyone share the same mix, and you only need separate volume controls, or might you need a differnet mix in different phones? If you need differnet mixes, you'll need a headphone amp with an Aux input for each channel.

And just FYI, be careful if you buy a Behringer HA4700. I recently bought a used one on Ebay, and it had a terrible hum on all of the outputs, even with all the levels turned down and nothing connected to the inputs!! Apparently this is a common problem reported with these units. I tried a ground lift adapter, which helped, but the hum was still really loud. Spend a few extra bucks and get a Samson S Phone or the ART unit mentioned above. I bought the Samson after sending back the Behringer, and I'm happy as could be with it. And I'm not a Behringer basher--I own and use a lot of their gear every day, but I got burned on the headphone amp.
 
jakelauer said:
You could just go the cheap route and use a splitter.
Click to expand...

But you really need high impedance headphones with a splitter.

The impedance reduces as you plug more in.

Two 600 Ohm headphones = 300 Ohms
Four 600 Ohm headphones = 150 Ohms
Eight 600 Ohm headphones = 75 Ohms

If you start off with low impedance headphones you will present an extremely low impedance to the headphone amp. which won't like it.
 
Get a headphone preamp. They're cheap, relatively. My Presonus HP4 is probably on the costly side. Samson Q5 and other options. Headroom bithead / airhead and other things can also work depending on what you need. Splitters can work if you only need to add ONE output and you have plenty of signal to split.

If you need separate mixes (beyond just adjusting volume), then those aren't cheap. Many of the headphone preamps have monitor pass through so you can daisy chain several of them for dozens of outputs. You'll spend more on cables and headphones than the preamps IMO. Not to mention 1/4" to 1/8" adapters depending on which headphones.
 
I was checking out the Presonus HP4 online, and I was wondering how you hook it up to your mixer. I see all 4 headphone jacks in the front of the unit, and on the back I see left and right in and left and right out. Do you just go from the headphone jack on your mixer to either the left or right input on the back of the HP4? Shadow 7, maybe you or one of the other guys can help me on this one.
Thanks,
Fiddleeio
 
On the cheap, 1/8" (3.5mm) to RCA and some RCA to TS adapters. But generally speaking they take 1/4" TRS inputs, one for Left and one for Right. And passes through to the studio monitors with the other two connectors. The HP4 attenuates the monitors output, which is why I got it. Plus the mute and mono buttons so when the phone rings I'm not jumping over things and putting my head through speaker cones trying to flip the power switch. While killing my hearing being that close to 225W monitors (x2).
 
Thank you for the help Shadow_7, I just ordered one of those units with a 1/4" Y cable (stereo jack to two mono jacks). This is a great site. Hopefully after I hang here for a while I'll get some of this stuff halfway figured out.

Fiddleeio
 
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I guess I should add that the HP4 is NOT that great of a headphone preamp. If you need to really drive some speakers, it's kind of weak. I got it mainly for the monitor attenuation, versus having a chain of multiple devices and costly + space hogging cables to go with them. K.I.S.S. If you need JUST a headphone preamp, there are far better units. Even my Samson Q5 sounds better than the HP4 if you need to drive several headphones (or cheap PC speakers) with any gusto. Which I picked up used since it looked like it might take six months to get an HP4 new and other headaches with that order at that time. I've tried selling it used but no one wants a beat up headphone preamp for $20 when they can get a new one for $50. And I can't blame them, with the price of gas, it costs $10 to drive somewhere to sell something worth only $10.
 
Can't remember the model numbers, but last summer's rock n roll summer camp saw us using a Behringer and a Rane. Not long after the start of the first camp session, when we needed only one, it was... the Behringer! It was just easier to use (yeah, I know, how complicated can a headphone amp be? Well, it was like this: when you are keeping dozens of plates spinning, whatever you can do to make the process easier, you do.) No noise in either unit, and frankly, neither are what you would think of as really pro-quality gear- but they got the job done.
 
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