Tube Headphone amps?

  • Thread starter Thread starter gcapel
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gcapel

gcapel

boom box recordings
Anyone had experince with any tube headphone amps? Like the the little dot.
Is there mojo?
 
In a headphone amp?????? What possible "mojo" could there be?
 
Oh... I don't know maybe clarity?

That's why i'm asking

I wasn't looking for questions.
 
gcapel said:
Anyone had experince with any tube headphone amps? Like the the little dot.
Is there mojo?
Click to expand...
There's a better chance of harmonic distortion... maybe pleasing for recreational listening... but nothing could be worse for accurate monitoring
 
Well, it is certainly possible to have a very clean accurate tube amp (witness the Pendulum preamp and the GT MP1 preamp -- or any number of audiophile amps and preamps), but I don't know that I would want to invest the money to get there for a head phone amp. Buy a Rane or an OZ and be done with it.
 
Track Rat is a spineless coward that can't sign his name when he gives neg. rep. to someone who is asking a question. Get a life!
 
I think it is warranted based on your usage and the headphones you want to drive. I don't think there would be a purpose to driving monitoring cans in your tracking room with a high end preamp of any sort. I have a pair of HD650's that I use for critical listening and editing and most importantly- enjoyment. They are pretty high impedance and need good amplification to realize their full potential. I drive them with an Antique Sound Labs tube-based headphone amp. They are pretty well matched to the amp and both the detail and low end response are better than when I run them off my mixer or my cheap headphone splitter-amp. If you are using your cans for a pure listening experience or like a microscope to hear some detail that gets lost in a room environment, then spend the money to complete the chain, regardless of whether it is tube based or not. My 650's don't come out of the box when tracking (for their safety), and I generally mix on monitors. Personally I would probably spend the cash to upgrade the headphones themselves before I spent money on a nice headphone amp. But once you get there it makes sense to drive them with the right amp. I wouldn't bother if I only used head phones for tracking or if my headphones cost less than a nice headphone amp in the first place. To answer you first question, is there an objective point to having a tube amp vs. a non-tube amp specifically for headphones? I have no idea really. Just like with mic preamps, there are so many choices at so many price/quality levels, that you really can't make broad generalizations about which is better. I have the nicest amp that made sense in my budget for my application. Hope some of this is helpful.
 
lancebug said:
I think it is warranted based on your usage and the headphones you want to drive. I don't think there would be a purpose to driving monitoring cans in your tracking room with a high end preamp of any sort. I have a pair of HD650's that I use for critical listening and editing and most importantly- enjoyment. They are pretty high impedance and need good amplification to realize their full potential. I drive them with an Antique Sound Labs tube-based headphone amp. They are pretty well matched to the amp and both the detail and low end response are better than when I run them off my mixer or my cheap headphone splitter-amp. If you are using your cans for a pure listening experience or like a microscope to hear some detail that gets lost in a room environment, then spend the money to complete the chain, regardless of whether it is tube based or not. My 650's don't come out of the box when tracking (for their safety), and I generally mix on monitors. Personally I would probably spend the cash to upgrade the headphones themselves before I spent money on a nice headphone amp. But once you get there it makes sense to drive them with the right amp. I wouldn't bother if I only used head phones for tracking or if my headphones cost less than a nice headphone amp in the first place. To answer you first question, is there an objective point to having a tube amp vs. a non-tube amp specifically for headphones? I have no idea really. Just like with mic preamps, there are so many choices at so many price/quality levels, that you really can't make broad generalizations about which is better. I have the nicest amp that made sense in my budget for my application. Hope some of this is helpful.
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1)I will only be tracking
2)I have a pair of akg k240, and k171

After yours and other advice it does not look worth while for me (tube headphone amp).

Could you recomend sir a good set of tracking cans?

I think I'm going to go with a Rane HC 6 for a headphone amp. I like the individual bus mixes for each channel.

Lancebug man thanks, your very knowledgeable of these things it looks like.
 
gcapel said:
Track Rat is a spineless coward that can't sign his name when he gives neg. rep. to someone who is asking a question. Get a life!
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Check your rep Einstein. I'll be waiting for the retraction.
 
A couple of points

1) No, any tube hp amps that would be worthy would be outrageously expensive, and just for tracking would be like wiping up a spill with a cashmere sweater.

2) What instrument(s) are you tracking? The recommendation for tracking drums would be different than for tracking vocals, and that, depending on whose opinion you go by, would be different than for tracking guitar. Also, is it just you, who will take good care of them, you and your band buds, or a procession of total strangers who will trash and/or try to steal them?

Everyone has their own favorites, so you probably will just have to pick some for yourself. Sony 7506's have a very good rep and are very widely used, to the point I would call them a studio standard. I don't like them. Fostex T-40's are also quite common, especially for vocalists. Not very good isolation, though. I'm sure others will weigh in on the AKG's and AT's, Extreme Isolations for drums, and Harvey's MoreMe's if people are likely to abuse them. I'll look up my AT model #. They're pretty good (that's why I picked them), though I wish they had better isolation.

3) Of the people I would listen to on this board, Track Rat is pretty high up there. He gives no-nonsense, straight up advice. Just so you know.
 
You can go as whacky on headphone amps as you want. I personally like the Symetrix. It's somewhat reasonably price and sounds fairly decent.

Of the studios I go into that own a high end headphone amp, which normally sits near the mix desk, it's almost always a Grace.
 
Track Rat said:
Check your rep Einstein. I'll be waiting for the retraction.
Click to expand...

I stand corrected. Rat isn't the rat. Sorry man. Garrett
 
MOFO Pro said:
There's a better chance of harmonic distortion... maybe pleasing for recreational listening... but nothing could be worse for accurate monitoring
Click to expand...

Who could possibly be worried about "accurate monitoring" with a headphone amp? :confused: :confused: :confused:
 
I guess it depends on what you're using it for.

I can see wanting accurate to check detail, especially if you're monitoring setup is kinda crappy. If you're trying to use them in lieu of monitors, forget it.

If you're talking about tracking, I can't imagine wanting a tube can amp for that. It just doesn't make any sense to me.

If you're talking about audiophile listening, to sit back and enjoy, that's a different story. That's out of my league, though. Maybe someday.
 
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