Headphone Amps

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I guess this might not get much traffic.

Does anyone have any experience with different headphone amps?

Currently I've got a Presonus HP4, I have no complaints though for practicality reasons I'd prefer something rackmount one day - not really a priority though.

But I've never actually stopped to compare different headphone amps for sound quality.

So has anyone here got any experience with different headphone amps and did you find it made a big difference?  My interface is a Clarett 8PreX, I don't have any issues with the headphone outs on it, but there are only 2 and I sometimes need 3 or 4, and sometimes I want to switch between pairs at matched volumes (but this requires different volume settings due to impedance and sensitivity).  

I've got no reference for how different the HP4 would be to any other headphone amp.  I'm not unhappy with it, just curious really.
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  • There's the cheap ART/Behringer models, which will do the job, but will tend to distort or crap out if you push them too hard. I suspect the Presonus would be in that category too. And there's more expensive studio ones which are designed to drive high-impedance phones. I have a DACS Headlite which will fry your head at 100 paces -- they come up second hand quite often and aren't expensive.
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  • spark240spark240 Frets: 2073
    I use the HP6, seems fine and rack mount, nothing mind blowing though.


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  • Danny1969Danny1969 Frets: 10356
    I've designed quite a few headphone amps, in general a cheap headphone amp is basically an opamp which will drive phones of relatively high impedance and high sensitivity to an Ok-ish  level without sounding too bad but driving high quality headphones of low impedence and lesser sensitivity will quickly show the drawbacks in this approach. 

    Generally for a clean output into a low ish impedance load (32R or less )  you need good current driving capability and some decent caps. In general you will notice the bass response of the cheap headphone amps is poor in terms of clarity and roundness and if you push a cheap headphone amp it will start to distort before your ears do. I've never used anything with a decent headphone amp, it tends to be an after thought on most bits of gear. 
    www.2020studios.co.uk 
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  • To be honest I don't need that much power.

    I tend to listen fairly quietly most of the time, and I've got a pair of Vic Firth Drummer headphones if I ever need a lot of isolation (and they don't sound good anyway).

    The main reason I've looked at rackmount headphone amps is to regain some desk space, my HP4 sits on my desk behind my keyboard and currently that means I don't have space to leave a MIDI keyboard set up permanently (it's a small desk).  But I figured it was worth asking about quality in case I'm missing out on anything.
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  • ricorico Frets: 1220
    Probably way off the mark but I have a Cambridge Audio DacMagic XS that I use. It's tiny and sounds pretty damn good to me.
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  • @guitarfishbay A bit late to this, but what are you using the headphones for? 

    If it's just to hear the other tracks whilst you're recording the next track, then I'm not sure it's worth chasing sound quality too much as long as you can hear what you're playing along with. My audio interface is the PreSonus AudioBox iTwo. It only has one headphone output for monitoring. I use the Behringer cheap headphone amp (with Lidl headphones that cost £6/pair) when I'm recording a couple of people at the same time and they both need to hear the previously recorded tracks as well. Not great quality but it gets the job done. 

    Listening to music on a MacBook is pretty decent using the iTwo as the DAC and headphone amp, but I recently bought an Oppo HA2-SE for general listening to music on an iDevice, and that blows the iTwo out of the water for listening pleasure. The iTwo, in turn, was a big step up from the DAC and amplifier inside the MacBook itself. The Oppo is about the same size as an iPhone 5, BTW, so pretty small. 
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  • I've just bought a Fiio A3. Dead good for the money - using with my iPhone and B&W P7s. Sounds great. 
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  • Buy a rack tray and mount it on there 
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  • Buy a rack tray and mount it on there 
    My rack angles backwards, a tray with it sat on top won't help. I'm not aware or any rack kits for just one HP4, plus that puts the power cable in an even worse position than the rear mount on the rack unit. 

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  • guitarfishbay A bit late to this, but what are you using the headphones for? 

    If it's just to hear the other tracks whilst you're recording the next track, then I'm not sure it's worth chasing sound quality too much as long as you can hear what you're playing along with. My audio interface is the PreSonus AudioBox iTwo. It only has one headphone output for monitoring. I use the Behringer cheap headphone amp (with Lidl headphones that cost £6/pair) when I'm recording a couple of people at the same time and they both need to hear the previously recorded tracks as well. Not great quality but it gets the job done. 

    Listening to music on a MacBook is pretty decent using the iTwo as the DAC and headphone amp, but I recently bought an Oppo HA2-SE for general listening to music on an iDevice, and that blows the iTwo out of the water for listening pleasure. The iTwo, in turn, was a big step up from the DAC and amplifier inside the MacBook itself. The Oppo is about the same size as an iPhone 5, BTW, so pretty small. 
    So basically I have two pairs of sets of headphones. I'm recording an album of my band's stuff, most of the time it's me and the singer switching between recording and being recorded.

    Pair 1 are closed back for tracking vocals/acoustic, pair 2 are open back for tracking instruments DI... I try to keep the volumes always around the same so I have each on their own output.

    I do have monitors but I find I just prefer always tracking on headphones, it's easier to tell if The takes are tight L vs R etc. Might seem OTT but it's what works for me. I way prefer using the open headphones but the bleed can be a bit of an issue for vocals or acoustic.

    I have a really small desk and right now can only fit a mini 2 octave keyboard on there, which isn't ideal. If I move to a rack headphone setup I can get a 49 key controller on the desk, just about.
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  • I've just bought a Fiio A3. Dead good for the money - using with my iPhone and B&W P7s. Sounds great. 
    Oh man those headphones are nice. Had a listen to them 3 times over the past month... checking out headphones in John Lewis was much more exciting than picking a new bed. I'd love a pair, I think they're probably the best closed headphones I've heard. Not cheap though!
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  • Seems like I should be fine with the Presonus rack unit to be honest. The sound of the HP4 is fine for my purposes I just didn't want to get the HP60 if there was something considerably better and similarly practical
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  • I've just bought a Fiio A3. Dead good for the money - using with my iPhone and B&W P7s. Sounds great. 
    Oh man those headphones are nice. Had a listen to them 3 times over the past month... checking out headphones in John Lewis was much more exciting than picking a new bed. I'd love a pair, I think they're probably the best closed headphones I've heard. Not cheap though!
    I love them so much though. Appreciate them every single day. Worst thing is, there's definitely a bit of me that wants the P9s! 
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  • I didn't even know there were P9s!

    I'm scared to look up the price
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  • I didn't even know there were P9s!

    I'm scared to look up the price
    They're new. They're so expensive. I want to hear them. They're not as nice looking, but at over twice the price of the P7s, they must be pretty special. 
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  • I didn't even know there were P9s!

    I'm scared to look up the price
    They're new. They're so expensive. I want to hear them. They're not as nice looking, but at over twice the price of the P7s, they must be pretty special. 

    Yeah I agree, I prefer the black to the brown, though they do look very comfy.  I took my glasses with me (I only need them for using the computer) hoping the P7s wouldn't be comfy with them on, since I don't really like my M50x's with my glasses due to the way they sit on my ear.... annnd the B&W's were super comfy.  I just can't justify the cost right now.

    However - the existence of the P9s now means I can legitimately say 'What's that dear?  Oh these new things?  Yeah they're just the mid range headphone this company do, no need for concern....'
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  • I didn't even know there were P9s!

    I'm scared to look up the price
    They're new. They're so expensive. I want to hear them. They're not as nice looking, but at over twice the price of the P7s, they must be pretty special. 

    Yeah I agree, I prefer the black to the brown, though they do look very comfy.  I took my glasses with me (I only need them for using the computer) hoping the P7s wouldn't be comfy with them on, since I don't really like my M50x's with my glasses due to the way they sit on my ear.... annnd the B&W's were super comfy.  I just can't justify the cost right now.

    However - the existence of the P9s now means I can legitimately say 'What's that dear?  Oh these new things?  Yeah they're just the mid range headphone this company do, no need for concern....'
    Hahaha! Genius. Sign up to B&W - they do the odd sale from time to time. Having owned them for about a year, I'd happily pay the money again - absolutely love them. Tried both these and the sennheiser Momentums and there was no contest for me. 
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  • guitarfishbay A bit late to this, but what are you using the headphones for? 

    If it's just to hear the other tracks whilst you're recording the next track, then I'm not sure it's worth chasing sound quality too much as long as you can hear what you're playing along with. My audio interface is the PreSonus AudioBox iTwo. It only has one headphone output for monitoring. I use the Behringer cheap headphone amp (with Lidl headphones that cost £6/pair) when I'm recording a couple of people at the same time and they both need to hear the previously recorded tracks as well. Not great quality but it gets the job done. 

    Listening to music on a MacBook is pretty decent using the iTwo as the DAC and headphone amp, but I recently bought an Oppo HA2-SE for general listening to music on an iDevice, and that blows the iTwo out of the water for listening pleasure. The iTwo, in turn, was a big step up from the DAC and amplifier inside the MacBook itself. The Oppo is about the same size as an iPhone 5, BTW, so pretty small. 
    So basically I have two pairs of sets of headphones. I'm recording an album of my band's stuff, most of the time it's me and the singer switching between recording and being recorded.

    Pair 1 are closed back for tracking vocals/acoustic, pair 2 are open back for tracking instruments DI... I try to keep the volumes always around the same so I have each on their own output.

    I do have monitors but I find I just prefer always tracking on headphones, it's easier to tell if The takes are tight L vs R etc. Might seem OTT but it's what works for me. I way prefer using the open headphones but the bleed can be a bit of an issue for vocals or acoustic.

    I have a really small desk and right now can only fit a mini 2 octave keyboard on there, which isn't ideal. If I move to a rack headphone setup I can get a 49 key controller on the desk, just about.
    OK - I've got the iTwo on my desk and I go straight from the headphone output into Sennheiser HD280 Pro headphones (closed back) when working by myself. If I need more monitoring capability, I run a TSR cable from its headphone output onto the floor, near to where my two recording musicians are, where I have a Behringer HA400 (which I'm sure isn't as good as the HP4 you use) and plug them into the Lidl headphones. Works fine for tracking. Cable length (mine is 5m) doesn't seem to be an issue. Wouldn't want to mix through this, though. 

    I prefer to track using headphones even when no mics are involved, too. 

    So, I'd probably just do the same with the HP4 and regain some desk space, putting it into a cupboard out of the way at other times. 
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  • Anyway, back on topic. This cost me the princely sum of £37. It's really very good indeed. 

    http://i.imgur.com/0vtVFEu.jpg

    Try and find a bad review. Fiio A3 - worth a punt. 
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