Headphone Amp - Headphone recommendations for FM3 (No Headphone Jack)

Richi Vizsla

Richi Vizsla

New Member
Hey guys, so I currently have one of the 1st gen FM3s without the headphone jack.
Not that big on audio and the stuff out there so I'm looking for a fairly simple setup.

I was thinking about the Beyerdynamic DT 990 Pro and the M Audio Airhub as the headphone amp.
Would this suffice?
 
Hi, I have version 1 of the FM3 with no headphone out as well.
This is just my setup and can advise it works no problem. I go from the Output 1 of the FM3 to a Big Knob Passive Monitor Controller.
Output 1 of the Big knob goes to a pair of Yamaha HS8 monitors. Output 2 goes to a Behringer P2 In-Ear Monitor Amplifier connected to a pair of Sony MDR-7506 headphones.
The Big knob unit means I can switch between its two outputs in an instant (without having to configure any of the outputs in the FM3) and the volume control on the Big knob just makes life super easy.
 
I go from the Output 1 of my FM3 into my Cranbourne N22H headphone amp which has those combo XLR-1/4" inputs
 
Richi Vizsla said:
Hey guys, so I currently have one of the 1st gen FM3s without the headphone jack.
Not that big on audio and the stuff out there so I'm looking for a fairly simple setup.

I was thinking about the Beyerdynamic DT 990 Pro and the M Audio Airhub as the headphone amp.
Would this suffice?
Click to expand...
You just need any old school headphone amp... not a USB hub. Just get one of these:

https://www.sweetwater.com/store/detail/HA400--behringer-microamp-ha400-4-ch-headphone-amplifier
 
I connect to a Focusrite Scarlett 8i6 (I'm sure there are even cheaper versions) and plug my headphones in to that. I use DT880pro 250ohm which sound pretty good with the FM3.
 
I use a small Yamaha mixer that also acts as a USB interface. I like being able to mix the stereo signal alongside the computer audio with lots of knobs to control levels for those as well as monitors and headphones. You can use a regular mixer or even just a cheap headphone amp, but this replaced a lot of devices on my desk.

AG03-large.jpg



For headphones, I own a bunch and have used a bunch more. I just got a set of the Rode NTH-100 headphones and am very impressed. Most of the headphones I have tried have somewhat scooped midrange and boosted bass and/or treble which sucks for playing guitar. You want lots of midrange and relaxed bass/treble so it's not as fatiguing. The Rode headphones are exactly that: flat midrange with relaxed bass and treble, plus they are closed backs to block string noise which is a bonus compared to the Sennheiser HD600 style headphones that are widely recommended. And they're only $150 which is a good value.


NTH100-large.jpg
 
I use the Schiit Magnius. I like that it has stereo XLR I/O. I have it inserted it between my Axe-FX and my studio monitors and use out 1 for both headphones and monitors. I also like that it has a very low output impedance (less than 0.1 Ohms) so it plays well with my IEMs which are 6 Ohms.

The things I don't like: it produces a pop when it is powered up, so I have to turn on my monitors / plug in my headphones after it is powered on. It cost $200 which is a non-trivial amount of money.

Overall I would recommend it if you plan to use low impedance headphones.
 
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