Headphones and Headphone Amp Question

deftim13

deftim13

Inspired
I recently picked up a pair of Beyerdynamic 880 Pro (250ohm) and am loving the sound with the Axe Fx. Only issue I am having is the volume is pretty low even with the Axe FX cranked. I have been looking at buying an Amplifier for the headphones so I can not only use them with the Axe FX but also my computer for playback of recordings. After looking through a few options I thought about getting a rack mount unit and possibly connecting my Axe FX into it and also possible a MP3 player and mixing the two so I can play along to tracks. One, is this possible to do and if so, what connectors would I need. Also, if I connect the Axe to one of these amps will it color the Axe Fx sound at all? I am looking at the ART HeadAmp6 or Behringer HA8000 as options because they are in my price range. Are there maybe any other options as well?
 
This is doable with the ART Headamp, not with the Behringer unfortunately. The ART allows you to have a main input (AxeFX stereo) and then a single jack stereo aux input (cd player, ipod, ect..) per headphone output, and then it has a blend knob on the front panel. the Behringer only lets you select on input or the other.

In order to do it this way you just need an insert cable to use the stereo aux input on the ART. Something like this will work depending on the output jack on your cd player/mp3 player: Hosa CMP-153 - 3', 3.5mm TRS to Dual 1/4" TS Stereo Breakout | Sweetwater.com

But before you do that, have you tried just adding more level in the patch? Putting anything in between the axe fx and headphone will color the sound to some degree, sometimes more than others. And low end headphone amps like these can be somewhat unreliable in the long run.
 
toolfanem said:
This is doable with the ART Headamp, not with the Behringer unfortunately. The ART allows you to have a main input (AxeFX stereo) and then a single jack stereo aux input (cd player, ipod, ect..) per headphone output, and then it has a blend knob on the front panel. the Behringer only lets you select on input or the other.

In order to do it this way you just need an insert cable to use the stereo aux input on the ART. Something like this will work depending on the output jack on your cd player/mp3 player: Hosa CMP-153 - 3', 3.5mm TRS to Dual 1/4" TS Stereo Breakout | Sweetwater.com

But before you do that, have you tried just adding more level in the patch? Putting anything in between the axe fx and headphone will color the sound to some degree, sometimes more than others. And low end headphone amps like these can be somewhat unreliable in the long run.
Click to expand...

I have tried adding more level. Unfortunately each time I increase the level anywhere ( cab, amp or global) it clips the output and the red light comes on every time I play. Thanks for the quick reply. I will go with the ART and if it doesn't work I may just go with the 770 with the 80ohm rating instead.
 
Hmm, are you using any filtering in the patch, cutting any low end? I ask because some people end up not getting the volume they want out of headphones because lots of low end sounds great in headphones and so it ends up getting boosted a lot and that eats up a TON of your headroom. Obviously you don't want to alter your sound to much, but you want to try a high pass filter at 80-100hz and see it its still red lining.
 
If your levels are high enough in the patch you can get more than enough volume out of the Beyers. I usually run my Output 1 between 5-10 on the dial, and if I set it at 10 my ears are usually ringing afterward.

I usually ride my patch levels pretty close to output clipping with enough headroom to balance between cleans and dirt.
 
I decided to go with the ART HeadAmp6. Gives me the option to run a balanced signal into the back of it from my Axe FX and run my headphones off of it plus plug an iPod into it and blend in the signal to play along with. One question I have is can I use the balanced main thru on the back of the ART and connect it to my RCF monitor with a balanced connector? That way I can play thru that or headphones depending on what time of day it is. Not sure if that would hurt the AXE FX or my RCF in any way by basically daisy chaining them together. Hope that makes sense...

Here is the manual with reference to the back panel:

http://artproaudio.com/downloads/owners_manuals/om_headamp6pro.pdf
 
Hate to ask again but is it possible to use the balanced XLR out of the Headamp6 and feed my RCF FRFR? It is a pass thru so you can daisy chain another HeadAmp but I want to use it to feed my RCF. I am looking to be able to not have to connect and disconnect my cables if I want to play thru headphones or RCF. The XLR out on the HeadAmp6 is parallel ( not sure what that means) so would I just connect it to the left out like I do on my Axe Fx and hook it up to my monitor?
 
deftim13 said:
Hate to ask again but is it possible to use the balanced XLR out of the Headamp6 and feed my RCF FRFR? It is a pass thru so you can daisy chain another HeadAmp but I want to use it to feed my RCF. I am looking to be able to not have to connect and disconnect my cables if I want to play thru headphones or RCF. The XLR out on the HeadAmp6 is parallel ( not sure what that means) so would I just connect it to the left out like I do on my Axe Fx and hook it up to my monitor?
Click to expand...
You should be fine...
 
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