Running headphones from the speaker outputs

I've just moved into a new house which appears to have paper thin walls and now need to spend some of my hard earned cash on a headphone setup.

I've spotted this on studio spares web site and wondered if there were any drawbacks in using something like this instead of a dedicated headphone amp?

The headphones I have at the moment are a pair of Beyer DT770's. So nothing too high end.

Any feedback would be appreciated.

 

Quite a reasonable little box,and a good fill-in for the one that QED used to produce.

If you intend to upgrade your headphones at some stage,then a dedicated h/p amp is very worthwhile,but one of these will certainly work for the lower price brackets.

The cheapest h/p amps start around £50 and decent ones from about £100 with the Creek being one of the cheapest decent ones.
Used Musical Fidelity h/p amps can be found for around this level also,and after that,the prices rise rapidly.

 

There are headphone amps available for the same money, like this for instance:

http://www.bkelec.com/HiFi/Amps/headphone.htm

No idea if it's any good mind. Is it likely that something like this would have lower distortion than taking the signal via an unnecessary power amp though?

 

Not neccessarily,as any h/p amp obviously has it's own(small) power amps inside,and those are just as susceptible to poor design etc.

The Cmoy,from which the Bk is derived,was a good design,and I would expect it to offer good value for money,but it won't have the sound quality of some admittedly more expensive designs.

 

True, but the task is presumably considerably easier at headphone amp levels, but then we are talking a MUCH cheaper component too I'm sure!

 

True as far as the Cmoy and equivalents are concerned,although some of the selected BurrBrown opamps are expensive in low volumes.

At headphone amp levels,the problems arise from things like poor quality volume control pots,hiss levels and just poor choice of components etc.
The better(also expensive!) amps such as the Earmax/Headroom/etc etc are superb,but the cost rises almost exponentially!

 

The idea was to upgrade the headphones soon, but I've been told to get the morgage under control first so it wouldn't be for a while.

My hope was that as the headphone unit was connected to a half decent amp, I'd be getting a better output than using a budget headphone amp.

I suppose I should stop being lazy/tight and find a system I'd be happy with in the long run.

 

Thats certainly a point worth considering in the long run,but the mortgage is another!

If you wanted a good H/p system,you could easily put one together for a few hundred pounds,incl the amp and 'phones,and if your amp is decent,you could also consider used Stax phones,which although not always the prettiest,have superb sound quality,and can be run from the preouts if fitted.

A good beginning(!) would be a pair of Sennheiser(or Beyers) at aorund the £100 mark,and something like a used/exdem MF X-Cans or Creek h/p amp to go with it.

 

If you don't mind spending a fair bit - Ergo headphones give an amazing sound - the AMTs can be had 2nd hand for 250 / 300 or so and sound vastly better than some speakers costing the same amount!!

 

The cheapest Stax (including 'Energiser' so no need for a headphone amp) cost about £350. A lot cheaper than I thought and they sounded great. I think these would sound better than any speakers costing twice as much and below.

 

I'd be interested in listening to a pair of Stax, are they suited to a particular type of music or good for a wide range?

I managed to get a listen to a pair of sennheiser HD650's at the weekend. While pricey, it was interesting to hear the quality difference between them and my DT770's.

 

To be honest, i'm not particularly all that impressed with the HD650. IMO the Beyer DT880 is sonically better, perhaps at the expense of a little weight to the sound, which a good amp will counter (i'm thinking valve or a good SS like the Ant Amber). I reckon the Amber + 880 would sound absolutely gorgeous - indeed i know someone who has that combo and are very happy with it - he went a long time upgrading before he was happy, even including stuff like RS1's before he settled with that. I also use the Amber with my DT531 (in some ways like DT880s) and I'm very happy with that.

 

I had a pair of Stax headphones until recently (sorry to see them go, but they don't work with the new amp). They're not fussy about what you play through them. They're clean, clear, and have plenty of weight. I much prefer them to my mates high-end Sennheissers (HD650s? Dunno. Cost him £400-450 about five years ago). I can definitely recommend Stax.

Re. running heaphones from the speaker taps, do you have to unplug your speakers?

 

The main thing I dont like about the electrostats that I've heard is a lack of punch / slam to the bass. They do good depth, but you never really *feel* the bass, you only hear it. I know that sounds strange considering they are just headphones at the end of the day, but with some headphones, you can almost *feel* the bass, but not with those. I found they were clean, detailed, and clinical as you like.

 

I was thinking of piggy backing the speaker cable through the switch box. Seeing as I'll be doing most of my listening though headphones, the quality loss shouldn't have that much impact.

Paul,

How much do the ANT amps retail at? I know you've heard a fair bit of kit. Do these come with your recomendation? Also, have you any experience running headphones through speaker taps?

In the past I've always swayed towards the Beyer sound. Having a listen to some 880's looks like the next step. I'm still interested in listening to a pair of Stax but I like my music to have solid bass.

 

I got my ANT Amber for £170, as it was an ex demo model, but I believe they normally retail for £220. The thing is, you should look elsewhere if looks are important, because its an ugly mofo. However, its well designed, and has an excellent synergy with Beyers - the designer is an ex Creek designer so I can imagine it has the Creek house sound.

For me, the ANT Amber spanks any other amp I've heard that is of comparable or less price, and probably gives more expensive designs a hard time. It is pretty unique sounding too - warm and musical with good bass and punch, which contrasts with most HP amps rather clean signature.