redtealongan 0 Report post Posted June 23, 2008 Hi, i'm new here and a noob to audio equipment. I've a question regarding buying high impendence phones for home listening - can i do away with an amp if i buy something that draws power from a wall, like a mixer? I found [steve999-Hydrogen Audio]'s comment in the topic "Headphone Amps - some random musings" under the Portable audio section: The biggest problem with high-impedence, low sensitivty phones like the HD600 and HD650 is usually not noise or channel balance at low levels but just getting them loud enough without pushing the amp's performance limits too far (resulting in clipping or distortion), and this is usually only an issue with battery-powered portable equipment. Most things that you plug in a wall will drive them very comfortably. I use a Behringer UB802 mixer. The input gain is adjustable on two channels if you are a perfectionist. Or you can just use other channels with fixed gain. It drives my Senn HD580s and Beyer DT880s very easily, and my Sony MDR-V6s very quietly. My confidence in my UB802 increased when a friend took measurements on its big brother, the UB1202, and it did quite well for noise, frequency response, and distortion. He mentioned the mixer he used was $60 which seemed pretty cheap compared to buying amps... So what do you think, if i try to pair say a pair of DT880 with a mixer, will it work? Thanks for helping. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
sghound 0 Report post Posted June 24, 2008 He mentioned the mixer he used was $60 which seemed pretty cheap compared to buying amps... So what do you think, if i try to pair say a pair of DT880 with a mixer, will it work? Thanks for helping. i dun hear why not. i once tried a Soundcraft mixer with the K701 and it was an effortless drive. these mixers are pro stuff and many are engineered very well. other great brands of studio mixers are Mackie and Studer. DJ mixers like the high quality Allen & Heath models also make excellent headphone amps. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
redtealongan 0 Report post Posted June 24, 2008 Those sound expensive.. Actually my purpose was to save $ on buying an amp as amps seem pretty ex.. Are any of them affordable ($100/-), or any recommendations on where to get a decent mixer for cheap? Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
sghound 0 Report post Posted June 24, 2008 (edited) Those sound expensive.. Actually my purpose was to save $ on buying an amp as amps seem pretty ex.. Are any of them affordable ($100/-), or any recommendations on where to get a decent mixer for cheap? try the new Behringer Xenyx 502, same specs as the old 802 minus # of inputs. http://www.behringer.com/502/index.cfm?lang=ENG Edited June 24, 2008 by sghound Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
sghound 0 Report post Posted June 24, 2008 (edited) (sorry wrong repost) Edited June 24, 2008 by sghound Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Navyblue 0 Report post Posted June 24, 2008 Some old pre amp get be gotten about $100+ second hand, some have decent headphone section. If you have a speaker amp at home, you can DIY an adapter to scale down the power of the speaker output. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
