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Topic: Headphone amp??? |
Larry Behm
From:
Mt Angel, Or 97362
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Posted 6 Jul 2006 6:32 pm |
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Looking for headphone amp, iedea -pros-cons?
Might go with the new Peterson Strobo Flip, need something as the music at break time in the club is way to loud and I need to be more accurate when tuning in that enviornment.
Larry Behm |
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Chris LeDrew
From:
Canada
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Posted 6 Jul 2006 6:46 pm
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I used the Danelectro Honeytone Estudio before I got the Peterson. It's a small unit with one input, volume and headphones - and runs on a 9-volt battery. It's about $40. It's got distortion as well, so it's easy to tune the beats out once you got your E's in line. I used it a lot in noisy enviornments for tuning, as well as for quiet practice.
If you're going for the Stroboflip, a noisy enviornment won't matter anyway.  My V-Sam is awesome; no more tuning the beats out by headphones or guessing with the meter. It's 100% reliable visually on stage.
I'll send you my Estudio for the cost of shipping (10-12 bucks) if you want it. I really don't need it anymore. Fire me off an email if you want. |
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Bob Martin
From:
Madison Tn
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Posted 6 Jul 2006 9:26 pm
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Samson makes a real nice one with 4 outputs (over kill 4 u i no) that is real nice and does not change the tone much. I use it in my studio and got it at Sam Ash for 45.00 so if you don't mind the 3 extra outputs giv'er a try. It's about the size of 2 packs of cigg's. Of course if you had a studio at home or wanted a more me box for the studio (it has 2 stereo inputs) it could double as a few extra headphone outs when you needed them.
Bob |
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David Mason
From:
Cambridge, MD, USA
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Posted 7 Jul 2006 1:05 am
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| If you're looking for a practice and working tool, you might want to look at a mini-mixer. I bought a Samson MDR624 for about $85 that does half a dozen things well - recording, headphones out, splitting a signal to two amps, playing to tracks or a drum machine etc. If you're going to spend money, might as well get the most use, I figure. I believe the that Behringer has some similar things, the UB502 and UB802, and Peavey has a new little mixer too. I went with Samson because of the versatility, but there's a lot of neat stuff out there these days. |
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Tony Prior
From:
Charlotte NC
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Posted 7 Jul 2006 3:14 am
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for my home studio it's the Behringer HA4-700, single rack, 4 headphones in/outs. ($99) For the gigs I am using an early issue Peavey Profex which has the headphones out right there on the front panel ! I paid $60 for it at Atomic Music in Washington DC.
I would buy another Profex in a NY Minute as a spare.
OR, if you really got the fever, go get one of the very small amps that sell in the $75 to $100 range that as a headphones out on the panel. It can serve as a very low volume practice amp or a PHONES amp.
t |
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Jim Saunders
From:
Houston, Texas, U.S.A.
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Posted 8 Jul 2006 6:44 pm
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The NV112 has a headphone input on the back. Good for private tuning and practice.
------------------
Mullen, Royal Precision, D10, Peavey Nashville 112, DD3, Peavey Session 2000, Goodrich L120 VP.
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Mike Shefrin
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Posted 8 Jul 2006 8:11 pm
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| Pocket Rock-it is one way to go.Not the best sound though. [This message was edited by Mike Shefrin on 29 July 2006 at 05:24 PM.] |
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Bo Borland
From:
South Jersey -
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Posted 9 Jul 2006 2:52 am
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| I bought a Danelectro Honeytone too, Guitar Center had a variety of small inexpensive headphoneamps. I paid less than $40.00 and it came with a set of headphones. It works very well. I use the output from my rack into the little box so i get what even efx I am using so the tone is ok. One thing I did notice is that it will let you hear anything and everything that is sloppy or wrong with your blocking and bar technique. It is definitely making me a cleaner picker. |
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Erv Niehaus
From:
Litchfield, MN, USA
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Posted 9 Jul 2006 5:28 am
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I'm sure this isn't the route you want to go, but my Evans preamp has a headphone jack on the front in conjunction with a mute switch. This is about as handy as you can get.  |
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Charles Davidson
From:
Phenix City Alabama, USA
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Posted 9 Jul 2006 11:25 am
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| One of the best IMO is the Ibanez Rock and Play RP200,It has 2 inputs,I plug my steel in one,my CD player into the other,it has overdrive and chrous,also a built in stereo cassette player with tape speed and pitch control,also two headphone outputs,have had this little jewel for years and use it almost every day.If I want to practice all night long no one knows it but me. |
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Dave Magram
From:
San Jose, California, USA
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Posted 9 Jul 2006 11:32 pm
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Hi Larry,
I like the Tone Works - Korg "Pandora - PX3".
It is a headphone/practice/pre - amp and it has a lot of effects, including reverb and a bunch of other features, including capturing 15 seconds of audio on a loop to figure out licks.
It's a little blue box about the size of a deck of playing cards.
It can also be used as an effects unit in front of your amp, but I've never used it for that.
I paid $100 on E-Bay a few years for one, they may be less now. |
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David Doggett
From:
Bawl'mer, MD (formerly of MS, Nawluns, Gnashville, Knocksville, Lost Angeles, Bahsten. and Philly)
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Posted 10 Jul 2006 1:05 am
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I have no problems with any of the above suggestions. In addition you should be aware that, with almost any amp that has a 1/4" phone jack connection for the speaker, you can simply unplug the speaker and plug in a set of headphones with a phone plug. Be sure to check out the impedance of the amp jack and the headphones. Believe it or not, most headphones and amps are compatible. Usually an amp might be hurt if the headphone (or speaker) impedance is lower than the amp, for example the amp is 4 ohms, and the headphone or speaker is 2 ohms or less. Up to 50% lower is usually tolerable, especially at the low volume level you will be using. If the headphone or speaker has greater impedance than the amp, this will not hurt the amp, but will cut down on the volume output, for example a 4 ohm amp and an 8 ohm speaker or headphone. This might not be great for the amp if you have to drive it to maximum volume for long periods of time; but that will not happen with headphones. If you use this method, always turn the amp volume (both preamp gain and channel or master volume, if applicable) all the way off to start. Then listen through the headphones as you crack open the volume to the desired level. It will be very low and safe for the amp and the headphones. Of course, you may be able to blow the headphones, but your ears wont let that happen. I have done this for years with both vintage Fender tube amps and modern solid state amps. I have never had a problem with an amp or headphones. But I would be interested if someone more knowledgeable about amps know any reason why this is unsafe. Of course the amp is mono, so you will only hear with one ear, unless you buy or make a Y adapter to split the mono signal for the stereo plug of the headphones.
I have one more suggestion. Almost all headphone amps give terrible tone for steel, with the possible exception of something like the NV112 headphone jack, which designed to give good steel tone. The reason the tone is usually so bad is that the headphone amp is full spectrum, and the headphones are supposedly full spectrum, but usually extremely efficient for the highs, but extremely inefficient for the lows. We are use to hearing steel through guitar speakers that are not full spectrum, and that de-emphasize the highs and emphasize the lows. This is especially true for the typical 15" steel speaker. You can fiddle with the tone controls, but usually you just can't cut the highs enough and boost the lows enough. This is not that big a problem if all you want to do is tune. But if you want to do extended practicing with the headphones, either solo or along with CDs, the harsh tone will drive you batty quick.
After suffering with this for years, I was finally pleasantly surprised to find that my POD-XT solved this problem nicely with its Fender Twin amp model and 15" speaker model. The tone through headphones is fairly realistic, and much more listenable than anything I have ever heard through headphones. When playing live, I only use the POD for effects, and don't use the amp and speaker models (I've got a real steel amp and speakers, so I don't need the models). But when practicing with the headphones, I run the steel through the POD amp and speaker models and into a small Behringer mixer. I then can run my CD player directly into the mixer, so the POD modeling has no effect on it. Then I run my headphones out of the mixer and get great steel tone along with hifi stereo CD sound. This really makes practicing with headphones fun.
For tuning on a gig, the POD has a stereo headphone Jack and a mute to keep the sound from going into your amp (you don't need a mixer). You can use that with or without the amp and speaker models. I find that it is easier to tune with the models turned on (just for headphone tuning), because it sounds more realistic.
Hope this helps.
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Student of the Steel: Zum uni, Fender tube amps, squareneck and roundneck resos, tenor sax, keyboards
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