The Steel Guitar Forum

I need to purchase a headphone amp. Any opinions on brands?
Thanks
Dennis

Dennis:

I recently got a Behringer "Powerplay Pro" 4-channel headphone amp. My band (5-piece) used it to record live to 8 tracks in ProTools. It seemed to do the job, with a lot of added features for the cost (very reasonable). There were some adjustments that had to be made to get folks satisfied with their signal level in relation to everyone else, but we worked it out. I would recommend it on a cost-conscious basis, but if you want distinct audio mixes with seperate EQs, you might want to look some more.

Bill

I've been using a Rolls 4 channel Stereo Headphone amp with our Fostex VF16 recorder.

It's only 4 channels out but I've also "Y" connected two headphones to one output as we needed 5 headphones and it still works OK.

I think they are around $80 at Sam Ash and it comes with a wall-wart power supply.

It's not fancy with lots of bells and whistles, just a volume control for each channel but it does the job.

Someone on the forum previously recommended the Behringer Eurorack MX602A, an inexpensive 6 channel mic/line mixer, which has a headphone jack. For not much more than the cost of a standalone headphone amp, it provides much more flexibility. I bought one a few months ago and am extremely happy with the sound and versetility of this unit.

I use a small mixer - Yamaha KM602. It has a built in chorus and with a little delay from a Yahama R 100 it works perfectly.

I use a Line 6 Pod for a headphone amp, among other things, and it works great. It can also be used for recording and has some effects built in. If $250 is in your price range, it's a nice way to go. I just wish I could figure out how to use their floor pedal with the steel!

I couldn't tell if you meant just a headphone amp that will amplify your straight steel sound for tuning/practicing, there are many brands for around $18-40. Danolectro makes a nice cheap portable. If you meant something with effects, reverb etc. to make practicing more fun and possibly use as effects on another amp, the POD is great, and there are any number of small cheap pre-amp/effects boxes by different manufacturers (Zoom, Yamaha, etc.) I can really recommend the DigiTech RP-100. It has reverb, delay, chorus, phase, distortion, eq and many other effects, really easy to program, lots of preset and user patch locations, sturdy metal housing, great sounding headphone amp and input jack for jamming with a CD player, about $99 street price. I have one in a little suitcase with a portable CD player and external headphone amp in the band bus, all I have to do is open it up and plug in and play.

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Mark van Allen-"Blueground Undergrass" Pedal, Non-Pedal, Lap, and Dobro - c'mon by and visit: www.markvanallen.com