Headphones Adaptor Question

[JohnnyYenAgain]

Hi All,

I have an iMac / Logic Pro 9 set up that I use an Apogee Duet with. My problem is figuring out how to get two pairs of headphones to work using an adapter considering there is only one headphone input on the Apogee. I've tried a couple splitters but I never seem to get a proper sound in either headphone. Surely I'm doing something wrong. Any ideas?

Lastly, I started a new thread for the question. Was that the right thing to do or should i have looked for other similar threads and added on to them. This place is a valuable tool for me and I don't want to rub anyone the wrong way.

Thank you,

JYA

 

[Peter Ostry]

I have an iMac / Logic Pro 9 set up that I use an Apogee Duet with. My problem is figuring out how to get two pairs of headphones to work using an adapter ...

No adapter. You need an active device, for example a small headphone amp with at least two outputs.

Reason:
Many headphones have a low input resistance depending on the model. If you connect two of them, you get the half resistance and this may overload or even destroy the output stage of the sending device.

I've tried a couple splitters but I never seem to get a proper sound in either headphone.

A simple cable splitter, an Y-cable?
Never ever do this again. You may ruin the output stage of the device.

Lastly, I started a new thread for the question. Was that the right thing to do ...

Yes. Perfect.

 

[JohnnyYenAgain]

Thank you very much for the quick reply Peter. Can you recomend a good and affordable headphone amp or perhaps some specs that I should consider when buying one?

 

[Pete Thomas]

I've tried a couple splitters but I never seem to get a proper sound in either headphone.

A simple cable splitter, an Y-cable?
Never ever do this again. You may ruin the output stage of the device.

Ooh, I've learnt something here, thanks Peter

Lastly, I started a new thread for the question. Was that the right thing to do ...

Yes. Perfect.

In this case, but it's worth doing a search in case it has already been asked.

 

[Peter Ostry]

A simple cable splitter, an Y-cable?
Never ever do this again. You may ruin the output stage of the device.

Ooh, I've learnt something here, thanks Peter

Well, the outputs of most modern gear are short-circuit-proof but imagine two 24 ohms headphones - with parallel cabling you would have only 16 ohms. And that on the output of an old high-end device that may be built for 300-600 ohms. Better not to do that, generally.

 

[Peter Ostry]

Can you recomend a good and affordable headphone amp or perhaps some specs that I should consider when buying one?

One of the cheapest and still usable little amps is the Behringer HA400.

If you plan to record pieces where the emotion plays a big role, you should plan to get a better headphone amp. Everything a musician does while recording depends on the acoustic environment. If he/she feels good, the performance will be better than in a less good situation with cheap cans plugged into an undefined hole of a box.

I don't know many headphone amps, since a while I use two from Lake People. Maybe it helps if you look at their technical specifications and compare them to those of other amps. Especially look after the broad impedance range and the table for the output level, which depends on the impedance of the headphones. Then you get a feeling what manufacturers tell you and what they don't tell you.

Their cheapest model isn't really cheap: STEREO HEADPHONES AMPLIFIER G93
In Europe it sells for about USD 300.

After reading and understanding the short description and the specs you will know more about headphone amps than most people do. Should help to read other amp descriptions more critically.

However, I used the little Behringer HA400 quite a while and it worked well. At least it doesn't cost much and gives you time to find out if you need something better or not.