Idiot question about Headphones

Have you tried a different pair of headphones? Is this only happening with the music you record, or is it also happening with pro mixes too? Do you notice anything weird when playing through monitors?

Sounds like either your headphones are faulty, it's not plugged in properly, or one of your channels has been phase inverted. When not plugged in properly with normal headphones in a normal input, you tend to get a point of mono first and then a point of only one channel working when not plugged in properly, then when in the whole way it works in stereo. When using an ipod, it's a bit different and weird stuff seems to happen as the innards of the ipod have extra connections. Or you're going crazy! There should not be any need to do any special setting up.

It's always useful to know you have the left can on the left ear... and the right on the right.

Also, underpowered devices can seem ok with very low impedance 30-60ohm headphones where as hi-fi headphones are traditionally 600ohm low impedance to keep the bass tighter. They require more energy to get them moving.

Efficiency is not directly related to impedance but often times it correlates.

best regards,
mike

yes

well, actually, you need one cable per channel - 2 for stereo and you might need a Y connector for some of the headphone amps depending on their input jack(s). 

My next issue is working out a good Single Stereo Amp to get - prices look very high.

what do you consider high?  those I listed are all under $50USD.  I think most of them are 2 or 4 stereo channels, but so what for that price?

SOS is going to recommend stuff that's not the low end.  I've found that for headphone amps the low end works just fine.  as long as the noise level isn't too high then that's all you really need to worry about unless you need a headphone amp for live monitoring for band members or for a professional studio where you need several for monitoring for recording.  for your purposes I think the $50USD ones are fine.

regarding hook up:
for example, if you were to buy this unit:
http://pro-audio.musiciansfriend.com/product/Behringer-AMP800-MiniAMP-4Channel-Stereo-Headphone-Amplifier?sku=182040

you would need (2) 1/4" cables, one for the red and the other for the white out of the AP192 and the other ends connect into the Left and Right inputs of the headphone amp.  (note:  you CAN use just regular instrument cables, but if you buy stereo TRS cables, you can take advantage of the balanced I/O of the AP192 and the headphone amp inputs which will help lower noise)

if you bought something like this one:
http://pro-audio.musiciansfriend.com/product/Behringer-MICROAMP-HA400-Headphone-Amp?sku=621107
you would need a Y cable with 1/4" ends.  you plug the 2 ended end of the Y cable to the red and white of the AP192 and the single stereo plug into the headphone amp input.

personally I think the first one is a better solution even if it costs just a little more.  it's better quality and personally I hate any solution that uses a Y cable.

edentowers


Dave, might I suggest another approach?

I really think you should stand back and look at what you need from your audio interface. I think the 192 is leading you towards a number of compromises.

I think you should get what you can for it from ebay and take a look at some of the latest USB devices that come with a dedicated headphone monitor section.

The Cakewalk/Edirol UA25-ex appears to be going for around about £150 and has the headphone/direct monitoring you need as well as a Hi-Z input so you can plug guitar or bass straight in.

There are others that are very similar to this, but it appears to be a reliable i/f.

One BIG plus of the USB devices is that you can have them on the end of a 5 metre USB cable so those connections don't require scrabbling around on the floor.

Phil

The AP192 will have lower latency performance- If he uses sofsynths a lot, I would stick with the AP192 ;) since it is PCI which is still the superior way to get ultra low latency unless you spend closer to $1000.00

The AP192 is a great, long time tested card and it should work just fine. You are going to want a separate headphone amp, a monitor amp (Behringer MON800 is awesome!), and at least one good outboard preamp anyway, so I stay stick with the AP 192 until you really feel like upgrading to a much more expensive setup. Youre not really making a sacrifice as far as sound. The card sound darn good.

Thanks for the correction Beagle... I was thinking of extending a TRS style stereo cable... I was unfamiliar with the 192.

best,
mike

Thanks for the detailed instructions/feedback everyone!

One thing is definite - i'm sticking with the AP192. No complaints so far seems pretty amazing for what i want to do at the moment.

I go on holiday after tomorrow (Sunny old Cornwall) so i will do some homework/searching then.

Reece - As ever, thankyou for that - it's exactly what i needed to know.

Guitarhacker - sounds like you use your headphones just like how i will. Are you saying you use the little 'in your ear' ones like on an Ipod or something?

AT - I think i'm with you on the pie front. Apple sounds better than meat. Must have custard though.
Also - are there any other benefits to getting a multi-output amp other than to just 'future proof' them - incase i one day need more than one output?

Cheers
Dave

No reason other than future use for having a muti-headphone output.  They shouldn't be that much more expensive, and as sure as you don't get one Reece's 8 member vocal ensemble will show up at your door to do recording.  Unless you get a great deal on a single unit, it is kinda of penny wise and pound foolish not to get a couple.

@

All in one is good, but a dedicated preamp equals higher quality- And, the other 2 ubits I suggested are well worth the 50 bucks or so each- And, I have an echo Gina3G  which has two decent mic pre's and multiple outs, but I still got the gear I suggested.

I stand by my recommendations.

Also, the big culprit- LOW LATENCY performance- The AP192 will win this battle easily- in my world, this is a big factor-