Sanderxpander
Obviously there are options in that budget. I'm just wondering if they'd be a significant improvement over the RME, my UCX drives my 250Ohms DT990 louder than I'd ever enjoy without distorting.

OP said his RME (multiface II) headphone "gets distorted pretty quickly".
 
So it obviously performs at a lesser level than your newer UCX.... 

musicroom
... Any thoughts on how a small Yamaha mixer would measure up with the Mackie?

Generally speaking, I'd say about the same (and that goes for any of the other well-known mixer makes as well).
 
Of course, that doesn't mean that all mixer headphone amps are made equal.  Since that's the function you're primarily interested in, I'd search for reviews/posts re: small mixers and look for specific mention of headphone volume (or lack thereof).
 

musicroom
...Any thoughts on how a small Yamaha mixer would measure up with the Mackie?

 
I prefer the Mackie over the Yamaha. Smoother sound. However I have never tried the headphone out on either of these mixers.

Here's a headphone amp/DAC from Monoprice with good reviews: 
 
Monoprice Desktop Headphone Amplifier
 
On sale right now for $79.99. 
 
I've had good luck with Monoprice products in the past. Don't let the low prices scare you away. 
 
Cheers,
Eddie
 

JonD

musicroom
... Any thoughts on how a small Yamaha mixer would measure up with the Mackie?

Generally speaking, I'd say about the same (and that goes for any of the other well-known mixer makes as well).
 
Of course, that doesn't mean that all mixer headphone amps are made equal.  Since that's the function you're primarily interested in, I'd search for reviews/posts re: small mixers and look for specific mention of headphone volume (or lack thereof).
 

Thanks Jon - I googled every phrase I can think of with zero info about headphone quality or volume from every small format mixer I know about. My only point of reference is from when I used to use a SC Notepad for a headphone out back in my delta1010 days and as I recall it was nothing special. Hoping to find a headphone out
that is clean and uncolored. I'm starting to become more interested in the Presonus unit. I do a lot of mixing with the family nearby using SHR940's.

Edit - I'm also looking very closely at the AKG unit. That might be the one to get.

Eddie TX
Here's a headphone amp/DAC from Monoprice with good reviews: 
 
Monoprice Desktop Headphone Amplifier
 
On sale right now for $79.99. 
 
I've had good luck with Monoprice products in the past. Don't let the low prices scare you away. 
 
Cheers,

Eddie
 

Thanks Eddie - I took a look. It's probably just as good or better than some I'm looking at. I'm too cautious to trust monoprice for this one though. :)

Kev999

musicroom
...Any thoughts on how a small Yamaha mixer would measure up with the Mackie?

 
I prefer the Mackie over the Yamaha. Smoother sound. However I have never tried the headphone out on either of these mixers.

From what I've read - the Mackie gets more love for the preamps and build quality. I keep hoping to read about headphone quality.

the one i posted is a good one...
why did you ignore that one?
 

Jesse G
 
Try either the Behringer Powerplay Pro-XL HA4700  if you have a rack to place the Head Phone amp in a rack space.
Behringer Powerplay Pro-XL HA4700 - Video
 
 

 
I've used this on for years without issue.  Plenty of gain, low noise, balanced ins & outs.
 
Here are some others compared by SW:
 

Dang, I wish they made stuff like this 20 years ago when I was looking.  I ended up running a series of Y-cables from my Mackie mixer headphone out ...
 
When my buddies came over for a late night jam session, and we didn't want to disturb the neighbors, headphones and DI's were mandatory.
 
That AKG HP4E and Behringer Powerplay look very useful.  Being able to send two different mixes into the AKG, and sending them to selected outputs, or having individual aux ins for each channel on the Behringer is very cool.
 
If you are working solo, those features may not be as important, but sure would be nice to have!