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Let's talk headphone amps

C

CnB77

Jan 7, 2011
926
18
NJ
#1
I'm looking for a headphone amp, or something not designed as such that can be used as one. I want it to have some tone options (I know people love the Cafe Walter, for example, but I want some EQ and maybe distortion mixed in; distortion I could be convinced to do without though). I would also like it to be decent for recording, no noisyness please! Ideally it would sound good for guitar as well, though since I want some additional effects for guitar I may just get a microcube or something for it. Portability is a factor too, so I don't have to be tethered to a cheap mixer or something.

I don't really have a price range in mind. I have some items I can sell and maybe get $200 or so, so let's start with that as the limit. What are the current options?
 
#2
If youre lucky, you might find a used Raven Labs pha1. No longer made, but excellent quality and actually sounds good enough for critical studio applications too! Very low noise & honest transparent sound.

I use mine regularly as a diagnostic tool for listening to other gear & also sometimes as a studio recording pre for bass and acoustic guitar. I also have used it in the studio as a great "more me" type monitor.

Mine is battery only, but the ver.2 has an ac adaptor option as well. Active or passive input, stereo or mono aux input with mix control (play along with an audio source), super sounding 3 band eq, 2 headphone outs as well as line level and aux outputs.
 
#4
I read about the Raven Labs unit in my research, but unfortunately it seems quite hard to come by.
One thing that seemed interesting was the Jacques Fat Burner compressor, but I couldn't find any opinions about its quality as a headphone amp
 
#8
You can run whatever effects you want with the Cafe Walter, like any other amp. It has an output jack as well, if you need to go into a computer for recording. Versatility makes it great!
I think the Korg Pandora has several built-in effects, if you're looking for an all-in-one.
 
#10
I have a couple of the Korg Pandoras (the new one is the Mini that seems to have most of the stuff the old ones do in a smaller form factor and at half the price -- around $100). Pack of cigarettes size factor, battery or A/C, tons of features.

And then there's the old Line 6 BASS Pod XT. In "bean" form, it will fit into your gig bag pocket. A/C only, but has a great lineup of bass cabs and amps built in, some FX, and a good DI, etc. No loner made, the bean version shows up used for around $80-90. I think there's also a "live" footpedal version and a rack version. There's an earlier version that's just the Bass Pod (no XT). Some notable sonic differences between them.
 
#11
I do want to stay away from digital effects on the bass side of things (for guitar I'm not as particular) so I'll steer away from the Korgs and the Tascam for now. The Phil Jones Bass Buddy looks perfect, but a tad expensive (we'll see how much I can get for the things I'm selling). The cheaper option than that would be to get a cafe walter and some kind of eq-able distortion pedal I suppose.

Thanks for the responses so far!
 
#12
I'm digging my sfx] [Invalid or Expired Link Removed]. The unit weighs about a half pound, no more than one pound compared next to a 2.3 pound EA Micro amp. Built like a tank. The steel sides are polished smooth and the bass and music volume control knobs glide with precision.

The tone of the micro-H sounds better than I recall through a Pandora headphone amp. I've never heard a Walter Cafe. The micro-H sounds great - so much so, that I would look forward with pleasure to playing through the cans instead of doing it as a last resort because someone was watching TV or whatever. For a while I used the headphones out jack of a Genz Benz Streamliner 900. The micro-H sounds better. It's almost startling how clear and present my basses sound with the micro-H. I used a fretted Fender Aerodyne Jazz electric bass and a fretless Rob Allen Deep 4 acoustic bass. I was especially keen to learn if the micro-H could accurately project the acoustic glory of the RA ... it does with flying colors, right down to the deep open airy tone of an upright bass.

For the record, my headphones are Audio-Technica ATH-D40fs.

The micro-H is perfect for travel. It's really small. Here's a photo of me holding it in my hand.

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By contrast, next to a quarter:

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#15
scotch said:
If youre lucky, you might find a used Raven Labs pha1. No longer made, but excellent quality and actually sounds good enough for critical studio applications too! Very low noise & honest transparent sound.

I use mine regularly as a diagnostic tool for listening to other gear & also sometimes as a studio recording pre for bass and acoustic guitar. I also have used it in the studio as a great "more me" type monitor.

Mine is battery only, but the ver.2 has an ac adaptor option as well. Active or passive input, stereo or mono aux input with mix control (play along with an audio source), super sounding 3 band eq, 2 headphone outs as well as line level and aux outputs.
Click to expand...

I also recommend the PHA-1. They're out there for $200 or so every now and then.
 
#16
Roadrunr said:
Ukiah Bass

Can you order this from a US dealer and what is the US doller amount?

thanks
Click to expand...
I'd be interested in this info as well

krstko said:
I just use VT and headphones :) so if you have any pedals like that..
Click to expand...
I didn't know a VT could work well with headphones. I may get one

Munjibunga said:
I also recommend the PHA-1. They're out there for $200 or so every now and then.
Click to expand...
If I can find one I'll consider it
 

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