For best results hook up the headphone amplifier to a line-out signal, rather than the default headphone output, so that you’re not double amping. First is kind of obvious – if the headphone output of your audio interface can’t drive your cans to a sufficient SPL, then getting a beefier amplifier is a good option.
There are generally two rational reasons why to use a dedicated headphone amplifier in a studio. As headphone use for audio engineering has boomed over the years, so have audio interface manufacturers paid more attention to headphone output quality and power capability. These tiny pieces of electronics vary both in their ability as much as in their cost. In most audio interfaces headphone amplification will be done with a dedicated opamp chip. Usually it’s done this way to reduce the cost and complexity of a circuit. In a cell phone or laptop the DAC and headamp can actually be found in a same chip. Sometimes, however, a headamp used to drive super sensitive IEM’s can actually attenuate signal it gets from the DAC.Ī headphone amplifier is present in every device which has a headphone jack. In the same manner a headphone amplifier measures the signal transmitted by the DAC and then usually creates a higher energy copy of the signal for your headphones. Everyone who has driven a modern car has had a very hands-on experience with an amplifier – power steering is a mechanical amplifier which measures the motion of the steering wheel and then uses an electric motor to help you turn it with less effort. This signal can then be taken by an amp and fed to a speaker or headphones so the sound can take flight to your eardrums.Īny amplifier is first and foremost a control device which uses electrical signal to control the motion of membranes in your headphones. First there’s digital-to-analog converter (DAC) which interprets the digital datastream and turns it into an analog signal. What’s a headamp?īefore we deep-dive into the intricacies of amplification, it’s useful to look at what the modern digital audio chain looks like. SPOILER ALERT: It’s totally fine to get one even if your audio interface is good enough. So, you’re hungry for power? Let’s hope you’re hungry for knowledge as well, because here you will find out what’s a headphone amplifier and when it’s useful to use one.
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