[johannisson]

Hello all. (edit. sorry for crapy headline, tryed editing it but i cant...)

I have a Denon AVR-4308 and an Onkyo CD player DX-7555 and a PS3. On top of these nice items I have just bough a pair of Grado 325i (absolutely love them) and a headphone amp from Audio-Technicas (ATH-HA20).

Now to my problem, I want to connect everything through my Receiver, CD in, PS3 in and the ATH-HA20 out. I want to use different sources on the receiver for out, in normal CD mode I want to listen to my speakers and same for the PS3. But when my daughter goes to bed I want to put the Grados on and with a simple click on the remote I want to switch the sound over from speakers to the headphones.

Is this possible?
Can I use everything in main zone or do I need a second zone?
How on earth do I do this?

Pleas help me Obi-ones you are my last hope.

//Fredrik Johannisson

 

[Shutterman]

I have a Denon product (AVP-A1HDCI )which I too would like to use as my source. I asked for a bit of connection advice awhile ago here , but didn't get a response.

I'm guessing the reason is that most folks are either connecting their headphone amps directly to a single source (CD player, etc) or...if using a receiver/pre-amp...are simply connecting the phones to the headphone jack. However, if your Denon receiver has some of the same features as mine, I'm thinking we might be able to use a Zone 2 (or Zone 3) setup.

This will give us volume control via the remote control. But the real kicker for me, is that I'm not sure if this bypasses the speaker equalizing and other settings. In other words, I'm not sure I'd be getting a "source direct" feed. Normally, to accomplish this I understand you'd connect to the recevier's tape loop out and use the volume control on the headphone amp. In my case the headphone amp won't be in a convenient place and I'd like to use my remote for volume.

I've delayed purchasing a headphone amp until I can be sure about the best way to connect up, but so far have found it a bit frustrating as I haven't been able to get any input on the subject. However, in your case as you've already made the purchase of headphone amp and headphones, why not try a Zone 2 setup and see what you think? If you have a tape out (or something similar) you could try connecting up that way also and see which one you prefer.

Don't know if any of this helps, as this is definately a case of the blind leading the blind here.

 

[slypher]

I use a denon 2808 in a similar set up. I like to use zone 3 (as it is audio out only) to my headphone amp as it will let you sellect your input sourse without efecting the set up in the main zone. In the menu for the denon go to manual set up and then go to zone set up. Select the zone you are going to use and set the volume level to to a fixed setting of -40db or 0bd (I use 0db). You can leave the zone you choose on all the time and use the power switch on your headphone amp to turn it on or off. Use the suplied second zone remote for selecting the input source on the denon and the volume knob of the headphone amp to adjust the volume. You could also set your headphone amp up at a moderat sound level and in the denon menu set the volume in your selected zone to variable and this will allow you to use the remote controll for the denon to adjust the volume(this set up could lead to exesive volume levels). Using the zone set up will allow you to listen to audio sources sepratly from what is selected in the main zone so if you would like you can mix audio and video signals.

 

[Shutterman]

Thanks, slypher. I guess this would accomplish what the OP and myself are after...that is, to be able to have sound coming just from the headphones while no sound comes from the loudspeakers?

A receiver or a pre-amp with other zone setups is new to me. But it would seem logical that if you're running an analog (RCA) cable out to Zone 2 or Zone 3 or whatever, that the designers would have it such that you would be bypassing the tone/equalization circuits.

However, the volume control on the receiver/pre-amp would still be in the path, so it wouldn't be as pure as something like a passive pre-amp or like connecting up directly to the source (CD player, etc). I suppose this wouldn't be the purists approach, but I'm wondering if it would be close enough. I suppose it would depend on the quality of your receiver/pre-amp as to just how much the original source's signal is affected?

If you or anyone else has any thoughts on the subject, I'd be glad to hear it.

 

[slypher]

Hey no problems and I will see if I can answer any other questions you have. As to the firts question the setup I sugested will have a sound signal for the headphone amp and there will still be a signal going to the speakers in the main zone. Sound from your loud speakers will be determided by the volume settings in the main zone so to listen to headphones with no sound from the speakers will require you to turn the volume down or mute the volume in the main zone. Now for your other question in the zone setup there are adjustments for tone controll and volume level. I tend to not use any tonal adjustments and set the volume at a fixed level to try to mimic a line out signal as close as possible. Another way to hook this up would be to use the pre amp out front left and front right(section 20 on the diagram) to get a pure stereo signal. In this set up you will lose the ability to simply select audio sources seperatly from what is being brodcast in the main zone but it is still possible. A second way to get a pure line out signal would be to use the record out function of the reciever as you had sugested earlier. I will do a little experimenting with my setup at home and try the different ways of getting a signal to my headphone amp to see if there is a noticable change in the sound quality. I will also compare it to the headphone out of the denon. I hope I have helped and will post back with my results.

 

[Shutterman]

Hey, slypher...thanks for your willingness to do a little experimentation. Very nice of you.

I too thought about simply using an extra set of pre-outs that I have on my unit, but after looking at my owner's manual a little more closely I'm thinking the Zone outputs are esentially the same thing. Not a true line out like using a tape/record out, but it may be close enough.

To get headphone only sound you could, as you say, mute the main zone. But it might also be possible to keep the main zone from coming on at all. In my case it should be easy since my unit is a pre-pro instead of a receiver. I could set things up such that the amps that feed the main zone do not turn on when I wanted to listen to headphones.

Hmmm...now that I'm talking it out with someone else, it's starting to fall into place. So on that score, thanks again. Maybe I should go ahead and pick up a relatively inexpensive headphone amp and do a little experimention of my own. In the meantime, if you do start playing around with how your connections as you'd mentioned, I'd love to know what you find out.