[aphexii]

Im having a difficult time testing headphones side by side due to the time it takes to swap out everything...

Is there a significant degradation in sound if i use a splitter?

 

[cyanbomb]

Nope, if you use any half decent splitter, the sound quality will be good enough for you to tell the two apart. I've tried dozens of splitters, and none of them degrade the SQ badly enough that it gets in the way of a good audition.

As they say, cables come last in an audio setup... the source and 'phones/speakers are the two most important components.

 

[3x331m]

Quote:

Originally Posted by aphexii /img/forum/go_quote.gif Im having a difficult time testing headphones side by side due to the time it takes to swap out everything... Is there a significant degradation in sound if i use a splitter?

It depends on the quality of the cable of the headphones, and how good you can hear.

I can hear the difference if I use high resolution cans, but I could not hear any difference when I used the ones those came free with my portable players.

 

[vcoheda]

i would think it's not as good as having two headphone outputs like the GS1, but hard to say how much a splitter will affect the sound - if at all.

 

[pfloding]

Quote:

Originally Posted by aphexii /img/forum/go_quote.gif Im having a difficult time testing headphones side by side due to the time it takes to swap out everything... Is there a significant degradation in sound if i use a splitter?

It depends on what you mean by "splitter". If you mean using a passive Y-splitter after a single headphone amp, then the resulting sound may well be affected by what two headphones you are using. The amp would have to drive both in parallel, and it won't be correcting the voltage output (using internal feedback) for one can, but for the composite of two cans. And the combined impedance will be lower than for each can separately, which may well degrade the sound of the amp.

 

[Quaddy]

if any low level degradation were to occur, wouldnt this degrade each headphone in equal ammounts, still enabling you to tell the any differences in the sound signatures between them. or is that not how it would work!!

 

[pfloding]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Quaddy /img/forum/go_quote.gif if any low level degradation were to occur, wouldnt this degrade each headphone in equal ammounts, still enabling you to tell the any differences in the sound signatures between them. or is that not how it would work!!

There is no general case.
If headphone A sounds just right on its own, and headphone B sounds bloated in the bass on its own, combining them may well result in A sounding thin and B just right -if, for example, A soaks enough current to make B leaner, but A won't get enough current to sound right in the bass. Just a theoretical example.

It depends on the amp. If the amp is perfect it won't be a problem.

I suggest listening to each can separately and then when they are hooked up together listen again too see if the sound character remains the same. (A process slower than the original intended test.)

Don't forget that you may well hear the other can's sound spilling into the one you are listening to if you test an open can!

BTW, how long can it take to pull one plug and put another in?

 

[zle83]

Quote:

Originally Posted by pfloding /img/forum/go_quote.gif It depends on what you mean by "splitter". If you mean using a passive Y-splitter after a single headphone amp, then the resulting sound may well be affected by what two headphones you are using. The amp would have to drive both in parallel, and it won't be correcting the voltage output (using internal feedback) for one can, but for the composite of two cans. And the combined impedance will be lower than for each can separately, which may well degrade the sound of the amp.

This is true, however, if you have passive y-splitter and you are using one port at a time, you will see no difference. If you are trying to drive two sources at the same time, this may pose a SQ problem. This isn't so much of a problem for me becaues I have a passive y-splitter coming out of my Chaintech soundcard. The splitter is hooked up to my desktop stereo amp and my headphone amp for my K701s. I have tested this without the splitter for my k701s and I cannot hear any differences.

 

[kramer5150]

I have tried this with a Y-splitter and IEMs. If I plug IEM - 'A' into the Y splitter, but leave the other branch open, it sounds fine, as though there were no "Y" splitter at all. I can not detect any degradation presented by the Y splitter. Then if I plug another IEM into the open side of the Y... the bass is noticeably reduced.

IMHO it greatly depends on the amp circuit. Wiring up two IEMs in parallel can significantly alter the impedance load presented to the amp. While the Y adapter itself does not contribute to the coloration.

 

[pfloding]

Quote:

Originally Posted by zle83 /img/forum/go_quote.gif This is true, however, if you have passive y-splitter and you are using one port at a time, you will see no difference. If you are trying to drive two sources at the same time, this may pose a SQ problem. This isn't so much of a problem for me becaues I have a passive y-splitter coming out of my Chaintech soundcard. The splitter is hooked up to my desktop stereo amp and my headphone amp for my K701s. I have tested this without the splitter for my k701s and I cannot hear any differences.

Yes, of course!
The OP asked about simultaneous use though, as far as I could tell.

I'm using a Y-splitter with my PC to get headphone and speaker sound from the same source. The active speaker has a high impedance input, and my headphone's amp has high impedance too, so sound degradation should be minimal.

 

[clatter]

Even with two headphone outputs (which my amp has), I find it difficult to quickly A/B headphones - there is usually a volume difference.

 

[tumama]

I bought this splitter from Belkin: http://catalog.belkin.com/IWCatProdu...duct_Id=149749

 

[AudioCats]

the problem with plugging two headphones into the same source at the same time, is that you will hear some of phone A's sound signature when listening to phone B, so it won't be an accurate comparision, the result impression can be very very wrong.
The reason for that to happen is when phones are driven and the voice coil moves, the voice coils will cut magnetic flux and create a voltage (to counter the signal), then this voltage will get into another headphone that is parallelly connected.
Do an experiment: plug two pair of high ohm phones (60 ohm or higher) into the Y spliter. Don't plug the spliter into any thing. Put phone B on your head and blow air into phone A and you will hear the sound in phone B. Not very loud, but that will be enough of contamination to alter comparison impressions.