[Brent Hutto]

I've replaced the CD player (Adcom GCD-575), power amp (GFA-535) and spekaers (A-D-S L810) in my "music room" with a headphone setup consisting of the GCD-575, Portaphile V2 w/24V wallwart and HD595. The listening experience is much more enjoyable and the sound is better. The only problem is how to share it with my wife, aside from the obvious solution of playing the CD through our home theater setup in another room.

One solution would be to get another headphone and another Portaphile and just use an Y-splitter from the line-out of the CD player running to each Portaphile's input. A more elegant solution would be two amps in a single enclosure, sharing a power supply and a set of RCA input jacks. The front panel could have two 1/4" headphone jacks and two high-quality volume pots along with a single power switch. In the simplest case, the inside of the enclosure could have two complete Portaphile circuit boards (or two PIMETA boards or two SR-71 boards or whatever). A more elegant solution would have a single circuit board with dual left/right/group opamps and buffers and dual volume controls.

Has anyone seem a commercial product like this? I wouldn't want a headphone distribution amp of mid-fi quality made for mutiple sets of headphones in a library or recording studio. It would need to be two audiophile (at least Portaphile level) quality amplifiers.

 

[Onix]

There's one, but it doesn't get too many good reviews around here. Maybe you can have someone make it for you. It sure will be cheaper and better sounding than a commercial product.

 

[jrosenth]

I'd check with DIY builders.

HeadRoom's previous generation of Home amps ($699) had two 1/4" inputs; maybe ask them or put out at wanted to buy add in the for sale forums here.

 

[TheSloth]

Wouldn't the easiest thing to do be to get yourself another pair of the same headphones?

 

[kramer5150]

Pro audio amps usually have multiple outputs... Although its questionable if their sound quality, and synnergy with those cans will rival that of your portaphile? Most pro audio amps I have used are optimized for very high impedence loads, and hence may have poor S/N performance with those cans.

Garrett

 

[gerG]

I have pondered this same approach. The conclusion was that 2 separate amps would be far more flexible. Besides, it will give you the chance to try something else!

Of course, before I got too far down the road, I discovered that my wife can't stand wearing headphones. She can't cope with the sound inside her head. Crossfeed did not fix the problem. Does your wife enjoy listening to headphones?

ADS L810s, really? I have a pair of L910s that are currently doing patio duty. Also have L1290s, 470s, and a pair of PB1500s. I am a major ADS fan.


gerG

 

[patrox89]

id also suggest buying another amp. that way, there is independent volume control as well as being able to try another amp and headphone combo. i would however advise in buying comparable equipment, the wife might not like you having hd 650's with an sr71 and her having the 595's and a portaphile. (Well, unless you enjoy sleeping in the music room that is.)

 

[Kurt]

And the budget version: http://toddthevinyljunkie.com/produc...uct.php?id=251

 

[Brent Hutto]

I guess the obvious simple solution is a Y-adapter and another HD595 but I'd prefer not to be constrained by both headphones needing to be the same model (plus I'm not at all sure we have the same ideal listening volume).

The default plan is just to get another Portaphile or whatever but I'm already annoyed by how fiddly it is messing with a tiny little portable amp. Having two of them, each with 1/8"-to-1/4" adapters plus a tangle of interconnects plus two wallwarts just seems pretty ungainly. Long term, I'm hoping to have something in a larger enclosure that stays put and with 1/4" jack, RCA jacks on the back and a big volume knob. Having a second amp's circuitry in that enclosure seems easy enough technically.

I'd imagine the way to do it is find a DIY shop that build PIMETAs or whatever and pay a little extra to have two of them put in a box. Another option might be to get Drew at Shellbrook to put a pair of Maxi Moy amps in an Ascent box.

 

[Kameleon]

The Pro-ject headbox has two outputs with individual volume controls, I've not heard stunning things about its sound though...

 

[oldears]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Brent Hutto I guess the obvious simple solution is a Y-adapter and another HD595 but I'd prefer not to be constrained by both headphones needing to be the same model (plus I'm not at all sure we have the same ideal listening volume). I'd imagine the way to do it is find a DIY shop that build PIMETAs or whatever and pay a little extra to have two of them put in a box. Another option might be to get Drew at Shellbrook to put a pair of Maxi Moy amps in an Ascent box.

I've looked into this idea quite a bit myself and have found a couple of solutions:
1. Mikhail at Singlepower can build an amp with two headphone jacks. He suggested putting an attenuator on one of the jacks. That way, one of the two outputs can be adjusted in relation to the other. Then the volume of both outputs is controlled by the main volume control.
2. Get a headphone amp with a "loop out". Your source(s) are connected to this amp. A second amp is then connected to the first through the loop out.
This allows the source to feed both amps, but each amp is independent of the other. Several high quality amps are built (or can by built) with loop outputs.
For instance, the Gilmore GS-1 comes standard this way.

I believe either of these solutions would be better than using Y plugs. You would have much more flexibility with regard to headphones and with regard to amps. (For instance, you could have both a solid state amp and a tube amp

) The downside is that it would be more expensive. However, if you got an amp with a loop out, you could use the amp you currently have as the second amp and save some money that way.

 

[Onix]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Kameleon The Pro-ject headbox has two outputs with individual volume controls, I've not heard stunning things about its sound though...

That's the one I was thinking about. Most people say it's bad. Anyway, another solution could be getting a sort of headphone splitter in a box, with maybe two Alps pots connected each to a headphone jack. That should be cheaper than an amp and you'll get good results.

 

[bg4533]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Brent Hutto I'd imagine the way to do it is find a DIY shop that build PIMETAs or whatever and pay a little extra to have two of them put in a box. Another option might be to get Drew at Shellbrook to put a pair of Maxi Moy amps in an Ascent box.

There is no reason this could not be done with any of the common DIY amps around here. The amps could share the same input jacks, PSU and power switch. You really shouldn't need to pay a premium from a DIYer for custom work, basically just the cost of 2 amps.

I would suggest you send a PM to MisterX about the amp.

 

[Brent Hutto]

Quote:

Originally Posted by bg4533 There is no reason this could not be done with any of the common DIY amps around here. The amps could share the same input jacks, PSU and power switch. You really shouldn't need to pay a premium from a DIYer for custom work, basically just the cost of 2 amps.

That was pretty much my original thinking on the subject. One nice thing about all the fine-sounding tiny portable amps out there is the circuit boards are like an inch and a half by two and a half inches so putting two of them in a big non-portable enclosure certainly isn't a difficult packaging job.

I think this is the first route to pursue. As you say, it should be about the cost of two amps and very convenient.