[zGoRL8RoLCl]

Hi,

I'm planning to buy an AKG headphone but I need to know which
one of these audio interfaces will provide the optimal output power and which headphone would be more suitable.
 
I'm planning to both record and listen to music, and being mostly on the move, I would like to avoid a separate amp for headphones.

Will it sound decent with some USB audio interface in this range?
 

K 702

http://www.akg.com/site/products/powerslave,id,1082,pid,1082,nodeid,2,_language,EN,view,specs.html
 
or
 

K 240 MK II

http://www.akg.com/site/products/powerslave,id,1063,pid,1063,nodeid,2,_language,EN,view,specs.html
 


I am considering the following USB audio interfaces or anything similar:

Onyx Blackjack
http://www.mackie.com/Products/onyxblackjack/pdf/Blackjack_SS.pdf

Scarlett 2i4
http://global.focusrite.com/usb-audio-interfaces/scarlett-2i4/specifications

mbox
http://www.avid.com/static/resources/common/documents/Products/Avid_Mbox_3rdGen-family_spec-comparison-1.pdf

QUAD-CAPTURE
http://www.rolandus.com/products/details/1166



Thanks

 

[MalVeauX]

Heya,

After looking over those, maybe I read them incorrectly, but most of them look to have high output impedance for headphones, and relatively low power output to boot. Not ideal for something like the K702, and pretty meh for the K240 even. Looks to me like they are meant for high impedance headphones that are very sensitive (which is typical of studio headphones for some systems). But I might be wrong about that; let someone else with a lot more experience with these kinds of devices maybe chime in there.
 
One thing you could do however is use the line out to output to a headphone amplifier, a small one even. If you're willing to carry a computer, that box, and a headphone, what's one more little box? Right?
 
Very best,

 

[Seekky]

Focusrite 2i2 is pretty damn good for that price range. (one of the best if not the best)
i used it for home studio recording before.
 
too bad i gave it out to my friend and bought the Steinberg CI1 which is crap.

 

[Acix]

For recordings you'll need some internal, or external sound card with preamps... If you're using a Mac the Apogee Duet will be a good option. On the PC, you can check out the Presonus. If you're using a tower PC just go for the RME used, and you'll still have some money for a nice SS hps amp.

 

[Seekky]

+1 on PreSonus
 
For budget audio interface:
 
Focusrite Scarlett 2i2
or
PreSonus AudioBox

 

[Kodhifi]

I have my eyes on the Audioengine D1 USB DAC. It does have a headphone amp in it but I will be using my E9 to amplify. It has a world class DAC, supports 24/96, has a digital toslink input, and I've heard great things about it.

 

[Seekky]

Quote:

I have my eyes on the Audioengine D1 USB DAC. It does have a headphone amp in it but I will be using my E9 to amplify. It has a world class DAC, supports 24/96, has a digital toslink input, and I've heard great things about it.

They are output only, no input tho.

 

[Kodhifi]

Hmm. Well I can only talk about the interfaces I already have. I wouldn't say any are audiophile but are definitely professional quality.
 
M-Audio mobile pre 2x2 USB
Headphone amp works with 250ohm DT880 but does not drive quite as high as I would like, but enough to mix without running into problems. It has the combination 1/4 XLR jacks that are great space savers. Picture an XLR input with a headphone jack in the very center so it takes either kind of input. It has seperate volume knobs for main out and headphone so you can have your monitor levels independent of your headphones.
 
It has a reasonably quiet pre-amp and provides phantom power. I have a Rode NT1a mic and they work perfectly together, plenty of sensitivity and no real noise to speak of. Maudio includes an ASIO driver on their webpage and it also works well with the ASIO for all driver.
 
I've used it on 2 different laptops and 2 different desktops and never ran into USB bus power issues or weird issues like sound cutting out etc. It wakes without issue when I put my computer to sleep.
 
The output is clean, trasnparent, and sounds great on my BX8 bi amped studio monitors.
 
 
 
If you are a guitar player though you might consider #2 in my equipment list
The Line 6 UX2 2x2 USB/Guitar input.
This is similar to the Maudio in feature list except it doesn't have the combination xlr 1/4 jacks but it has 2 dedicated guitar inputs, one normal, one pad for live pickups. The best part is that it comes with Line6's Podfarm 2 which emulates dozens of guitar pedals, amps, mics's, and makes the process of recording realistic guitar without micing an amp cabinet really convenient and easy. It is only $50 more than the m-audio and is a guitar players dream.
 
It includes 2 analog level meters that are lighted, has seperate headphone and monitor volume knobs, and it can drive 250 ohm headsets but not quite as loudly as the Maudio can. With a Sony MDR-V6 it can drive them to uncomfortable levels though.
 
It supports 24/44.1 in and out, is reasonably clean sounding and transparent and a little on the warm side.
 
I've only used it on my desktop and the only issue I've had is just in the last few days running at 24 44.1 it sometimes locks the audio driver when used with foobar2000 in waspi mode. The latency on guitar and mic input, through the PodFarm effects is low enough not to interfere with playing.

 

[soundisee]

I'm also looking for a similar solution just really bad when it comes to this. I have an Mbox 2 which couldn't even drive my DT 770 pro 80's so now that I'm going order my 880's soon I'm going to need a new interface probably. I have a FiiO E10 but I have to run it as a separate driver in order for it to work so I need a solution to where I can hook up some sort of preamp to my mbox 2 or just get a new interface all together. Anyone have recommendations?