j^aws wrote:

Hi all,

I'm thinking of rewiring all my audio gear so that everything goes through headphones. This means I can play stuff and induce near deafness without disturbing other souls.

I'm looking for a headphone amplifier with multiple inputs.

I was about to suggest Schiit Fulla; it's a cheap, entry-level headphone amp, so you can focus more money on the headphones themselves. However, since you're looking for headphone amplifier with multiple inputs, this is the only one I can find, although I cannot vouch for its sound quality.

j^aws wrote:

I'm not looking for a mixer, but can you get these amps where you could mix two inputs?

Never heard of such thing, so I guess you'd need a mixer.

j^aws wrote:

I don't have a budget, but good value for money is always a positive, and minimal noise, too. Please recommend anything that you feel is great, even matching headphones are welcomed. Thanks in advance.

Too bad Obobkivisch has left this forum. He is a more experienced audiophile than I am, and he likes headphones better than I do. If he were still here, he would certainly help you.

My best headphones is merely an old pair of Senheiser Pro Studio I used for DJing few years ago (when I was still doing it as hobby); of course it's not as "audiophile" as, say, Grado PS1000, but it does its job well.

^^ Just Googled those Grados, and wow, they look like they'll melt my ears!

Regarding mixing and multiple inputs: I suppose the cleanest amps would be single input ones, rather than ones with multiple inputs. I'm thinking I could just use a very simple portable mixer connecting two amps on an ad-hoc basis if needed...

I'm I big fan of the starving college student tube amp. They cost about 50$ to make it about 70$ to have made.
Fiio also has a lot of nice headphone amps.
Also why not just use a Y cable and no mixer?

^^ Hmm, tube/ valve amps - these always look funky, but I've never had the pleasure of listening to any. They're always associated with 'warmth' from random reviews I've come across.

Regarding a Y-splitter: That's a good question, which I may have to reconsider. I'll have multiple mono sources, which I want to remain independent for left and right channels... Feeding them into a mixer should keep these channels separate. Whilst a Y-splitter on the other hand should merge these channels. I will have to experiment.

I think you might be dissapointed with grados. As the prices of their models go up, the reduction in bang for buck is quite apparent. They can be bass anemic too.

I'll let you into a little secret since I assume you are here since you like vintage/retro. There was a transducer technology pinoeered by Wharfedale and used quite a lot in the early 80's by yamaha. Its called Isodynamic/Orthodynamic and tend to produce crystal clear sound (more like electrostatic rather than dynamic cone). For better upper response, look for Yamaha HP3/YH3, they come up often and can be had for cheap. If you iz more of a bass head like, go for Yamaha YH50A (which is mono, but simply replace jack to get stereo) or YH50S (stereo already). Awesome, quality and quantity. I used to be all about the bass bloat, but after listening to decent quality bass extend extremely low without distortion, I'm now all about the quality of bass which is someithing I thought I would never say. 😉

This technology is making a come back with the likes of HiFiman and Audeze (google Audeze lcd-2 if you have no budget, widely regarded as possibly some of the best headphones ever made... as the price suggests) . Couple all this with a Fiio e17 headphone amp (usb DAC), and you won't regret it. No internal sound card needed again, and the Fiio e17 is portable!

Also, just had a look on "da bay", and for sale is a pair of Wharfedale Isodynamics (I won't link). These were made in 1974 and were the very first isodynamics ever made (so good they were just called "isodynamic"!!! I have 2 pairs!). Legend has it (I personally cannot verify), when the CEO of Audeze (Alex Rosson) got hold of a pair of these wharfies as recently as 10 years ago, he relealised isodynamic (orthodynamic if your in the yamaha camp) could produce bass (something which wasn't always achieved with 80's orthodynamics) and this coupled with the superior highs produced over dynamic cones started a bit of an orthodynamic revival that we are currently in.

If you go dynamic other options to look for are AKG (post 501) and ye old classic Sennheiser HD25. For sound quality an o2 (objective2 headphone) amp comes close to zero distortion, but personally I prefer a bit of eq in there as I like to change my levels throuhout the day.

Any ways, I digress there is a forum called Head-fi with all the headphone information you will ever need. Retro and contempory.

i love the schiit stuff. i have an uber bifrost. it is sweet. the fulla or magni2 would be perfect headphone amps

Someone say Schiit?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tCZ-AJQOiDg

I'd pass on anything made by Schiit, they had a lot of problems in the past and if you dear talk about any problems with anything made by schiit on headfi you get banned. If I recall there was a leaked PM that showed a schiit rep asking for certain members on that site to be banned as they spoke out about problems with schiit amps.

All that aside, their stuff is ok, but not for what you pay. I can make most Schiit amps at a fraction of the cost. Or at least this was the case last time I looked at there amps.