I am a bit ignorant about this: what signal level do headphones use? In other words, is it enough to find a connector adapter and plug the headphones into line output (BTW, which one, 1V or 4V)? If not, I would like MkII to have a headphone output.

Cheers!

Dragi "Bonzi" Raos
Zagreb, Croatia
#5196

I haven't tried plugging headphones directly into my Empeg, but if memory serves, I recall that you would get very quiet output that way.

This is pretty much the case with all line-level outputs for any stereo equipment. A headphone output has to use separate cicuitry to amplify the signal, which is why they're always different plugs.

But since the Empeg can't run unless it's either in the car or on AC power, why do you want to plug headphones directly? I mean, it's not like you can take it jogging.

If you just want to listen to it while you're on your computer, plug it into the sound card's "Line In" jack, then use your volume control applet to balance the line-in volume properly with the computer's audio.




-- Tony Fabris -- Empeg #144 --
Caution: Do not look into laser with remaining good eye.

...why do you want to plug headphones directly? I mean, it's not like you can take it jogging. If you just want to listen to it while you're on your computer, plug it into the sound card's "Line In" jack...

Not all computers are PCs, Tony :) When in the office (my or my client's), I am as likely as not to work at 'dumb' terminal, console of some type, network computer, Unix workstation, or, rarely, 'soundless' PC (hm, sometimes I even work with pen and paper :)

So, if line output is too 'quiet', I am hereby officially adding headphones output to my feature wish list!

Cheers!

Dragi "Bonzi" Raos
Zagreb, Croatia
#5196

If you want good sound, you should probably just buy a headphone amp,
and plug it into the line out of the empeg. Good headphone amps
cost money, (obviously) even if they are built into equipment.
It could cost another 100-300 pounds to give the empeg a headphone
output to drive decent headphones.

Richard

It wouldn't cost that much, but the empeg wasn't designed to drive headphones - which is why it doesn't. Headphone outputs aren't exactly common on car head units.

Mk1 players can be wired to drive headphones internally - there's an audio amp which used to do the 4x line outs which isn't used now there's the burr-brown output drivers. These will drive a 32 ohm load just fine and should give decent volume on headphones - but obviously opening the case, drilling a headphone jack hole and wiring it up *will* invalidate your warranty ;)

Hugo

regular headphones work fine - I'm using a make-shaft adapter and cheap panasonic headphones (for when I go studying mainly..) it works great; just use the cheaper headphones that plug in your ear as opposed to on them..
-mark

...proud to have one of the first Mark I units

Where can I found more info on a headphone amp? With the possibility of bringing my unit to work, and seeing as the new systems under our desks have no sound cards, my options have become limited as to how I will listen to it.

Reg 1640, 6gb Blue empeg-car mark 1. SN 00359

Headphone distribution amplifiers can be found from musician sources such as Musician's Friend. Multiple-output headphone amps are used in recording studios for monitoring the backing tracks while laying down your parts. If you do go shopping for a headphone amp, be careful. Some things called "headphone amps" are guitar amplifiers that happen to play through headphones- not what you're looking for.

Seems like overkill to me, though. Dionysus said that he plugged his headphones directly into the line-outs and it was fine. Whenever I tried to do that on other consumer electronics devices, the level was too quiet for me, but I haven't tried the Empeg and perhaps it's different.

-- Tony Fabris -- Empeg #144 --
Caution: Do not look into laser with remaining good eye.

Check out Headroom (http://www.headphone.com).

I've bought stuff from them before, and have been very happy with it.

Their amps should drive 300 ohms (eg HD580s) with no problems.

Richard.

Good lord, I just checked out that site. It is a site psychologically tailored to sucker guys into laying down $269 for a pair a headphones the size of a peanut. It's quite convincing. *shiver* :)

Calvin

Good lord, I just checked out that site. It is a site psychologically tailored to sucker guys into laying down $269 for a pair a headphones the size of a peanut. It's quite convincing. *shiver* :)

Until now, I didn't know that headphones.com existed. My God, that's nuts. I thought it was extravagant to suggest Musician's Friend for headphone distribution amplifiers. It seemed like paying $69.00 for a 4-channel headphone amp was way too much. Then I saw their $11,900.00 headphone/amp combo and it put things in perspective. I thought the Empeg was expensive...

The funny thing is, according to the web site, the manufacturer has already sold 297 of those monstrosities. I'm at a loss for words.



-- Tony Fabris -- Empeg #144 --
Caution: Do not look into laser with remaining good eye.

> Until now, I didn't know that headphones.com existed. My God, that's nuts. I
> thought it was extravagant to suggest Musician's Friend
> for headphone distribution amplifiers. It seemed like paying $69.00 for a
> 4-channel headphone amp was way too much. Then I saw
> their $11,900.00 headphone/amp combo and it put things in perspective. I
> thought the Empeg was expensive...

I bought one of their smaller amps, and which I am very happy with.
I don't think I would ever buy their so-called "High-End" stuff.

What's even scarier to me is that what they say on their web-site
about headphones being value for money compared to normal hifi
is absolutely true. I wandered into a hifi show in Montreal a year
or two ago, and the guys with their "stalls" (actually hotel rooms,
the show covered about 5 floors of a hotel) and they seemed to think
nothing of charging $25000 for an amp/speaker combo. Admittedly,
some of them sounded a lot better than anything I had heard before,
but that's incredible.

The absolute worst thing about hifi is the diminishing returns.
I was not convinced I could distinguish between two units that
were $10000 different in price. I left that show with my
head spinning for a number of different reasons.

Richard.

Hm. On rereading my last post, I came across as both a snob
and a reverse snob at the same time. Quite some feat.

What I meant to say is, there's some very expensive equipment out
there, that I would be very happy to own, but unless my financial
circumstances were to change quite dramatically, I could never
justify spending that kind of money on a stereo.

(When I bought a so-called "entry level" headphone amp, that
qualified as high end equipment based on my limited experiences.)

Richard

Hm. On rereading my last post, I came across as both a snob and a reverse snob at the same time. Quite some feat.

I don't think you sounded snobbish at all. I agree completely. There are certain things that I'll spend extra money on. Audio equipment is one of them. But only to a certain point. The Empeg is the most expensive single piece of audio equipment I've purchased. Spending over $200.00 on a car amplifier is extravagant to me. But spending over 10 grand on a headphone amp isn't just extravagant- it's insane.

It's like anything else in life. Everyone can discern different levels of quality in a product depending on how familiar they are with it. Food, wine, cars, musical instruments, stereos, whatever. Those who can appreciate the differences in quality are the ones who buy the high-end stuff. If I can't tell the difference between a $200.00 amp and a $10,000.00 amp, it doesn't mean there is no difference. It just means that the expensive model isn't for me.

Then there's the other group of people- those who buy the high-end stuff just to show off their wealth, not because they can appreciate the quality. You know the type. They buy a Porsche, but never break the speed limit. They buy expensive original art, but don't even know the artist's name.

Does that statement make me a reverse snob?


-- Tony Fabris -- Empeg #144 --
Caution: Do not look into laser with remaining good eye.

Well, I discovered that I CAN tell the difference between a $200 amp
and a $10000 amp, and I expect most people can (it's a different
matter between a $5000 amp and a $10000 amp though, I certainly could not
reliably detect a difference).

I just couldn't justify that difference in sound as being worth $9800.

Richard.