Professional Headphone Amplifier for Surround

[par4ken]

I am often attracted to professional equipment for a number of reasons. Balanced inputs and rack mount cases being two of them.

Vintage quad receivers always had headphone jacks fed off the main amplifier via dropping resistors. Modern equipment lacks that feature. A headphone amplifier becomes a necessity and as well provides better sound. For quad you would require two stereo headphone amplifiers but what about a professional unit? I recently purchased a "Rolls RA62C 6-Ch Pro Headphone Amp". That particular unit features RCA, XLR and TRS stereo inputs and has outputs for six sets of phones.

What makes it useful for multi channel sound is that each output amplifier also has a separate input via TRS jack on the rear panel. I take a longish dual RCA cable and cut it in half soldering a TRS (1/4" phone) on the cut ends to make up two input cables, one for front and one for the back channels. Plug in your quad phones and you're ready to go! That particular model has 1/4" output jacks for vintage/professional phones and 1/8" jacks for more modern phones.

 

[J. PUPSTER]

I am often attracted to professional equipment for a number of reasons. Balanced inputs and rack mount cases being two of them.

Vintage quad receivers always had headphone jacks fed off the main amplifier via dropping resistors. Modern equipment lacks that feature. A headphone amplifier becomes a necessity and as well provides better sound. For quad you would require two stereo headphone amplifiers but what about a professional unit? I recently purchased a "Rolls RA62C 6-Ch Pro Headphone Amp". That particular unit features RCA, XLR and TRS stereo inputs and has outputs for six sets of phones.

What makes it useful for multi channel sound is that each output amplifier also has a separate input via TRS jack on the rear panel. I take a longish dual RCA cable and cut it in half soldering a TRS (1/4" phone) on the cut ends to make up two input cables, one for front and one for the back channels. Plug in your quad phones and you're ready to go! That particular model has 1/4" output jacks for vintage/professional phones and 1/8" jacks for more modern phones.

I'll need to study this one; I like Rolls, I've got a small RCA switcher by them for the SMv2 in the Quad system. What model headphones do you like for this (and is it that much better than just plugging regular headphones into my QRX-8001?)
*edit - I see the QRX-8001 has headphone jacks for both Front and Back, just never tried to use both at the same time?

 

[jimfisheye]

I've been using that Rolls RA62 for in ear mixes for a long time now. I have two of them. Most bang for the buck I've found. The next step up are the 16 or more channel units aimed at the bigger monitor systems that sell for $xxxx prices. The Rolls actually has some gain vs the anemic amps found in the average audio interface or consumer electronics. And the jacks don't fail and fall apart like the Behringer Power Play tends to. (This is a true B-word product. Not like the more recent Behringer/Midas products. It's really a different company now.)

For some reason the makers of these things have it in their heads that someone wants to distribute the same mix to multiple headphones. Hence the single set of balanced inputs. The direct per channel inputs are stereo TRS unbalanced. (And you'll find models that don't have direct per channel inputs at all!)

Trying to do surround with some of those gamer headphones is another can or worms of course. (ie lo-fi.) But this is decent headphone amp. The boutique stuff for $xxx (which is usually only a single stereo output)... I mean, headphones are already a compromise IMHO. There's just no point.

 

[bevergerner]

Hello,
I like to conclude the following headphones at my two (Marantz 4400 and Sansui 9001):
Koss Phase 2 + 2
Toshiba HR 40
Technics EAH 400 or EAH 420
Tonally, current headphones are much better. I'll try to build current transducers in a double headphone in winter - I'm curious if that sounds better

 

[par4ken]

My favourite quad phones are the first pair that I ever purchased from Muntz Stereo the DR-163Q . DR-163Q After those I would say JVC Model 9544. I have several pairs of Koss phones, the K 2+2 and K/6LCQ as well a a pair of identical Sears phones. I had to rob drivers from some to fix others and have one set with modern drivers in it. I don't care for the way the Koss mounted their drivers (vertically) but they sound OK, they always had good bass.

The Koss Phase 2+2's were cool but rather inefficient and the foam rots away to nothing!

Hitachi and Toshiba phones have the drivers positioned horizontally the way I like but the drivers are not that great, they look like transistor radio speakers and those phones are humungus!

 

[bevergerner]

Hi,
I have never seen or read the Muntz. thanks for the link
And I have not read the Sears but not heard.
I both have to find for my collection.
If you want to sell or swap you just send me a PN

 

[par4ken]

Hi,
I have never seen or read the Muntz. thanks for the link
And I have not read the Sears but not heard.
I both have to find for my collection.
If you want to sell or swap you just send me a PN

Muntz was the name of the retailer. I don't think that the phones even have a brand name. The Sears phones are exactly the same as the Koss K/6LCQ just rebranded to be sold by Sears. They say Sears Quadra Phones By Koss and in very small print 9440.

 

[furui_suterioo]

I don't think that the phones even have a brand name.

They seem to be Elega brand, also made a few other models of quadphones:
https://20cheaddatebase-web-fc2-com...r_tl=en&_x_tr_hl=en-US&_x_tr_pto=ajax,nv,elem

 

[par4ken]

They seem to be Elega brand, also made a few other models of quadphones:
https://20cheaddatebase-web-fc2-com...r_tl=en&_x_tr_hl=en-US&_x_tr_pto=ajax,nv,elem

Still rather obscure, the phones themselves bear no brand name just the model number. When I was searching for information on the phones I came across a Muntz stereo flyer that listed the phones. I think that I got the only pair the Thunder Bay store had.

Muntz newspaper advertisement but from a different city (Lethbridge) Lethbridge Herald Newspaper Archives, Apr 30, 1976, p. 73 Click on Show article text (OCR) to read the details

 

[par4ken]

Theses phones are up for sale on fleaBay. A bit pricy but they are very similar to my DR-163Q. These are Elega model DR-174Q.

https://www.ebay.ca/itm/115225654218?hash=item1ad3fbf3ca:g:3aIAAOSwy9Rh87MU