Connecting monitor speakers to a headphone amp

[domsoon]

I have a couple of techie questions which I was hoping someone familiar with equipment would be able to answer. First of all, my set-up.

M-Audio Firewire Solo connected to Rolls Ha-43 Headphone amplifier, connected to a Tascam VL-X5 (monitor speakers).

Okay, here are the questions:

a) Is it alright to connect a headphone amp to powered monitor speakers?

b) Is it better to boost the volume on the monitor speakers, or increase the volume using the sliders on the headphone amp (HA-43), or does this make no difference?

c) The HA-43 has four output channels. I have problem where if I lower Channel 1 volume (monitor speakers) to 0, but boost the sound on Channel 2 (headphones), I can still hear sound coming out of the woofer on the monitor speakers - though not the tweeter. Why is this happening?

Okay, hope this is clear and that people aren't too confused.

Thanks!

Dominic

 

[unsane]

why are you using a headphone amp in the first place? there's no reason why the tascams shouldnt be loud enough even for high monitoring levels..

 

[domsoon]

I'm not using the headphone amp for it's amplifier, but rather as a mixer.

My audio interface doesn't allow me to control the line out/headphone output individually, so I use the headphone amp to lower the speaker volume and raise the headphone volume (and vice versa) when necessary.

 

[soft]

domsoon, you should connect your headphones to the Firewire Solo. you can control the headphone level using the knob.

then connect the monitor speakers to the Firewire Solo's Line Output.

you should be able to use the software to control the level on Line Output.

the Rolls mixer is not needed.

 

[domsoon]

Ah, you would think that wouldn't you. You would think that a sensible designer would allow the headphone and line level outputs to be controlled independently via software.

Sadly, that is not the case with the Firewire Solo (a strong reason NOT to get it - I believe the next model up allows you to do this.)

Just hoping that someone can answer the question directly rather than provide alternatives (I'm aware of the alternatives.)

a) Is it alright to connect a headphone amp to powered monitor speakers?

b) Is it better to boost the volume on the monitor speakers, or increase the volume using the sliders on the headphone amp (HA-43), or does this make no difference?

c) The HA-43 has four output channels. I have problem where if I lower Channel 1 volume (monitor speakers) to 0, but boost the sound on Channel 2 (headphones), I can still hear sound coming out of the woofer on the monitor speakers - though not the tweeter. Why is this happening?

 

[unsane]

i've never heard of connecting a headphone amp to monitors...doesnt sound like a good idea though, accidentally crank that sucker hard and you might risk overloading the monitor inputs or worse blowing it.

if you must, i suppose setting the monitor level high and controlling the volume from the headphone amp would be better as you probably run less risk of overloading that way..

wouldnt a cheap rolls headphone amp (or putting anything between your interface/monitors for that matter) degrade your signal path anyway?

in answer to (c), i reckon the rolls has crosstalk/bleed through issues in its internal signal path. i have a DOD passive line mixer that suffers the same problem.

come to think of it,maybe the line mixer would be a better choice than a headphone amp, at least its passive and you wont run the risk of overloading inputs..

 

[domsoon]

Hi unsane, thanks for replying!

I did try to use a line mixer, a cheap Behringer but it was way too noisy and annoyed the hell out of me. Any recommendations for cheap, reliable, high quality mixers that would do the job?

At the beginning I set the monitor level high and controlled the volume from the headphone amp, but I switched it around later (monitor level low, high volume from headphone amp). That's not a good idea? My concern was that if the monitor level were high, I could accidentally flick the slider and blow my ears (and my speaker cones) out. My knowledge of electronics is non-existent, so I'm wondering why you could "overload" the inputs and not the outputs.

Yeah, I did notice a degradation in sound quality after putting the Rolls amplifier. It's really not the ideal solution at all! The REAL solution is to upgrade my interface. (If anyone wants to buy a Firewire Solo, tell me!)

 

[unsane]

hmm my electronics knowledge is pretty iffy as well so maybe someone else could correct me if im wrong.

you have a point with the overloading outputs vs inputs thing, but i'd imagine that both scenarios are possible. problem lies when the headphone amp puts out too hot a signal from your interface into the monitors.. reckon if you set your monitor level high you would notice that SPLs were getting too loud before you could overload the input by bumping up the headphone amp...

jeez i hope im making sense hahaa.

actually wouldnt using the headphone amp between your interface headphone outs and headphones work better?

i dont know of any quality line mixers, but yeah maybe an interface upgrade is in order..tonnes of small ones for cheap these days.