Is connecting a headphone amp to headphone output of an audio interface ok?

[crx]

I need these headphones for mixing. They come with 3D spatial studio room modeling so I need them to sound absolutely right without any correction otherwise there’s no point.

 

[crx]

Here’s a link to the video talking about why interfaces can’t power planar headphones

 

[NTK]

Just feed the headphone amp using the headphone output of your audio interface. It will work just fine.

If you are still paranoid, then you can get a higher end headphone amp that has a bypass or one that can double duty as pre-amp, and feed your monitors using its output.
For example:

 

[twsecrest]

I want to buy the Slate Immersion One headphones that are planar unicorns and the internet says they are extremely difficult to drive and require some insane power from a very special amp that are like only 3 in the world that can do right now, and all those are Toppings. Something like that.

I don’t understand a darn thing about impedances and ohms. Tried to learn… it’s worse than nuclear physics.

I have a little Volt 176 interface at home which only has one pair of outputs going to my studio monitors.

A lot of people say you absolutely must get the best amp for those headphones otherwise they sound like crap and will be a waste of money. But I don’t want to waste money upgrading the interface just to get two extra outs and on top of that buy the preamp if headphones output of my existing interface is ok to use and won’t degrade the audio.

I read so many threads on this whole issue at gearspace and watched YouTube videos and the more I read and watch the more confused I get.

Lots of subjective opinions but I wonder if there’s actual some hard measurement data that is indisputable that says “yes measurements show clear degradation” or “no, the signal with proper gain stating remains unaffected”

The Slate Immersion One headphone headphones have a 32-Ohm impedance, so for best damping control, you want to plug them into a headphone amplifier that has an output impedance of 2.5-Ohms or less. Have no idea on the Volt 176 headphone jack's output impedance is.
But planer headphones do not seem as effected by the impedance issue as other headphones.
Me, if I bought the Slate Immersion One headphones, I would just plug them into the Volt 176 and guessing they would sound fine.

 

[john61ct]

Ooh interesting!

Thinking I could use headphone distribution amplifiers as inexpensive analog line output-only interfacii

each channel / group getting independent "just twist a knob" level control for level matching...

better than say ART / Behringer / Douk-Nobsound level quality

something like AKG HP12U ?

https://ebay.us/m/HmofXf

Recommendations please for known-good cleaner units, high value not pricey, or even with more output channels

And other feedback welcome is this idea just silly?

 

[john61ct]

Also broadcasting BT to a crowd, silent dance clubbing...

 

[solderdude]

I want to buy the Slate Immersion One headphones that are planar unicorns and the internet says they are extremely difficult to drive and require some insane power from a very special amp that are like only 3 in the world that can do right now, and all those are Toppings. Something like that.

I don’t understand a darn thing about impedances and ohms. Tried to learn… it’s worse than nuclear physics.

I have a little Volt 176 interface at home which only has one pair of outputs going to my studio monitors.

A lot of people say you absolutely must get the best amp for those headphones otherwise they sound like crap and will be a waste of money. But I don’t want to waste money upgrading the interface just to get two extra outs and on top of that buy the preamp if headphones output of my existing interface is ok to use and won’t degrade the audio.

I read so many threads on this whole issue at gearspace and watched YouTube videos and the more I read and watch the more confused I get.

Lots of subjective opinions but I wonder if there’s actual some hard measurement data that is indisputable that says “yes measurements show clear degradation” or “no, the signal with proper gain stating remains unaffected”

Yes, you WILL need an amplifier to power the Slate planar.
Inside there is a Sendy Audio driver and it appears to be spec'd at 96dB sensitivity which is likely and indeed very insensitive.
Yes it will have to be an amp rated > 2W in 32ohm.
The Topping L30-II is already more than enough to power this headphone. No need to buy more expensive models.
This can also be an amplifier that has 4.4mm Pentaconn or XLR-4 output but requires a cable for that.
Yes, you can perfectly use the headphones out from the Volt 176 as input for the headphone amp.
No, you do NOT need to worry about any impedance issues between the Volt and any headphone amp.
No, there is no 'magic' in the Slate you could easily use other headphones. It does pair nicely with their software though.

Maybe the link below will offer some insight.

Amplifiers

home back to buying guide published: Dec-03-2025 Not all headphone amplifiers are the same, in fact they all differ in several ways. To determine which headphone amplifier suits your needs you migh…

diyaudioheaven.wordpress.com

 

[DanielT]

(the video above is about plugging a mono 1/4" plug into a headphone out, which shorts one of the channels to ground, which older equipment might not like very much.)

That's not really what was addressed in this thread, since the video was about mono, or summing two channels, so it should be seen as general information, a warning to those who have thought about doing it.

OT:
Has that been mentioned in the thread? Headphone output on computer to a long, rather poorly shielded RCA cable....

It's like asking for trouble. Grounding issue, pick up noise. Not just a little noise in that case, it can unfortunately be quite audible.

 

[crx]

I just decided to upgrade my interface to the Topping E2x2 and call it a day.

 

[Mr. Swordfish]

OT:
Has that been mentioned in the thread? Headphone output on computer to a long, rather poorly shielded RCA cable....
View attachment 526179
It's like asking for trouble. Grounding issue, pick up noise. Not just a little noise in that case, it can unfortunately be quite audible.

Yes, I mentioned this a couple of times, but didn't bother to post a picture.

From an electrical perspective, it's no different than any dual RCA to RCA cable that everyone has used for decades to connect their consumer analog audio devices. Not "asking for trouble" at all, and you don't need expensive $1000 cables for this.

Granted, in a high RF environment like a transmitter shack, or if connecting a large number of devices together that are plugged into different AC circuits you can develop ground loops or RFI that is audible. For the typical home application, any problems are highly unlikely to be audible. As others have shown, you can run analog audio through a banana without audible degredation.

 

[DanielT]

Yes, I mentioned this a couple of times, but didn't bother to post a picture.

From an electrical perspective, it's no different than any dual RCA to RCA cable that everyone has used for decades to connect their consumer analog audio devices. Not "asking for trouble" at all, and you don't need expensive $1000 cables for this.

Granted, in a high RF environment like a transmitter shack, or if connecting a large number of devices together that are plugged into different AC circuits you can develop ground loops or RFI that is audible. For the typical home application, any problems are highly unlikely to be audible. As others have shown, you can run analog audio through a banana without audible degredation.

Problems for me I might add. It has been noisy with pick up noise and so on. BUT it was via an old laptop + perhaps not the best cord environment. In any case it was several years ago.

Nowadays sometimes either digital out with cable from tablet or mobile but mainly WiiM Mini digital out to external DAC. No problems.