"Norman Schwartz" wrote in message

"Arny Krueger" wrote in message
...
"Norman Schwartz" wrote in message
. net
"Arny Krueger" wrote in message
...
headphones.

Maybe it would be good to consider the technical differences
between the headphone jack on a piece of equipment that is designed
primarily for use with headphones, and those on a headphone amp,
which is after all a piece of equipment that is designed primarily
for use with headphones.

There are two different ways that headphone jacks are driven from the
circuitry in audio gear. In some cases there is a dedicated headphone
amplifier, whose quality may vary. If you get a good implementation
of this, then using an external amp could be a waste. One finds this
sort of thing in equipment that is designed to drive headphones as
the primary output, but one also finds it in components like
recorders and players that are used for audio production or home
multimedia or hifi.

One of my pre-amps (Adcom 565) has a headphone jack. I also have a
Creek OBH-11SE headphone amp. Where would you suggest I might get the
better quality sound from a Sennheiser HD600?

Not having the schematic diagrams or actual equipment for either device at
my disposal, I have no serious advice. However, if you think that your
headphones don't play loud enough suit you, you should try turning up the
volume. I don't mean this as an insult, because I have become aware of the
fact that some people are fearful of turning up the volume beyond 12 or 1
o'clock. There often is life beyond 1 o'clock with lots of equipment.

If your volume control is at 5 o'clock or you hear gross distortion, then
you should find a place too hook your phones up that has more output. One
such place is the output of your power amp, and another would be the output
of some kind of booster amp. With either, ear damage or headphone damage is
a possibility.

Perhaps you don't like the basic tone quality of the HD600s. Then, your
options are equalization or simply getting different headphones.

In other cases the headphone is driven by some resistors tapped off
of output circuitry that is designed for other purposes. One
commonly finds this in receivers and integrated amplifiers, but also
sometimes in devices that have just line output jacks. In most
cases, you want to use an external headphone amp with headphone
jacks implemented with resistive taps.

Most CD players have headphone jacks and they also offer level
control and some gain. My Marantz ("Professional") 331 is one such
player. How would you suggest I might get the better sound; driving
amplifiers from its headphone jack or from one of its "fixed" line
outs?

Please see my former comments.