Zoom Gear & Home Recording Forum

My band has 5 people and so that we can all record live we need to have 5 pairs of headphones so we can all hear each other clearly but the R16 only has 1 headphone output. Any ideas?

This is one solution to your problem.
http://www.sweetwater.com/c413--Headpho ... stribution

Brian

First of all, don't go the cheap route by just using splitters. The signal starts to degrade with two sets of headphones and you'll never be able to hear much by the time you get to five.

I have one of these, and am very happy with the bang for the buck:
http://www.guitarcenter.com/Live-Wire-Solutions-HA04-4-Channel-Headphone-Amplifier-103923504-i1372413.gc

It's nothing fancy, but each user gets to control volume, which is nice for personal tastes and is important if the headphones aren't identical. This unit only provides four outputs and you need five, but I'd hazard a guess that you could chain them with a stereo 1/4" plug from the output from one to the input of the other. You may want to look into that, though. If that works, you'll have a solution for $100, which seems cheap compared with some of the units with eight outputs.

Then again, this one is just a bit more and is a single unit with eight outputs. I don't have any experience with it, though:
http://www.guitarcenter.com/Nady-HPA-8---8-Channel-Headphone-Amplifier-620243-i1452651.gc

Agreed with the above posters...forget about splitters and use a dedicated headphone amp. It doesn't need to cost a lot of money (the linked one here is only $75 list, you'll get it for less on the street) See: http://www.behringer.com/EN/Products/AMP800.aspx
The best aspects of this amp are that you can connect up to 8 pairs of cans (the 4 output sockets on the front are duplicated by another 4 outputs on the back) and that means you can have 4 individual headphone volume controls to allow for the differing efficiencies and outputs of the 5 sets of cans (1 pair of cans will have to share 1 volume pot...no big deal, if you make those 2 the same type of headphone.. ie identical make/model) You can also run 2 different mixes into the amp eg from the Zoom and from another source, such as studio talkback, so you can see it's a pretty flexible unit, great performance and flexibility for the price !

[quote="hoodoo voodoo"] It doesn't need to cost a lot of money (the linked one here is only $75 list, you'll get it for less on the street) See: http://www.behringer.com/EN/Products/AMP800.aspx
.....actually I think it's more like $40 - $50 now street (or net) price

Hey, I gotta admit, that's pretty slick. Too bad I didn't come across that when I was in the market. Then again, at the time I had a need for something that day, walked into Guitar Center and saw something on the shelf. My Behringer bass amp has been chugging along for about four years without any problems, and I wouldn't hesitate to buy another of their products.

If your budget is really tight, The Behringer HA400 is a great little distribution amp with 4 individually controlled outputs.
Only costs $30. I have two. Never had any problems. Sound is good.
http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/3 ... ifier.html
With one of these, just hook into your r16's main outs, and use the r16's headphone outs for your fifth set.
Very cost effective.


If you have a bit more money to burn:
http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/3 ... A8000.html
At $140, this unit will cover your needs well beyond your immediate project. It has 8 independently controlled channels, but each has 2 headphone outs, giving you up to 16 musicians you can feed. Plenty of power. Nice sound. Very elegant. Extremely easy to use. I just got one a few days ago and used it for a project for the first time yesterday. Zero gliches using all eight channels.

If you still have a tad more money to invest, add this in. It will hugely increase the versatility of either of the above units:
http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/4 ... atrix.html
At $50, it allows you to feed your distribution amp and your moniters, playback amps, multiple powered speakers, etc... all from your main outs of the r16. An incredible bargain.

Behringer like Zoom makes a lot of products which over-perform for their price level.. I've never had even a hint of a problem with any of these items.

Keep in mind, while the sound of these items are all quite good, they in no way affect the signal going to the r16, so save your bucks for the part of the process which is super critical - what's going into the r16. As long as your musicians have a good, clear, working signal to their "cans", that's all that's necessary to get the job done quite well.

Don't forget, all these units are designed for 1/4 inch headphone jacks, so be sure you have the right adapters for this if needed.

Hey Clarence this looks like a great tool. I've been trying to find a solution to connect 2 sets of monitors and sub seamlessly and without the clutter of a mixer. This will do it. Thanks for the heads up.

You might check out Samson's (Zoom's parent company) C-Que 8- 4 channel-8 output headphone amp avaiilable at Sweetwater Sound (or most online Music Stores) for$99.97. 4 channels each with two outputs and EQ controls on each channel, so each of you can manage your own mixes. Or you might consider the Samson S-phone which also offers 4 channels each with 3 outputs and a stereo output on each channel, also with EQ for $169.97. I don't work for or am affiliated in any way with either Samson/Zoom or Sweetwater Sound. These are just some of the better deals that I found. Behringer does usually offer items that may be a little more affordable, and while I've had no problems with any of the Behringer equipment that I own, I would check out the product/customer reviews on these before buying-check out Musician's Friend.com. Rock on my friend...Jim