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Gear / Technical Help => Ask The Tapers => Topic started by: pdastoor on April 22, 2016, 12:31:33 AM

Title: Do I need a headphone amplifier?
Post by: pdastoor on April 22, 2016, 12:31:33 AM
Earlier on I was testing out my equipment to record voice for films and I could not hear any sound (very little) using my headphones even though the meter showed -24 dB.

Here is what I did. Rode NTG-2 plugged into a Sound Devices MP1 preamp, then the XLR from the preamp plugged into Tascam DRMK II. I had phantom power turned on with the pre and my gain was set all the way high on the pre. My levels on the tascam were on 0 and with that I could see -24 dB and i could see it was picking up sound but i could barely hear anything. Then I cranked up the levels on the tascam all the way and it was way too loud but I could hear everything.

On my pc I played back the file that was recorded with -24 dB and it sounded very good and clean and I could hear it well, just could not hear it properly when I was monitoring it on the tascam. Yes I had my volume levels all the way up.

What could be the issue? I have never used a headphone amp and am not sure if this is what I need. If so, could anyone recommend me one that I can use? Most of them have XLR slots, but my headphones are 3.5 mm