Cmoy Amp Idea/Quistion.

[Diablo2K]

I been thinking about this idea and I dont see why it wouldn't work and be fairly easy to do.
I know there are alot of new 5.1 headphones out there now, and I have heard people asking for 5.1 headphone amps. Why couldn't some put together 3 Cmoy amps and use tem for a 5.1 amp? Only down side I would see is that you would have at least 3 volume knobs, ( I would suggest 4, one for Front, One for Rear, One for Center, and one for sub). you could put the 3 amps in a single project box, power them from a single wall wart and not only would you have a good 5.1 headphone amp you would also have the ability to control the levels of the differant channels. you could also set it up so that you have your standard speakers plugeed into the amp and when you plug in your headphones the speakers shut off.
How feasable is this? I do not know much about electronics, I never put together one of these amps before but I plan on doing so soon, maybe even giving this idea a shot.

 

[unhappy_mage]

The general consensus on 5.1 headphones is that they're not worth whatever you pay for them. So building a headphone amp for headphones that aren't any good in the first place won't help any.

 

[Mister X]

http://headwize.com/ubb/showpage.php?fnum=3&tid=5729

 

[ColStripe]

Ever heard of the phrase, "You can't shit s**t." There's your solution. Don't bother. There's not such thing as good 5.1 headphones.

 

[SJetski71]

The general consensus on 5.1 headphones is that they're shit and not worth what you pay for them. So building a headphone amp for headphones that are shit in the first place won't help any.

made almost sig worthy

I can't speak from experience, but i'll take 100 lunatic audiophile opinions on it any day, and they all seem to say the same thing about 5.1 headphones.

Although MisterX did post an interesting link there...

 

[Mister X]

I agree that multichannel headphones suck but I also think it would be a fun and interesting little project.

If you take it a step further you could even get it to work as a drive bay type amp.

(but that requires a specialized CMoy variant)

 

[FaRKle0079]

Yeah, 5.1 headphones suck. You want soundstage and surround sound get a device with Dolby Headphone. That works well. With any 5.1 headphone the drivers are garbage, and they're too small. Plus they totally suck with music. Music sounds better without Dolby Headphone too!

Here's a good setup for music:
Emu 0404 ---> amp ---> Good headphones (not highly marketed crap)

Good setup for games:
X-Fi or ZS2 ---> AT A500 or A900

Good for Music and Games:
X-Fi or ZS2 ---> Emu 0404 ---> amp ---> Good headphones.

 

[unhappy_mage]

made almost sig worthy

Someone read my mind... I'm far too nice to say that, but I was thinking it pretty loud.

I agree with MisterX; not really worth it in terms of sound quality, but an interesting project on general principles.

 

[Diablo2K]

Ok, when I was thinking up this idea I wasn't planning on useing it for 5.1 headphones, I dont have any and dont plan on getting any. I was actually thinking of hooking up my computer speakers to it, I have Logitech X-530s and although they sound pretty good I would like more control of the volume levels of each channel. the wayit is now is I have to go into the sound drivers to adjust the channels, which sucks if you want to set them up for a game, you have to keep going in and out of the game to adjust the volume to the differant channels. my rear speakers are hard to hear most of the time and I would like an easy way to increase the rear volume levels.
I already know that most if not all 5.1 headphones suck, that is not whay I brought up this discussion, it was to ask about the feasability of a 5.1 amp useing 3 cmoy amps!

So please stick to the subject and stop bashing 5.1 headphones!