Mesa Cab Clone - Headphone Out

[prs19]

So a Mesa Cab Clone that I ordered a month or so ago finally arrived today. I've been super excited about this because I recently converted from a Line6 setup (which I enjoyed!) to a Mesa Boogie Express Plus 5:25 and a TC Electronic G-System. The amp volume is a problem at night with a 6 month old. The cab clone seemed to give me the opportunity to try and get to know my amp and setup through a set of headphones. Well, I got it all hooked up tonight and super excited to try everything. I turned everything on and the headphones were extremely low volume. So low to the point that I can almost hear more of the guitar acoustically than through the headphones. The manual clearly states that the headphone volume is controlled by the amp volume settings. All I know is when I have pretty much everything dimed it's still a very low volume. I would be getting calls from the neighbors if the speaker were plugged in at this setting.

Just curious if others have experienced this. Only two things that I can think of is my headphone impedance is too high (they are studio monitor headphones) or I need a headphone amp on the headphone output. I hope its the headphones themselves and that I don't need a headphone amp. With the cost of the cab clone and a headphone amp I'd be better off buying another solid state amp that will give me the headphone out ability.

Thoughts? Thanks.

 

[alantig]

There is no volume control on the headphone jack for the CabClone - it's a passive device. When I tried mine out at the store, there were times I couldn't hear it because somebody behind me was cranking a half-stack. There was a definite difference between when I was playing at a lower clean volume and when I had the gain ripping. But it doesn't sound like that's what's happening with yours.

Do you have another pair of headphones you can try? Is the amp impedance the same as the CC? You can double-check all the connections to make sure they're firm. Maybe try plugging the speaker into the CC and see if it's passing through the full volume. Silly question - are you using a speaker cable from the amp to the CC?

 

[prs19]

I got to try another set of headphones this morning. No dice. I tried a true speaker cable between the amp and the Cab Clone. No dice. I confirmed that I am using the 8 Ohm output on the amp into the 8 Ohm version of the Cab Clone. I plugged in the speaker to the through port and it was extremely loud!!!

The only thing I have not tried is a different 1/4" to 1/8" converter for the headphones. The other thing that came to me today is that since it's a passive device, maybe a 25 watt amp just doesn't get real loud in the headphone out. What do you guys think?

 

[László]

What's the impedance spec of your headphones?

Most studio cans have been in the 150-700 ohm range historically. These will be significantly quieter than, say, a headphone with an impedance below 25 ohms.

Even a 70 ohm Beyer DT770 will be quieter than something made with very low impedance.

How does the Cab Clone work with its line level output plugged into, say, a computer interface or mixer?

 

[ARCHON]

Since its a passive device I would imagine you would still need some kind of headphone amplifier.

 

[prs19]

Thanks to the feedback guys.

Ive tried three headphones now with 64, 27, and 16 ohms. The 27 and 16 ohms are earbuds (Klipsch and Shure respectively). Still not a large volume capability although the Shure is louder than the monitor headphones (cheap monitor headphones).

I used an iTrack solo into Auria on a gen2 iPad. At mic level input (-30 dB) I ran the itrack input gain at 12 o'clock. Using the direct monitoring into the monitor headphones I am able to get good volume.

i think that so far things are working as designed. This seems to imply to me that to get any kind of real practice volume in your ears you'll need to have the a headphone amp (as suggested above).

Thanks!

 

[prs19]

So I've been working with Sweetwater tech support on this. Turns out the unit is functioning as intended. In short, amps at 100 watt will drive the headphones just fine. The further you get from 100 watts, the higher the need for a headphone amplifier. Tech support was great at Sweetwater!

 

[alantig]

Interesting. When I tried it at the store, it was with an Orange Jim Root Dark Terror - max 15 watts. Seemed plenty loud to me with the gain up, but when the amp the amp was clean, it was much quieter. I haven't really tried it with headphones w/the Archon on 100w. Will probably have to try that.

 

[Rookie]

I used an iTrack solo into Auria on a gen2 iPad. At mic level input (-30 dB) I ran the itrack input gain at 12 o'clock. Using the direct monitoring into the monitor headphones I am able to get good volume.

A headphone output should be in the "line out" range. If you're taking the headphone and putting it into the mic-in of a device in order to get decent level, something doesn't seem right to me.
However, there are lots of inexpensive headphone amps. I got a battery powered one by Whirlwind off e-Bay for $30. I don't like that it uses two 9v. though. The Shure FP-22 is a standard.
I'd be looking into an A/C powered headphone amp since you're not using it in the field.