As the topic states, I'm looking for a USB/FW interface in the $350 (street price, not MSRP) range with a good headphone out. And by "good" I mean a headphone out that can drive low and high impedance headphones with a flat frequency response, low distortion, and to loud volumes.

You'd think this would be easy to find. But I've run into a number of problems. Some interfaces have a high (a lot higher than 0) impedance output and this results in alteration in the FR of some low impedance headphone.

I've tried the following and rejected them for reasons I'll state.

EMU 0404 USB - It's been a while since I tested this, but I've had to really crank the headphone out to get any decent volume out of it with some headphones. Plus, as a personal bias, I'm not inclined to buy from a company associated with Creative.

Presonus Firebox - This is supposed to have the same headphone amp as the HP4. I've tried the HP4 and it adds an RMAA verified an ABXable amount of bass boost to two of the low impedance headphones I use.

M-Audio Profile 610 - I went to test this out yesterday. The salesperson and I could not get this working with the computer. Throughout the process of mucking with the computer, the salesperson kept mumbling "M-Audio" in a very sarcastic tone. At the end of it he admitted that a lot of his support calls were about M-Audio drivers hassles. Even though most of the stuff being sold at the store was M-Audio, he wasn't inclined to recommend any M-Audio products to me. A number of reviews on the web also include complaints about M-Audio drivers.

I don't want to deal with poor drivers. Anybody who used computers in the era when special (not built into the OS) drivers were needed for everything (including drive controllers) can understand this.

Does anybody have any experience with Edirol or Echo products? Many products from both companies seem to have good comments as far as reliability, functionality, and drivers.

Thanks for the help.

Have you considered a dedicated headphone amp? Like this:
http://www.practicaldevices.com/xm5_pictures.htm

or this...

http://www.headphone.com/products/headphon...tal-bithead.php

I dont' have personal experience with the total BitHead amp, but I've read many good things about in the various forums.

I do have personal experience with Practical Devices products. I have the XM4. I've been using it for over a year and I'm very happy with it. Their service is great too. The XM5 is basically the same circuit with the addition of a DAC with a USB connection. I'm pretty certain it has plenty of power to drive just about any headphones. Using my standard headphones (Sony MDR-V600), I would probably blow out the driver or my ear drums (or both) if I cranked the volume way up.

Regarding driver compatability, you can check out the FAQs on their websites. I think they us pretty generic chipsets that are compatable with just about any OS.

It's frustrating that you can't try these out in person, but places like this usually have a very generous return policy for that very reason.

Good luck!

I'm looking for an audio interface because I need an ADC for eqiupment tests and recording.

Having played the headphone amp game with a number of audiophile amps, I have little interest in most headphone amps.

I am, however, somewhat astonished by the practical devices amp. Compared to a lot of the other headphone amps out there, the price is actually quite sensible for all the stuff they've packed in there. They even have RMAA measurements and clear declaration of the opamps they use, which is a miracle considering many audiophile headphone amp manufactures erase or obscure their opamps numbers. It's still expensive for a headphone amp though.

Hmmm, OK.

I agree about Practical Devices. The feature list/cost is what drove me to them. I regularly use the feature where it will turn itself off after a certain amount of time. You can pay insane amounts of money for other devices that have half the features.

The XM5 is a bit pricy to me though as well. I wouldn't jump on that unless I had a reall strong need for a USB->headphone interface.


Something else to consider is a device made by Artcessories:
http://www.artproaudio.com/products.asp?ty...at=9&id=128

It is a USB interface will a line in and a built in phone preamp to allow xfers of lps from a turntable without the need for a receiver with a built in preamp. It works very well for that and includes level adjustment via a knob. Additinoally, it has a headphone jack with a pot for volume adjustment. As a matter of fact, I've been trying it out as a headphone amp recently It is working out well, though I have to say it isn't as quiet as my XM4. There is no digital hash, but the noise floor is a little higher than my XM4, which is dead quiet. However, it does a lot and cost MUCH less than the XM5. It's also light years better than the built in headphone jack on my laptop :-).

Perhaps that will suit your needs.

BTW, you can buy the Artcessories device from either Musician's Friend or Amazon.

HP4 isn't an audio interface