Simple amp with volume, tone and headphone socket?

Forums › Home Theatre (including HTPC and EPG Collector) › Simple amp with volume, tone and headphone socket?

geekIT

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#250979 3-Jun-2019 18:08

Looking for a simple amp to take the output from a computer and boost volume, tone adjustment. Headphone port is crucial.

No other bells and whistles needed.

Anything like this available in NZ? Or elsewhere?

I've scanned Alibaba but not impressed.

Budget approx $100-120 NZD.

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hio77

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#2250632 3-Jun-2019 18:10

if you didnt require the tone adjustment, i'd be heavily recommending a schiit Fulla.

Picked one up a little while ago now, and it's a brilliant dac & amp.

Also was a bit of a laugh the first time i plugged it in..

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richms

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#2250656 3-Jun-2019 18:50

If its a PC for playback then that is a much better place to do the tone control than an amplifier.

Richard rich.ms

floydie

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#2250674 3-Jun-2019 19:18

Second hand rotel amp?

Fred99

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#2250905 4-Jun-2019 10:08

geekIT:

Looking for a simple amp to take the output from a computer and boost volume, tone adjustment. Headphone port is crucial.

No other bells and whistles needed.

Anything like this available in NZ? Or elsewhere?

I've scanned Alibaba but not impressed.

Budget approx $100-120 NZD.

This has lots of bells and whistles, I hate overfeatured things like this, but it would do the trick:

https://www.surplustronics.co.nz/products/9716-digital-stereo-amplifier-with-bluetooth

Better might be something like this:

https://www.trademe.co.nz/electronics-photography/home-audio/amplifiers-tuners/listing-2166357431.htm?rsqid=3ca691626a0c4de7940c46667a72dfbf-002

No tone (or bass/treble) controls, but as mentioned above, you can EQ using software on the PC if needed.

Also mentioned above is just getting a used stereo amp. Use a 3.5mm TRS headphone plug to 2 x RCA cable adapter, plug RCAs into aux input on the amp.

geekIT

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#2251059 4-Jun-2019 12:23

Thanks, guys.

A little more info about my requirements:

My wife is doing video captioning on her computer, and listens to the customers' voices via headphones.

The speech data varies a great deal: in sound level and pitch, intonation, accent (Scotch, Welsh, Irish, Indian, Australian, French etc) and is further distorted by bad pronunciation and incorrect word choice.

So it's important for her to have as much control as possible over what she hears.

Hence my choice of a small amp with a headphone port, volume and tone controls. Those three items are essential.

Okay, I could add a sound card to her tower, but its output needs controlling by mouse or keyboard - more complicated than rotary knobs.

Yes, an old amp might do - I've been using those on my own PCs for years.

But I'd like to get her something new. There's one I spotted on Ali that looked OK, but it had no headphone output. Unless it's possible to convert speaker-out to a headphone port? I've no idea, I'm no audio engineer.

Anyway, I'll check out the links. Cheers :-)

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elpenguino

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#2253725 7-Jun-2019 12:47

geekIT:

Unless it's possible to convert speaker-out to a headphone port? I've no idea, I'm no audio engineer.

Yes, it's easy to convert speaker level down to headphone level - just need some resistors.

That's how they do it in the amp itself.

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richms

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#2253893 7-Jun-2019 15:25

elpenguino:

Yes, it's easy to convert speaker level down to headphone level - just need some resistors.

That's how they do it in the amp itself.

Unless it's a bridged amplifier in which case you cant have a common connection between the 2 sides of the headphone, as almost 100% of headphones have.

Richard rich.ms

elpenguino

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#2253939 7-Jun-2019 15:34

richms:

elpenguino:

Yes, it's easy to convert speaker level down to headphone level - just need some resistors.

That's how they do it in the amp itself.

Unless it's a bridged amplifier in which case you cant have a common connection between the 2 sides of the headphone, as almost 100% of headphones have.

If it's bridged you use each 'positive' or each 'negative' with an independent or chassis earth.

Most of the posters in this thread are just like chimpanzees on MDMA, full of feelings of bonhomie, joy, and optimism. Fred99 8/4/21

geekIT

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#2254444 8-Jun-2019 16:54

"Yes, it's easy to convert speaker level down to headphone level - just need some resistors."

Sounds promising. Is there a ready-made gizmo that does this?

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kiwiharry

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#2254483 8-Jun-2019 18:51

Would a simple audio mixer with USB input, such as this suit you?

https://www.rockshop.co.nz/shop/behringer-xenyx-302-premium-5-input-2-bus-mixer-with-xenyx-preamps-british-eqs-and-usb.html

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#2254514 8-Jun-2019 19:45

I have a Fiio E17 USB Amp for sale

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geekIT

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#2254909 9-Jun-2019 17:34

kiwiharry and Batman:

Thanks, guys. I'll check out both devices and come back.

Cheers :-)

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1101

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#2255069 10-Jun-2019 09:41

I use one of these , Topping amp. Its much smaller than the Pioneer hifi amp I used to use for PC sound.
No tone controls, but as noted above, thats built into Windows anyway. Just a few mouse clicks, some audio drivers even have an eq function

https://www.trademe.co.nz/electronics-photography/home-audio/amplifiers-tuners/listing-2181680791.htm