Re: Headphone amp / mixer

Posted by MAO on Dec 06, 2018; 5:51am
URL: http://guitar-fx-layouts.238.s1.nabble.com/Headphone-amp-mixer-tp44796p44973.html

I would say the simple answer is if the cab sim doesn't have a headphone output, then most likely you would need a headphone amp.

As I understand it, in non-technical terms, a simple cab sim will roll off the highs and usually has a notch filter or two to mimic the frequency curve of a particular cabinet/speaker combo.  

To work properly with a pair of headphones, the output signal also needs to be increased a good bit AND the output impedance needs to be low enough to drive a pair of speakers. Cab sims may or may not provide this.  

A high output pedal may be able to drive a pair of headphones on it's own, but most likely will not be very loud, and not sound very good due to the impedance mismatch and all those frequencies passing through.