DR100 headphone output low?

KarlSutton

KarlSutton

Well-known member
I've tried a few different attempts with this recorder, with a NTG2, and a TLM103. Monitoring with Sony 7506 headphones it just isn't very loud & there is a fair amount of noise in the headphones.

They aren't even as loud as they are plugged into my ipod.

The recording is clean when I play it back through my studio, but on the DR itself it sounds noisy.

I'm wondering if the headphone amp is bad on the one I got or are other users experiencing the same thing?

I've been a audio post guy for over 15 years yet this is my first portable recorder - not sure what I should expect for less than $300.
 
I actually just picked up the DR 100 but I have not experienced any of what you are describing. Maybe try different headphones and see if it makes a difference.
 
Here's what I use for quiet headphone outs on consumery gadgets. Boostaroo 3-Channel Headphone Audio Amplifier and Splitter. It evwn lets 3 people share the headphone jack. Anyway, you turn your headphone volume all the way dowwn, plug this in and turn it on. Then turn up your volume to taste. I think it adds like 40db of boost.

http://www.radioshack.com/product/index.jsp?productId=2732095&CAWELAID=107598976#

UPDATE. The noise you hear may be because you have the volume up all the way, and it also may be that your recording level is up too much. See when you have a quiet mic that isn't going through a mixer, you tend to turn up the recording volume up high. Really the level best set to 50% or below, allowing the mixer to cleanly boost the signal. So the noise you hear may be just the noise from turning up the record volume too high, and boosting the preamp noise.
 
OK 40db was too high on the Boosteroo. More like 12, but 6db doubles the volume, so...

Specs (scroll down): http://www.upbeataudio.com/specs.html

* Into 8 ohm headphones - approximately 40 mW per channel, 12 dB gain in sound per
channel. Or 100% boost in loudness.

* Into 16 ohm headphones (stereo mini jack), approximately 40 mW per channel, 12 dB
gain in sound per channel.

* Into 25 ohm headphones: approximately 40 mW per channel, 11.1 dB gain in sound per channel.

* Into 32 ohm headphones: approximately 30 mW per channel, 10.9 dB gain in sound per channel.

* Into 64 ohm headphones: approximately 13.8 mW per channel, 10 dB gain in sound per channel.
 
Chad,

Thanks for the tip on the headphone amp, that would've never crossed my mind. I am setting the mic gain on high just to hear it in the headphones, although the medium setting makes fine sounding recordings.

I'm going to try running a 1202 mixer in front of it & see what happens, but ultimately I guess I'd like to know if I have a defective unit or if it's running within it's capacity.
 
update - did a test running my Rode into the Mackie 1202 & then into the DR100 - headphones were still not as loud as I would like but there was no noise.
 
Yeah Karl, it's just a slightly weal headphone amp. The little Boostaroo is a cheap investment that can help sometimes when you need that extra volume in your cans. I even us it on my EX1 camera.
 
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