Behringer Review: HA4400 Headphone Amplifier

History:

Purchase: I discovered this headphone amplifier/splitter in the American Music Supply catalog and fell in love with the specs. The price at the time was $119.99, and that was $50 less than any other product that could even come close to the features. A few weeks ago, they dropped the price to $89.99, and I just couldn't resist the urge and ordered immediately. It was backordered and took a month to come, but it was well worth the wait...

What I Like About This Behringer HA4400 Headphone Amplifier: First of all, no other headphone amplifier even comes close to the features offered in this unit. It has 4 channels worth of controls, and each channel has three outputs giving you a total of 12 channels of amplification. There are stereo, gold-plated 1/4" and XLR inputs and outputs, with a main insert that mutes the master inputs and feeds the insert signal to all four channels. Each channel also has an auxiliary input that you can mix individually with the master input, for click track purposes or just to individualize the mix for each channel. Each channel also has the capability of listening in stereo or mono mode with the push of a button, with the capability to mute out either the left or right input independently. When you mute out either side in mono mode, the unit automatically routes the other signal to both sides. And the signal is HOT. no scrimpng on the quality of the amplifiers in this thing. All in all, this unit blows away the competition in price, features, and even the overall concept. Behringer has a habit of putting useful ideas into practice with all of their gear, and this unit is no exception.

What I Do NOT Like About The Behringer HA4400 Headphone Amplifier: The only thing I think this unit could use is a master auxiliary input. As is, you have to have 4 seperate cables if you want to insert the same signal into all of the channels. Really though, when you consider that no other unit even has an aux in, this isn't that big of a concession to make.

Behringer HA4400 Headphone Amplifier Quality Rating: It's quite ruggedly built, and the pots are really solid. They won't come off with a little tug or even a good bashing like other products. The fittings all seem really snug and the power cord is nice and long. Oh, and there are nice metering LED's for both the master input and each channel's output.

Review Summary: Great unit. A definite must have for any studio, or for anyone who does hardwired in ear monitoring. You can get two of these for the price of one of the cheapest competition models, and you'll have at least 4-6 times as many outputs. If you don't have one, get two or three, and then send me a Christmas present to thank me...

Rating of this Behringer product: 5

This Behringer HA4400 Headphone Amplifier Recording Gear Review Submitted By: Layne Rogers

Review Date: 2002-01-04