| Content | Whether you’re tracking, mixing, or just listening to music, your headphone amplifier is as important to the final sound quality as your headphones – yet the world is full of headphone amps with compromised sonics, headroom, and power. To address these shortcomings, Rupert and his team at Rupert Neve Designs developed the RNHP.
Based on the headphone output circuit in the 5060 Centerpiece Desktop Mixer, the RNHP is a dedicated 24V reference-quality headphone amplifier with +4dBu balanced line, unbalanced RCA and 3.5mm (1/8”) inputs – each specifically calibrated for optimum level and impedance – and housed in a rugged, VESA-mountable steel chassis.
Dedicated vs Integrated Amplifiers
For much equipment, the headphone output is an afterthought. Most products with integrated headphone amps have large feature sets, small footprints, and relatively low price points. This leads to compromised power and audio quality of the headphone amplifier itself, which can lead to a number of issues in real world usage such as low headroom, unreliable performance, and a lack of focus.
The RNHP was made to accomplish one simple purpose: making any headphones sound their best. As a dedicated design, the RNHP is tailored to deliver extremely high quality, powerful amplification, with precise calibration for any source input. This exceptional level of quality can be the difference that inspires an artist to give their best performance, lets an engineer make better choices in mic and placement, gives a mix engineer reliable translation of EQ and dynamics adjustments, or lets a music listener appreciate the full depth and detail of a recording.
MAXIMUM INPUT LEVELS
- “A” XLR I/P: +22.8 dBu @ 1 kHz
- “B” RCA I/P: +14.7 dBu @ 1 kHz,
- “C” 3.5mm I/P: +3.3 dBu @ 1 kHz
OUTPUT POWER
- As measured with typical headphones, Z=44 Ohm: 3.617 VAC RMS @ 1 kHz = 300mW RMS.
- 16 Ohm typical Load: 1.933 VAC RMS @ 1 kHz = 230mW RMS
- 150 Ohm typical Load: 5.108 VAC RMS @ 1 kHz = 175mW RMS
OUTPUT IMPEDANCE
.08 Ohm @ 1 kHz, 16-150 Ohm load, 0 dBu input
FREQUENCY RESPONSE
+/- .2 dB from 10 Hz to 120 kHz
NOISE
- Measured with typical headphones, Z = 44 Ohm, BW 22 Hz - 22 kHz.
- “A” XLR Input: -101.9 dBV,
- “B” RCA Input: -100.9 dBV
- “C” 3.5mm Input: -88.8 dBV
DIMENSIONS
6.5” wide x 4.6” deep and 1.9” tall
POWER SUPPLY REQUIREMENTS
24VDC @ 0.25Amp (6 watt) minimum. Use with supplied power adapter, as this has been carefully selected for best output power and noise performance. May be used with a properly configured 24V battery as well. | The product that started it all for Empirical Labs. Born of founder Dave Derr’s love of classic compressors like the 1176, LA-2A and Gain Brain (among others), the Distressor incorporates his favorite sonic characteristics of these, along with other unique and interesting features that have made it a staple for audio engineers all over the world. With over 28,000 units in the field, it’s safe to say that the Distressor is one of the best selling high end compressors of all time… if not THE best selling. A prominent recording engineer recently wagered that there probably was not a top 40 record made in the last five years that didn’t have at least one Distressor on it.
Besides providing a wide range of control and a unique feature set, the Distressor offers a warm, vintage sound by using a custom designed gain control circuit. This “warmth” or “vintage sound” has become a major issue in the last few decades, as the super clear and linear digital technology does next to nothing to soften “harsh” sounds, nor emphasize the bass frequencies in music sources. Conversely, older analog tape, vinyl records and tube equipment could not be prevented from coloring the sound, often to the frustration of recording engineers. However, many people now realize that this coloring can be extremely pleasant and musical. Digital technology is often referred to as “cold” and “brittle” among other terms (although we prefer “unforgiving”).
Unique Compression Curves
All eight of the Distressor’s curves are unique and distinctive, from the 1:1 mode that simply warms up signal with low order harmonics without intentional compression, to the “Nuke” setting – a brick wall limiting curve that shines on live drum room mics. Each curve has its own personality and several actually use different circuitry, and are effectively different compressors. Most exceptional is the 10:1 “Opto” ratio which uses separate detector circuitry to emulate the oldest (and valued) “light controlled” devices, such as the LA-2A.
Distortion (Color) Modes
Another large part of the Distressor’s personality and power derive from three modes that color the signal, even without compression. These extended audio modes were designed to allow emulation of some very old and expensive vintage compressors & limiters, and let the Distressor deliver a classic “knee” sound all its own by providing user programmable, warm harmonic distortion. In addition to the basic distortion mode, Distort 2 emphasizes tube-like 2nd order harmonics, while in Distort 3 setting the distortion becomes dominated by 3rd harmonics more closely resembling tape. Two HP filters – one in the audio path, one in the detector path – are also available to help with low frequencies that can cause pumping and breathing.
- Frequency Response – 2 Hz to 160 kHz in clean audio mode (+0, -3 dB). Response is shaped in distortion modes (Dist 2, Dist 3).
- Dynamic Range – 110 dB from max. output to min. output in 1:1 mode. Greater than 100 dB signal to noise in distort 3 mode.
- Distortion – ranges between .02% and 20% depending on distortion mode and release times set on front panel.
- I/O – DC Coupled input and outputs.
- Time Constants – Attack range 50uS – 50mS. Release range .05 sec to 3.5 seconds, normal modes and up to 20 seconds in 10:1 opto mode. Time constants are dependent on ratio.
- Power Consumption – 15 Watts Max.
- Metal Chassis – single height 1.75″ high, 10″ deep, 19″ wide.
- Shipping info – 12.1 lbs mono. Mono box dimensions 22.5″ x 18.5″ x 3 1/4″.
| The Suhr Reactive Load delivers a simple solution to capture all of the warmth, and dynamics of your sound, without the hassle of miking a speaker cabinet during a live or recorded performance.
The Reactive Load takes the place of your speaker cabinet in your signal chain. It provides an 8Ω load for your tube amplifier (maximum 100 watts), and produces a balanced and unbalanced signal that interfaces with recording devices, effects, and power amplifiers.
The Suhr Reactive Load is the perfect link between your amplifier and computer audio recording interface. You can use the Reactive Load with your existing library of speaker impulse responses (IR) for the most realistic direct recording experience possible.
Traditional resistive load boxes will safely load your amplifier, but they also alter the tone, dynamics, and response of your amplifier. Real speakers do not have a fixed resistance across the entire frequency spectrum. Real speakers are reactive.
The impedance curve of the Reactive Load has been painstakingly tuned to react like a speaker. Your amp will never know the difference.
The Reactive Load is dedicated to being the absolute best load box possible with zero compromises, and therefore does not include speaker emulation. You can use the Reactive Load with your speaker-sim or impulse response of choice, and benefit from the natural response, dynamics, and touch sensitivity of your amp.
The Suhr Reactive Load features a balanced or unbalanced line level output. The INPUT is optimized for the 8 ohm output of your amplifier and the THRU jack can be connected to a physical speaker cabinet. If a physical cabinet is connected to the THRU jack, the Reactive Load’s internal load is bypassed and the amp will see the load of the physical cabinet.
SPEAKER INPUT IMPEDANCE: 8 Ohm
DI / LINE OUT LEVEL: +4 dBu at 7 watts input, maximum level setting
BALANCED LINE OUTPUT IMPEDANCE: Less than 6KΩ
UNBALANCED LINE OUTPUT IMPEDANCE: Less than 6KΩ
MAXIMUM RECOMMENDED INPUT POWER: 100 Watts RMS
ROHS COMPLIANT: Yes
DIMENSIONS: 8.8" (W) x 8.9" (D) x 3.6" (H)
WEIGHT: 6.6lb | FEATURES
- World-class, transformer-coupled preamp, compressor, and DI
- Gain: 0 - 66dB in 6dB increments
- Compressor: Single-knob opto-coupler compressor with 2:1 ratio
- Blend: Determines balance of mic and DI inputs
- Instrument gain: 0 - 30dB on instrument input
- 48V phantom power
- Silk: Adds nostalgic warmth and presence when engaged
- Instrument input: Front-panel TRS input and passive-through for Hi-Z sources
- Polarity reverse
- Threshold: When signals exceed threshold level, gain is reduced at a controlled 2:1 ratio with fixed attack and release time constants
- Indicators: Signal presence and clipping on both mic and DI signals, as well as compressor activation.
TECHNICAL SPECIFICATION
Rupert Neve Designs Portico 517: 500 Series Mic Pre / DI / Comp
- Frequency Response: Main Output, no load, -0.2dB @ 10Hz -3dB @ 160kHz
- Noise measured at main output, unweighted, 22Hz - 22kHz, terminated 150 ohm: Gain at unity: better than -100dBu; gain at 66dB: better than -62dBu Equivalent Input Noise: better than -128dBu, noise factor 1.5dB
- Maximum output level from 20Hz to 40kHz: +23dBu
- Total Harmonic Distortion and Noise: @ 1kHz, +20 dBu output: Main Output: Better than 0.001% @ 20Hz, +20 dBu output: Main Output: Better than 0.002% Silk Engaged: Better than 0.2% Second harmonic
- Crosstalk: Measured channel to channel: Better than -90dB @ 15kHz.
- Phantom Power: +48 Volts DC +/- 1%
|
The Cranborne Audio 500R8 is, essentially, a studio in a rack. It’s an 8-slot high-current 500 Series chassis, a 28-in/30-out USB interface, an analog summing mixer, a zero-latency artist mixer, and a monitor controller — everything you need to build your dream hybrid analog/digital studio. The 500R8 is fitted with high-performance AD-DA conversion, reference-grade headphone amplifiers, a reference-quality master clock, and more. In fact, there’s very little you can’t do with the Cranborne Audio 500R8. Configure it to suit your preferred analog flavoring for any source. Pack it with vintage-style 500 Series preamps for recording drums; clean, pristine preamps for vocals; and EQ, compression, and saturation modules when it’s time for mixdown.
USB audio interface
Connect the 500R8 directly to your Mac or PC via USB and utilize the 500R8’s onboard 28-in/30-out USB audio interface for recording and playback directly to and from your digital audio workstation of choice.
Discrete summing mixer
Give your mix the crowning touch of analog character by sending submixes and stems back through your 500 Series modules, into the 500R8’s discrete analog summing mixer, and back into your DAW.
Monitor controller
Use the 500R8’s onboard high-headroom monitor controller to switch between two sets of speakers, toggle mono sum, mute, dim, and talkback facilities while monitoring the peak level of your mix on the high-resolution 28-segment LED meter.
 Shown with optional 500 Series modules
Audiophile headphone amps and zero-latency artist mixer
Drive any headphones with 500R8’s two reference-grade headphone amplifiers — they have enough power to drive low-impedance ’phones with gobs of headroom and a linear frequency response to below 1Hz! Use the 500R8’s two aux buses to create pristine analog cue mixes that you can blend with DAW playback and send to the talent with zero latency.
World-class conversion and clocking
For the musician who wants to get down to business, it may be hard to get excited about conversion and clocking. But engineers at Sweetwater get to check out the best of them — and we’re amped about these converters. They’re touted as best-in-class and flaunt truly impressive specs such as under .5 picoseconds of jitter. But none of that really matters when you hear the fullness of your stereo image bloom with jaw-dropping sonic clarity.
Connect the 500R8 to your macOS or Windows computer and capture every nuance of your sources with reference-grade AD/DA conversion and world-class internal clocking. Effortlessly pass audio between analog and digital worlds without the digital artifacts that color, cloud, and degrade your recordings. The only coloration you will hear is intentional — your microphone placements, mixing decisions, and the 500 Series modules you’ve chosen to use. And with word clock I/O, you can even share the 500R8’s world-class clocking with the rest of your digital gear.
Ample I/O and configurable front end
The 500R8 has generous I/O to integrate with all of your analog and digital hardware, so you can mix and match your 500 Series modules and find the best combinations during recording and mixing to help create your own signature analog sound. You can even integrate your 19" rack units via the 500R8 s dedicated per-slot TRS insert jacks.
C.A.S.T. away
Spec’d with Cranborne’s innovative C.A.S.T. system, the 500R8 does away with excess cable spaghetti, delivering a cost-effective, low-maintenance, plug-and-play solution by transmitting four channels of balanced analog audio over shielded Cat 5 Ethernet cable directly to the destination of your choice.
Handy source select
Re-patch your 500R8 at a flick of a switch. Dedicated source select switches for each 500 Series slot adjusts signal routing to send analog, C.A.S.T., or USB sources through each of your modules. Unused 500 Series slots? Bypass them using the 500R8’s dedicated slot-bypass switch.
 Shown with optional modules and Cranborne 500ADAT
Expandable, in the studio or on the road
When you’re ready for additional 500 Series connectivity, connect your 500R8 with Cranborne Audio’s 500ADAT via ADAT for 16 channels of 500 Series modules. Housed in a 19" 4U rack-mountable rugged steel frame, the 500R8 makes an ideal 500 Series chassis for mobile recording setups. Packed with cool, useful features, the Cranborne Audio 500R8 is one of the more innovative pieces of pro audio gear we’ve seen at Sweetwater. Trust us — you will be impressed.
Cranborne Audio 500R8 8-slot 500 Series Chassis and USB Audio Interface Features:
- 28-in/30-out USB interface, summing mixer, artist mixer, and monitor controller
- Low-latency USB 2.0 interface:
- Compatible with macOS and Windows computers
- ADAT I/O (16x16 channels @ 44.1/48kHz, 8x8 channels @ 88.2/96kHz)
- S/PDIF I/O; 5-pin MIDI I/O
- High-performance A/D conversion:
- Dynamic range: 121dB A-weighted dynamic range, 20Hz–20kHz
- Frequency response: 2.2Hz to >80kHz (-1dB)
- THD+N: <0.00032% (-110dB) @ -4dBFS, 20Hz–40kHz (1kHz, A-weighted)
- Max input level: +24dBu
- High-performance D/A conversion:
- Dynamic range: 121dB A-weighted, 20Hz–20kHz
- Frequency response: <1Hz to >61kHz (-1dB)
- THD+N: <0.0003% (-110.5dB) @ -4dBFS, 20Hz–40kHz (1kHz, A-weighted)
- Max Output Level: +24dBu
- Reference-quality internal master clock:
- Sample rates: 44.1, 48, 88.2, 96, 176.4, and 192kHz; <0.5ps jitter
- Dedicated word clock I/O via BNC
- External sync options using word clock BNC, S/PDIF, or ADAT
- Monitor controller with talkback:
- Speaker A/B switching, mono check, dim, mute, and 28-segment peak meter
- Dedicated talkback input with phantom power, push-to-talk activation, and automatic routing to all headphone and C.A.S.T. facilities
- Easy-access illuminated front panel controls for all monitor controller functions
- Analog summing mixer:
- 8x2 analog summing mixer with +26.5dBu of headroom and dedicated ADC
- Balanced 1/4" jack outputs
- C.A.S.T. link port for increasing Summing Mixer to 16x2 using Cranborne Audio 500ADAT
- Zero-latency Artist Mixer:
- Analog Artist Mixer with per-channel physical level/pan controls and DAW return blend controls
- 2 high-power headphone outputs with independent blend and level controls
- Reference-grade headphone amplifier:
- THD+N: <0.0006% (-104.4dB) @ 20dBu, 1kHz A-weighted, 300 ohm load
- Output wattage (1kHz): 250mW x 2 @ 600 ohms, 650mW x 2 @ 220 ohms, 1.21W x 2 @ 100 ohms, 500mW x 2 @ 32 ohms
- Frequency Response: <1Hz to >70kHz (1dB)
- High-current 8-slot 500 Series rack:
- Per-slot current: 250mA , 2A total for all slots
- XLR inputs, XLR line outputs, and TRS Inserts (pre-ADC) per 500 Series slot
- Module source switching options to send Analog, USB or external C.A.S.T. signals through 500 Series modules
- Per-slot module bypass switches allowing 500R8 to be used without 500 Series modules installed
- C.A.S.T. compatible:
- C.A.S.T. ports per channel for routing analog I/O using passive or active C.A.S.T. breakout boxes via standard Cat 5 cable
- External power supply:
- 24V, 5A external locking power supply for improved analog audio performance and heat dissipation
- Designed and engineered in the UK:
- Each 500R8 is extensively tested by a team of dedicated engineers to ensure reliability and consistency.
| This item is in excellent working condition and barely used.
The ZHA-4 splits a single stereo headphone output into four separate powered 1/8” headphone jacks, each with their own volume and mute control. Perfect for bands, podcasts, productions, and more.
Two AA batteries provide hours of portable power. For longer sessions, connect the USB-C port to a portable battery or plug directly into the wall.
What’s in the Box?
- ZHA-4 Handy Headphone Amplifier
- AA Batteries (x2)
- Stereo Mini Audio Cable (19” / 50cm)
- Quick Guide
Please Note: The item displayed in the images may not be the actual item you receive. |
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