Behringer HA-400 vs. Mackie HM-4 Headphone Amplifier Comparisons + Sound/Noise Tests
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- Опубликовано: 8 сен 2024
- In this video I unbox my new Mackie HM-4 (39.99), as well as compare the sound, and noise floors to another similar multi channel headphone amplifier, the Behringer HA-400 (19.99).
I've had the Behringer amplifier for a while now and have always wondered if the higher price of the Mackie amplifier had any justification behind it.
For the comparison I run a couple simple tests, running the first headphone output directly into the instrument input on my audio interface. I do some volume tests both with and without music, to not only get a measurement of the maximum volume output of both units, but also to get measurement on the noise floors.
According to what little info I could find online, the HM-4 has an output rated at 47 ohms, while the HA-400 has an output rated at 50.1 ohms. From what I understand the lower ohm rating means it will have an easier time driving larger ohm-rated headphones. Aside from that I couldn't seem to find any other information regarding max volume output, or maximum noise levels etc. and I also couldn't find any direct comparisons between the two either.
So hopefully this video finally gets to the bottom of the true differences between these two headphone amplifiers, and will help some people with making a decision between the two.
If you enjoyed it or found it useful make sure to like and subscribe :D
Good job! Yes no one compares these… and I almost got the berringer now I’ll get the mackie
im using hm4 with sennheiser hd 559 without a dac rn, it is pretty solid and the hissing sound is not a issue until %80 of the volume i believe.
With how close the prices are the mackie is definitely worth the extra cost
does the amp distort audio if u turn it up too loud? mine does and it’s connected directly to my laptop without a dac
@@samirxvc i mean im only using maximum 50 percent of it, phones 1 slot has no static with dac.
and yes i bought a apple dongle it's really good for -150ohm headphones
@@samirxvc XMP or ram overclocks might cause disortations btw i tested that
Thanks for this review, i found my HA-400 very hissy, and the phone jack nearest to the power supply is even noisier than the rest.
For monitoring singing vocals i find this noise pretty distracting. i will give the mackie version a try to see if my monitoring quality improves.
definitely has a lower noise floor so it should at least help a little
Thanks for the informative testing! Did you find the HM-4 pretty flat sounding? No coloring? I'd like to use this to drive a pair of beyerdynamic DT-1990 pro's coming from a Focurite 2i2 (3rd Gen). I really don't want to buy the 4th gen since I just recently acquired the 3rd a few months ago. Thanks again!
no coloring that I can notice, neither one colors the sound at all as far as I can tell
Haven't tested that specifically though
Thanks for the dude, would've been really hard to make a decision if you hadn't uploaded this x
At such an entry level cost for both units technically, and such a small price difference, it's honestly hard to justify getting the behringer. I wish 10 years ago I would have just splurged the extra 15-20$ lol.
Especially when you consider the thing is going to last 10+ years, maybe even your lifetime.
@@PlokProductions has been
- What is the frequency response ?
- What is the THD+N ?
- What loading did you have on the amps
- Does loading one amplifier affects the others ?
- Is there crosstalk between the channels ?
You can do all that with no extra / expensive hardware - Get REW.
- not sure but the product page probably shows this
- don't even know what that is
- not really relevant since it's a constant variable
- I'm pretty sure I tested this, didn't see/hear any measurable different
- basically the same thing as above (the effect of loading one amplifier would be crosstalk to the others)
It was really just meant to be an audio test though, to see if one has more noise than the other, and if one was louder than the other/had better quality sound
Couldn't have found a crappier sample for "testing" OMG =) Man, this is kinda ridiculous🤦♂ Can't say anything about Mackie, but I owned and tested "back to back" HA400 vs ART Head Amp 4, and ART was just so much better, no self-noise at all compared to Behringer's hiss, the sound's much more clear and crisp and puchy. I tested both with HD650 and DT880Pro by Sennheiser and Beyrdynamic, respectively, also brought in some in-ears, Sennheiser, Shure, the 'antique' dual driver Apple In-Ear Headphones with Remote and Mic and some budget 'planars' from Aliexpress.
So, I'd say, unless you're terribly short on budget I'd stay away from Behringer altogether. Mackie's budget stuff too, probably even the same thing, different box-different knobs a couple different resistors and that's about it:) I'd go for ART anyday, it's just that much better in terms of price/performance. Probably Presonus HP4 is also a decent reasonably priced amp, but I never came across one to compare.
Also if you're into any serious 'testing' you'd better get rid of those 3.5-6.3 adapters and get a decent cables, to begin with:)
Like for the video, because it's just unique, looks like nobody cared to do this obvious kind of comparison ever before, or at least share the result to the public🤷♂
All the best to U!
Mackie is pretty far from budget, it's basically the industry standard for sound mixers, loudspeakers, etc.
It's such an industry standard, that companies like behringer duplicate their products for cheaper.
as for my testing methods it gets the job done either way. The test was more so a comparison between the two, not necessarily to focus on individual testing. So any fault in testing, is at the very least a constant variable here for the comparison.
That Mackie you speak of is long gone, sadly, it's not that legendary manufacturer that we used to know, not anymore, just another company with once a big name, now making cheapish stuff in the same low-budget price range, just like Behringer. RIP.
HA400 is €30 in my country, Mackie HM-4 is €35. Same sh.. , more or less) So they do perform accordingly. ART is €99 which is roughly triple the price, but the performance is so well worth it.
Presonus is gonna be like €129, I'd be eager to put that one to the test, should I come across it.
Peace^)
to be fair stage quality and studio quality are two different ballgames
Mackie is definitely still pretty much the standard as far as live audio is concerned
I had my eye on that presonus model tho but wanted to stick to a form factor I was familiar with
@@PlokProductions ironically enough, as far as live audio’s concerned, Behringer’s truly the king now, far beyond anybody else) They pretty much destroyed all the low-midrange competition with their X32, now every bar can afford a digital mixer with Midas tech inside, be it for live band or karaoke, something unheard of, like, a decade ago:) No outboard gear needed, all controls spot on, motorized faders and stuff, and as long as you take some time to master it, everything’s pretty much plug and play. Absolutely stellar performance for the price.
Mackie’s long out of that market, too. Cheap PA’s, mixers, soundcards and boxes, that’s all they re now about:/ But the name still rings between us, oldfags=)
As for the “standard” for serious live work as of today, that would be, to name a few tops, Midas, of course, Allen and Heath and, by all means, Yamaha👍
..sorry for tons of edits, English’s not my native language, and trying to edit anything off the iPhone is kinda pain in the a$$, too P)
Time marches on and so does technology. It stands to reason that a modern headphone amp would be miles ahead of a similar unit that's ten years old. Not sure why anyone would have some doubt in that.
you misunderstand
the HA-400 is based on the HM-4
The designs has stayed the same since they were released, so it wouldn't matter if it was a new HA-400 or this old one, they are still both based off the HM-4 design which hasn't changed.
Thanks!
No problem!
Can it power up 250 ohms headphones ? I have behringer um2 audio or should I buy separate amp+dac for 250 ohms headphones?
I forget how ohm ratings work but I run my sennheiser HD6xx through both of these, and they are 300ohm headphones
A dedicated headphone amplifier might give better sound quality or something, but I've never had trouble driving these headphones, they can get abhorrently and unlistenably loud. I pretty much keep them around 25-50% volume
Thanks a million bro!!!
Glad it helped
thanks
No problem
my hm-4 has a problem with the (golden profit) power supply making electrical noise that makes it painful to listen to. I'm gonna make a linear psu for it and update this with results.
Any update?
@@zero111zero just made a new power supply. 12vdc center pin negative.
Which one is good? I don't understand. I'm Thai.
they are both good, the mackie is better though as it gets like 1db louder, and has less signal noise (white noise/hiss in the background)
can i connect this to my TV or receiver? I am trying to use multiple headphones on one tv setup
yes if the TV has a headphone output or some other audio output you should be able to find a way to make it work
Can the use the headphone output for recording?
depends on what you mean but yeah I guess
Sir
How to connect with PC without audio interface?
aux cable
you need a TRS to AUX cable
can I plug in a pair studio monitors to hm 4 using dual ts to trs cable? Assuming i have the amp connected to scarlett focusrite 2i2 via headphone out
Yes, definitely nothing wrong with doing that, and it will definitely work, but just not really the optimal setup. Typically you want fully balanced cables going to your studio monitors, but I've run mine through the 3.5mm jack on my motherboard and through a mixer, and worked just fine.
Only thing you might want to do is keep the volume on the headphone amp at probably halfway or lower, as the studio monitors are already amplified (assuming they are powered) and you could be peaking out the signal easier with the extra pre amp thrown in.
I do actually use channel 4 on my headphone amp to run a line to the adjacent room (band/music room and shop room) which goes into a mixer, that I run to my stage 12 inch powered stage monitors, and don't have any issues with that either, just again, gotta keep the volume on the headphone amp at about 50% or lower so that the actual amplifier is doing the work.
@@PlokProductions Thanks!
the sound from the behringer is muddy
ima have to give it a re listen I don't doubt it though
Что тут сравнивать??? Беринжер тупо сдирает у Маки всю продукцию-начиная от усилителей мощности,заканчивая акустическими системами...Только использует более дешёвые комплектующие.Отсюда и разница в качестве.
they get the job done and are decent for the price
but in this instance the price difference is small enough to justify spending an extra 20$ for the real deal
In other situations sometimes behringer is the way to go just because of price
Which one es better, Mackie o Beringer? Which do you recommen to start? Both have almost the same price in Amazon!
Thanks for your video and help!!
given how close the price is I would just go with the mackie
it's slightly more powerful, and also has less interference noise
I wish you’d used a better hi fi recorded music track for your example. It sounded really poorly recorded.
it was just some random crap I recorded on my phone
in hindsight probably shoulda just found some copyright free music, but honestly the quality wasn't really relative to any of the tests, which were more about the noise floor, and max output
Actual audio quality between the two is going to be negligible, and definitely isn't going to be something I can illustrate/demonstrate via youtube compressed audio