Excellent 4 channel Headphone Amp
The Presonus HP4 is an affordable but high-quality headphone amp. If your trying to share an audio output with up to 4 people, this is a viable alternative to a conventional home theater. In single user mode it compares very favorably in sound quality to the built-n headphone amp on my Asus Xonar Essence STXii sound card, and my Schiit Magni 3 headphone amp; don't know about multi-user mode.
A couple of cautions, and one recommendation.. Firstly, my unit has a VERY sensitive volume potentiometer. I can barely increase the volume from the lowest setting (min 1, max 12) before reaching a comfortable setting with low impedance (32 ohm) headphones. ALWAYS set the volume to minimum on power-up and then carefully raise it if want to avoid ear and equipment damage. If you use high impedance headphones (300-600 ohms), this probably won't be as much of an issue.
Secondly, I wish the Presonus had a relay mute, but it doesn’t. You can get a highly uncomfortable headphone pop on power-up; the way to reduce it is to minimize the source and headphone amp volume. My Schiit Magni 3 headphone amp has a relay mute for delayed startup and fast shut-down. You can leave your headphones plugged in all the time, and set to your preferred volume level. This muting characteristic is a highly valued feature to me.
For some reason, the Presonus site is rather vague about cabling. I found the Hosa HMP003Y Pro Stereo Breakout, REAN 3.5 mm TRS to Dual 1/4 in TS, 3 ft cable worked very well for me. For 6.35mm source outputs, attach an 6.35 mm male to 3.5 mm adapter to the Hosa cable, or get a 1/4 in TRS to Dual 1/4 in TS cable.
Verified purchase: YesCondition: Pre-owned