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Can I play a head through headphones?


eightbitraptor
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In my introduction thread I promised a lot of potentially stupid questions, this is probably one ;)

I'm going to start jamming with a few people soon and want to get myself a new amp. I'm looking at getting a head for now rather than a combo.

I might have to end up travelling by train with my stuff occasionally so I thought this would be a more sensible light weight option and the practice space we're looking at has cabs they're prepared to let me use.

My question is about using it at home for practice as well. I've heard it's unwise to power on valve heads without an attached load, but does that hold true for solid state stuff too? Could I use it at home with headphones or using the line out into my PC?

Apologies if this is a dumb question, and also if anyone has any alternative advice - I'm all ears!

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Normally, this is no problem at all. The lack of a cab just means the output transistors don't have to work. They take a cuppa and thank you for this.

However, IMS the few solid state amps with output transformers do need a load.
I also think someone on BC recently (the last year) specified something about this with scientific certainty, so you might wanna perform a search for that old thread.

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The small lightweight Class D heads all seem to feature a headphone output these days and don't need a speaker to be connected which is why they're so popular for both home practice and gigs in just the situations you've described. I think the headphone socket also doubles as the line out and of course these units often have a DI out when you want to put bass through a PA.

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[quote name='eightbitraptor' timestamp='1407060168' post='2516918']
Awesome! Thanks folks that's exactly what I wanted to hear.

What's a class D head though? :$
[/quote]

Class D heads are the really lightweight ones, as they do the job with lots of clever pulsing and switching, negating the need for heavy transformers.

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I have just picked up an Ampeg PF350 for home use into a 112 or unplugged from the cab to use with headphones and ipad/laptop/iPhone.

It's a great feature that I think most of these small class D heads now have. You can't really go wrong with a PF or any of the ones already named.

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[quote name='yorks5stringer' timestamp='1407094852' post='2517305']
Its safe to say (rule of thumb) all valve heads need a load or you will blow them ( there's a separate thread somewhere, I think from last week about this) but you wouldn't be travelling by train with a valve head anyway...would you? :)
[/quote]

Lol no. That would be madness. Not least of which for my back ;-)

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