PreSonus HP4 4-Channel Headphone Amplifier
Add four headphone jacks to your home studio with this crystal-clear distribution amplifier. Each channel has an individual volume knob and 150 mW of power.
$149.99
- No Credit Check6 x$25.00
- No Credit Check4 x$37.50
Overall User Ratings (based on 17 ratings)
Submitted January 16, 2010 by a customer from hotmail.com
"Transparent and powerful. Great deal for the money."
This review has been selected by our experts as particularly helpful.
I don't know why I would replace it (although it's annoying that I can't turn it off). When I bought it - it was as an afterthought with a couple of sets of $250 headphones. The salesman gave me a little deal on it. For that price I didn't expect for it to be nearly as good as it is sound-wise. If it was stolen I'd probably just get another one. I can't hear the difference between plugging my phones into it - or directly into my Fireface 800. To me, that's the holy grail of headphone amps: same sound, more channels.
Sound
I can't believe some of the negative things I'm reading about this headphone amp. Maybe they got unlucky, or I got lucky or... something. Mine has done nothing but work flawlessly since I bought it. It is transparent and powerful - which is exactly what I need. I haven't used the monitor out, but as a headphone amp - it's perfect.
Features
I think the manufacturer put their money into excellent sound quality. The features are sparse. I wish I could turn it off without unplugging it. I wish they had used taper pots instead of linear pots for the volume controls. The usable gain range is small. It's built solid.
Ease of Use
The other side of lack of features is ease of use. There's not much to know here. Plug it in and go.
Quality
For my use in the studio it has been a rock. Because it doesn't have an off switch, it's basically been running for three years continuously with no problems. I wouldn't hesitate to take it on the road. I suppose you never know for sure from looking at the outside of a product, but this one looks as if its built to take it.
Value
Compared to other units that do the same job, this one is a little more expensive and has fewer features. On the other hand, the quality of the sound is considerably better than others I've used. Other people who have recorded with me have noticed how transparent it is and asked what they were listening to.
Manufacturer Support
I haven't dealt with the company who made it because nothing has gone wrong with it. That's my favorite kind of service: built-in.
The Wow Factor
It's a truck. There's nothing fancy about it. It wouldn't catch your eye. It just works.
Musical Background:
Current hobbyist, former touring musician
Musical Style:
Rock, Fusion, Ambient
14 of 14 people (100%) people found this review helpful. Did you?
Thanks for your opinion!
Submitted May 16, 2014 by Lee J in Chicago, IL
"A essential studio tool"
The guts of the HP4 is enclosed in a metal case. It has four inputs and each one has a volume control. I use the HP4 with high quality headphones and have no problems. There is no static, clicks, or hums. I DO NOT run my studio monitors thru the HP4 so I cannot commit on that feature. I only use the HP4 when I have guest performers over and additional headphones are required. When I mix or edit I plug my headphones in the computer interface.
Musical Background:
35 years professionally as session vocalist and guitarist.
Musical Style:
Songwriter / country music
2 of 2 people (100%) people found this review helpful. Did you?
Thanks for your opinion!
Submitted October 29, 2020 by a customer from gmail.com
"A great headphone amp for the money"
Verified Customer
zZounds has verified that this reviewer made a purchase from us.
The main pluses for this unit are the power and the build quality. It cranks, and the knobs and chasis are first-rate. Secondly, the sound is quite good; dynamics are strong and bass is pronounced, as are highs (though I wouldn't call them "sparkling"). Headroom is good but not spectacular. Midrange clarity is good but obviously not as sweet as tubes or high-end gear.All in all, a great value and a great piece of kit.
Did you find this review helpful?
Thanks for your opinion!
Submitted December 28, 2023 by a customer from yahoo.com
"I'm on my 3rd one"
First off, I LOVE this unit. My first one served me for years. I love the button on the front that lets me mute my monitors and I can just listen through headphones, very nice and convenient feature. Mine sits between two video monitors right in front of me.Sound quality is great, clean and plenty of volume. I've never needed more than 3 headphone outs for recording vocals.My first unit just stopped working one day. I loved how it fit into my workflow so I bought another off of Reverb used. Didn't come with the power supply but I had one from my first unit. It worked great for almost 3 years to the day then I touched the volume knob, there was some static electricity and a super loud buzz came through my speakers and the thing started to smoke! If I wasn't here when that happened I wonder if it would have caught fire and burned down my house, scary thought. I actually had another one I had bought as a back up. I plugged it in (same old power supply again) and things are working well but now I'm thinking I need to unplug it if I'm not sitting at my desk. Not sure what to do at this point.
Musical Background:
Synth collector and amateur song writer
Musical Style:
EDM and pop
Did you find this review helpful?
Thanks for your opinion!
Submitted October 4, 2022 by a customer from gmail.com
"Own One NOW"
Powerful Headphone AMP
Did you find this review helpful?
Thanks for your opinion!
Submitted January 19, 2013 by a customer from hotmail.com
"It's alright, I guess"
Verified Customer
zZounds has verified that this reviewer made a purchase from us.
okay so my mine gripe about this unit is that the volume knobs aren't very useful. The first quarter turn is basically on or off. It gets louder from there until just past the half way mark. The last third does nothing to increase the volume. The sound quality is great don't get me wrong. It's accurate and true to the source. Just a little too much of an all or nothing kind of thing on the volume pots. This is of course just on the headphone volume pots. I don't the monitor output section as I have a different routing set up that I like better for that. So I really can't say how the monitor output volume behaves.
of 1 people (0%) people found this review helpful. Did you?
Thanks for your opinion!
Submitted January 23, 2006 by a customer from yahoo.com
"IF YOU DONT LIKE IT LOUD THEN TURN BACK"
Verified Customer
zZounds has verified that this reviewer made a purchase from us.
never will replace it it works and it works well.
Sound
it hits so hard and i love it!i have my monitors and two headphones hooked up to the presous hp.it is so load my nabors hate me but i love it.music has never been the same,if you cant bump like i bump then i cant even hear it so let me turn it up and tune your crap out.
Features
its a headpone amp and monitor control what ealse do u want it to do fly?
Quality
it will last for ever.made well
Value
had a crappy rolls waste of my money.bought this and ill never go back.
Manufacturer Support
didnt need it didnt need the instruton
The Wow Factor
it looks good i just dont like bule much
Musical Background:
home recoring beat maker and rapper
Musical Style:
hardrap
2 of 6 people (33%) people found this review helpful. Did you?
Thanks for your opinion!
Submitted November 19, 2006 by a customer from aol.com
"Great, until it it a Cheech and Chong and went up in Smoke"
Verified Customer
zZounds has verified that this reviewer made a purchase from us.
Bopefully this isn't par for the course, but with less expensive units out there you may want to look elsewhare.
Sound
Faithful and accurate
Features
not to many, but you could daisy chain it to another one.
Ease of Use
Just plug in a go
Quality
I used it for a handful of sessions and then smoke started coming out of it. The thing was fried.
Value
Works well, after your done with your sessions and it burns out you can roast hot dogs.
The Wow Factor
This is the first Presonus product that has just disappointed me.
Musical Background:
25 years
Musical Style:
Rock, Pop, Paise and Worship
1 of 3 people (33%) people found this review helpful. Did you?
Thanks for your opinion!
Submitted November 17, 2008
"faulty unit. 3 channels and some smoke !"
Sound
the channels that did function buzzed when the faulty channel? was being used (brand new out of the box)
Features
if you call smoke a feature then there you have it
Ease of Use
plug it in and watch it smoke
Quality
not this one. im sure they make a few that are exceptional
Manufacturer Support
have yet to contact the manufacturer
of 2 people (0%) people found this review helpful. Did you?
Thanks for your opinion!
Submitted December 28, 2007 by a customer from ebay.com
"just mediocre"
Sound
the main sticking point is that the monitor level control, which is active, degrades the sound quality of your signal. your monitors will sound a little "funky" and "veiled". I upgraded to the SM Pro Audio M-Patch 2, which is a passive device, only slightly more expensive, and crystal clear. The presonus I will keep to use as a headphone amp. it's decent for that. all of the pots are a little weird though. at the lower range, the left/right balance is skewed, you can hear it shift back and forth as you turn them up. this is true on all 5 of the controls. but if you need a solid headphone amp for tracking, this will do the trick. just don't expect professional sound quality as a monitor controller. for that, use the Mpatch 2 or Nano Patch, or the A Designs ATTY for the same price
Musical Background:
musician recordist
Musical Style:
RAWK
10 of 13 people (77%) people found this review helpful. Did you?
Thanks for your opinion!
Submitted December 20, 2005
"High quality unit that does what it's suppose to."
I can't believe how clean this sounds. I've said this a few times already and I need to say it again. It it totally invisible in the signal chain. It sounds like it's not there. It's how I want it to be. If anyone needs a physical control for the DAW and aren't in a giant studio environment with a physical console, then this is a very simple, elegant, and VERY high quality piece of gear. I highly advise it. I suggest anyone with doubts to go to a local music store, ask them to hook this up and then TRY to hear it. I bet you can't! It's that clean.
Sound
Compared to a Behringer 1204 mixer I've been using to spread the signals prior to obtaining this unit, this is heaven. Totally transparent sound. Huge difference. The ONLY way, I repeat, the ONLY way this changes the signal is by changing it's volume! Perfect.
Features
Not many features, no. The features it DOES have are exactly what such a unit should have. If anything, it could use a second main out for another set of studio monitors for A/B sound testing.
Quality
It's tough figuring out which section deserves a ten more ... the sound quality or the build quality. This is all metal. Everything. Jacks, knobs .. front, back, sides, top, bottom. All metal. Rock solid. It's quite heavy especially for it's size. I'm not expecting it to malfunction any time soon. The parts you've come to expect to be plastic are all metal on this.
Value
It's expensive for what it does. I'm giving it a nine because you can get something cheaper, probably FAR cheaper, and get the same results. Products that come to mind are the Samson C-Control and the Behringer MINIMON MON800. The Samson does more but costs a touch more I believe. The Behringer (once released) will be a copy of the Samson at a third of the price. I can say one thing though, with either of those, you're guaranteed to get sub-par sound quality. I can't stress enough how crystal clear this keeps the signal that passes through it. Completely beautiful.
Manufacturer Support
Haven't dealt with them and I doubt I'll need to. I'll give this a ten because the other catagories lend me to believe this section should have a ten as well ;)
The Wow Factor
I wanted a high quality invisible headphone mixer with control for main monitors. This is what this is. It sounds awesome and looks very nice too. I definitely wanted it and it is why I purchased it.
6 of 6 people (100%) people found this review helpful. Did you?
Thanks for your opinion!
Submitted December 14, 2005
"Solid and crystal clear"
I'm definitely enjoying this. It doesn't seem to want to ever break. It sounds totally invisible. It looks sharp and is most definitely very heavy-duty. You can go with a FAR FAR more expensive Mackie Big Knob .. a lower quality Samson C-Control or Behringer MINIMON MON800 .. or something else. But in the end, I think this will be the winner if you don't need the extra features of the Mackie or the bad sound and build qualities of the Samson or Behringer. I don't have any regret buying this unit. So if one would ask me for something that lets them use multiple headphones and allows them to have a nice level control of their studio equipment, I would not hesitate to suggest this.
Sound
The HP4 is totally invisible to my ears. I've been using a Behringer 1204 mixer prior to obtaining this unit and I now remember how my studio monitors sounded like when I originally purchased them and had them plugged directly into my sound card. They were crisp and tight. During the Behringer usage, I never realized how much the sound sufferred. When I first plugged this unit in BAM ... was I ever surprised. Crystal clear in every way! I must say, perfect sound. Period.
Features
I'm giving it an 10 because it does everything it's suppose to do and it does all those things perfectly. I bought it wanting it to do exactly what it does. It allows me to control the monitors and four headphones totally seperately. It also allows me to mute the room monitors with a simple push of a button. Having the mono button for mono mix testing is more like an added bonus! So while it doesn't have a lot of features, the ones it has are perfect. Quality - not quantity.
Quality
I would like to put this higher than the rest because while the other sections of this review require perfect marks, this section requires 15 out of 10 or something. I must clarify that I haven't been around every piece of studio equipment, but this is definitely a strong sturdy unit. You can very easily expect this quality from top brand equipment. Absolutely no plastic parts what-so-ever (Except for the mono and mute buttons that are see-through plastic with LED's behind them.) The case, the knobs, jacks ... all hard aluminum. Nice! It's like that never rusting car you've always wanted. I'll never buy another HP4 again!!! Not because it sucks .. but because this doesn't seem like it'll break! ;)
Value
This is a tough one. You can say it should be cheaper due to the fact that it has quite a limited amount of features. You can say it should be more expensive due to the fact that it's of such extreme quality (Both build and sound wise). I'm going to give it a nine. I personally am very happy with the price. I think it could have cost more actually and I would understand why it would.
Manufacturer Support
Have no clue.
The Wow Factor
Looking at pictures of this doesn't do it 100% justice. Just holding one and feeling how heavy it is .. turning the metal knobs .. HEARING it .. that is what gives it the "I want it" label. There is also not much out there that competes with this unit at this price range either. There is not much else you could want more than this really. ;)
Musical Background:
Sound engineer and musician
Musical Style:
Rock and Pop.
1 of 1 people (100%) people found this review helpful. Did you?
Thanks for your opinion!
Please wait.