Audio Switch Recommendations

Is there a device that you can add to your headphone amp stack that acts as a single point of entry.
So it I have 5 different amps I don’t want to switch cables between 5 different amps constantly, I would like to have one device that connect to all of them with buttons that switches between them.

Sounds like you are looking for like a switch? Are the amps rca or xlr in?

For RCA, something like this might work

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So I would personally instead get a switch, I think splitting 4 times passively isn’t a good idea imo (which is what the thing you linked does even though it calls itself a switch). For rca, a niles axp-1 is solid if you can find one

There is also this option on amazon (you can run it in reverse) for a solid price

For an xlr switch, it might get more pricey. With xlr though, I think you could get a 1 in 3 out switch and split 2 of the outputs to get to 5 out

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Would this degrade the signal any?

Typically no as long as it’s a decent quality passive switch. For splitters I think splitting once or twice is fine but more than that might audibly degrade the signal

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Are you wanting something to take one DAC output to five Amps, or five Amps to one switch for you to plug the headphones into and then select which amp is the source for the headphones?

I’ve not seen the latter before but would be an interesting idea for people to A/B amps with really easy. You would still have to volume level on the individual amps but then could passively switch between each one. I know some amps have a ground fault detect and protect that would shut them off as you plug / unplug balanced connections, so depending on how a switch would go from one to the other it might short that protection or try to backfeed signal to another amp which wouldn’t be good I imagine.

@M0N @FiCurious This is exactly what I was looking for thanks, I see Nobsound makes a 3-in-1 XLR out version in addition to the 1-in-3 XLR out you linked.

I have been on the forums for a day and have already received so much help and guidance really appreciate you guys.

Edit:
In another thread someone helped me pick up my first audiophile cans. I can see that I should be careful as this hobby can get quite pricey real fast.
The help I get here will definitely guide me to making wiser purchasing decisions, but seems like it might be a double edged sword as I would probably end up buying more.

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another alternative that might be useful depending on what you need


maybe don’t mix the XLR and RCA ( RCA -> A or RCA -> B )

Depends on the input imedance of the amps.
When they are all 50k, not really.
image
When you have 5 10k ohm input impedances, then you have a problem:
image

IF you can not avoid doing this, you either have to put a headphone amp before the other amps, or (better option) put 40k in resistance before each input.

I’m currently using this guy to feed a single DAC to multiple amps (currently just an A90 & 353X, hoping to add a LP soon), I haven’t experienced any issues with sound quality, loss of volume, etc. Figure this’ll give me an energizer for STAX loving, a reference amp, and a warmer amp. Should keep things spicy =).

ONE Little Bear 1-in, 3-out (MC103-Pro).

Of note, I first ordered the 3-in, 1-out by mistake. I guess if I ever decide to A/B test balanced DAC I’ll have right gear for it, lol.

Surprisingly, no one ever made a dedicated audio switch thread. So I’ll just take random one and make it it lol.

Here’s one I’ve been using for a while that’s pretty decent. At $87, it seems a tad pricy when you take a look at the inside lol. The aluminum case seems to be a bit bigger than necessary. The feel on the rotary switch is good—but not quite great.

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B085W1PPHL

BTW is it typical to ground the RCA connection to the the case like that?

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I bought this and it worked great for 38 days. Now one channel will only give left or right signal, not both. And another channel has one side being favoured. I contacted the company last weekend. They replied promptly and said they would look into it. Nothing yet.

However the RCA unit is still working perfectly. :grin:

Is certainly a way to do it. Having the case “floating” (= not connected to anything) is a bad idea as then static could build up and arc over for a kill.

Neat audio switch I’ve been using that let’s you adapt RCA to XLR and vice versa.
Douk Audio MC3: https://www.amazon.com/ONE-Little-Bear-Balanced-Converter/dp/B00OY0TBMA

For the price, I’d say the build is very solid. One thing I don’t like about many budget (or even mid tier) audio switches is how they all seem to have some level of channel cross talk (including the one posted above). This switch has some too. But significantly less so than my two other switches. It’s unlikely you’ll ever notice it unless you actively check for it.

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I like having separate boxes. My XLR switch started screwing up and they sent me a new switch to install. It works perfect again.
Both are Douk Audio.

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I have this switch as well and also find it to be of good quality. Got mine of Ali Express and shipping was relatively quick.

Have recommended this to others.

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