Headphone Jack Quality Question 976

I listen with headphones a good amount of time...for my Vinyl Collection. How high quality is the jack on the front of the 976? Would a headphone amp be of benefit in sound quality? I am thinking the the 976 is already a high quality. Note my 976 is mated with an Outlaw 5 channel Amp Model 5000. Seeking input...

Plenty quality for listening to vinyl. LOL

Apparently, you are not a Vinyl person! Just got a new Turntable to replace my 1989 Linn Sondek...a Technics SL 1210 GR...Audiophile table with Ortofon Headshell and 2M Bronze cartridge. I hear what others do not from digital sources, sans a bit of surface noise. Don't knock it until you try it!

I have 550 vinyl albums in pristine condition. Everything from ABBA to ZZ top from my navy days in the 70s. Once CDs came out and I heard the dead quiet noise floor and the expanded dynamic range I have bought nothing since. I have a Technics SL 1200 and love listening to my old music on it but a straight up comparison between some duplicate versions of the same album isn't really fair. There are those golden ears that claim to be able to hear a dog whistle but since I am an old human I prefer digital discs.

Could not have said it better .

Guess I am a "Golden Ear!" Age 57. To me, CD's just sound cold and hard, even running a flagship Panasonic Blu-ray Player with Burr-Brown chips. I too have a large collection (approximately 1,000 Albums 1970's and 1980's) also in pristine condition, never played on anything less than a properly set up and maintained 1970's Thorens TD 145 MkII TT. My Linn came in 1989...then the 1210 GR.

Seems like we have this conversation every couple of years so I'll just jump to where we left it last time and we can pick it up from there...

The quality of the LP or CD seems to be more related to the engineering that went in to it's creation than the format.

My personal example is Richard Rogers Victory at Sea on the RCA label. The Album sounds great but the "remastered" (disastered?) CD just doesn't have it.

I agree that the recordi ng engineers determine the quality of the final product. When CDs first came out they had a distinct advantage over vinyl in noise floor and dynamic range,but it got bastardized to enhance the commercial aspects and the result was that a lot of recordings suffered. If you go back to the 1940s and 50s you will find that there were multiple versions of the RIAA curves and those recording differed wildly in quality for the same reasons that digital did. All things being equal, CDs offer a much better format than vinyl since you can set up a turntable almost anyway you want and it affects the sound drastically.

Please, let's stay on topic. Question is how good is the headphone jack in the 976? Chinese junk, or quality component?

The jack is just metal contacts. Do you mean, how good is the op-amp driving the headphones? My guess is, it's about the same performance quality as found in the other stages of the 976. It would be a guess though, as I haven't used the 976 with headphones.

Forgive my phrasing, yes the op-amp driving the headphones. I hope it is on par with the rest of the 976...doing a lot of headphone listening late night. Thanks for the reply

Thank you, Helson. I was just trying to ascertain if a separate headphone amp would sonically improve the signal when listening thru headphones.

Thank you, Helson. I am looking to power a set of Beyerdynamic DT 770 250 ohm headphones, and wanted to be sure the 976 had enough power to drive them.

Why not try them and see if the 976 meets your needs. If it does you save $$$ on an amp.

I tried them, and unfortunately, it does not. Ended up with AKG K553 MKII Closed-back 32 ohm Studio Headphones...much greater sensitivity. Can't hook up a headphone amp anyway...due to no Line Level Outs on the 976 per Outlaw Support.