• Registered: 2023-10-23
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Topic: Original Babyface - Does power supply make headphone output louder?

Hello, I have been using the original blue Babyface for a few years now. I always connect and power into my laptop with the USB cable. I have not used a power supply. Will a power supply make the headphone output louder?

I have been connecting the Babyface to external headphone amps and mixers to get louder volume to my headphones (Sony MDR 7506). Today I just realized that my Babyface had a power supply input. I guess I just didn't think I needed it before? Just wondering if it would make a difference on the headphone jack volume. Thanks, Jon

  • ramses
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Re: Original Babyface - Does power supply make headphone output louder?

No, the volume is determined by the choice of electronic components and that requires a power supply within certain tolerances.

If the Babyface hadn't been designed to run on USB2 bus power alone, the circuits could have been designed differently so that it would have been louder in the end. But mobility is one of the main use cases for this device.

The external power supply is useful in such cases when the quality of the power supply on the PC or laptop is not ok, this can bring more stability in operation.

So you say you have the original Babyface. Which headphones do you have and to which output on the Babyface do you connect them?

You know that the new Babyface Pro and Babyface Pro FS has improvements here? The manual tells:

"The output channels 3/4 feed two Phones outputs via two independent driver circuits, optimized for high (TRS 1/4”, 6.35 mm) and low impedance (TRS 1/8”, 3.5 mm) headphones."

The volume is 60/90 mW. Maybe time to think about an update and try. Alternatively, if your budget allows, you could also think about connecting an ADI-2 FS or ADI-2 DAC FS via optical SPDIF or another headphone amp of your choice, analog or digital.

BR Ramses - UFX III, 12Mic, XTC, ADI-2 Pro FS R BE, RayDAT, X10SRi-F, E5-1680v4, Win10Pro22H2, Cub14
  • Registered: 2023-10-23
  • Posts: 3

Re: Original Babyface - Does power supply make headphone output louder?

ramses wrote:

No, the volume is determined by the choice of electronic components and that requires a power supply within certain tolerances.

If the Babyface hadn't been designed to run on USB2 bus power alone, the circuits could have been designed differently so that it would have been louder in the end. But mobility is one of the main use cases for this device.

The external power supply is useful in such cases when the quality of the power supply on the PC or laptop is not ok, this can bring more stability in operation.

So you say you have the original Babyface. Which headphones do you have and to which output on the Babyface do you connect them?

You know that the new Babyface Pro and Babyface Pro FS has improvements here? The manual tells:

"The output channels 3/4 feed two Phones outputs via two independent driver circuits, optimized for high (TRS 1/4”, 6.35 mm) and low impedance (TRS 1/8”, 3.5 mm) headphones."

The volume is 60/90 mW. Maybe time to think about an update and try. Alternatively, if your budget allows, you could also think about connecting an ADI-2 FS or ADI-2 DAC FS via optical SPDIF or another headphone amp of your choice, analog or digital.

Yes, I am aware that the Pro and Pro FS have a louder headphone amp. I would like to get the FS at some point but right now I am just trying to get what I have a little louder. I have updated to the latest driver and flash.

My headphones are Sony MDR 7506, and I connect them to the headphone output on the side of the Babyface. I'm using Ableton, so what I do is I put Waves One Knob Louder and a master limiter with cd master setting on the Ableton master track. This gets the headphones loud so I can hear everything. Sometimes, instead of doing this, I run the Babyface through a Mackie mixer and use the headphone jack there. Plenty of gain for my headphones there.

If I do get an external headphone amp to connect to the Babyface, it will be a less expensive one. I can not justify spending a lot of money on that, when I could just buy another interface with louder headphone output.

I have not had any power issues with the USB bus power, so I will probably not bother with getting a power supply. Although some people say it is better to use a power supply when running phantom power on the Babyface. But I haven't noticed any problem with that. But maybe it would be a good idea to have one on hand in case. There are cheap wall wart versions that can be found on eBay for less than $10.

  • waedi
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Re: Original Babyface - Does power supply make headphone output louder?

These cheap power adapters don't have the locking plug. They often are lose and fall out from itself. And often the power outlet is not accurate and fails.
Buy the original RME power supply :
https://www.thomann.de/de/rme_ntcardbus_x.htm
It will not make the headphone louder, it's just for battery saving of the notebook during a recording session.
If you one day connect an external power supply to your Babyface, don't be surprised when it not powers on.
It must have USB power for booting up.
The external power is in use afterwards.

M1-Sequoia, Madiface Pro, Digiface USB, Babyface silver and blue
  • Registered: 2023-10-23
  • Posts: 3

Re: Original Babyface - Does power supply make headphone output louder?

waedi wrote:

These cheap power adapters don't have the locking plug. They often are lose and fall out from itself. And often the power outlet is not accurate and fails.
Buy the original RME power supply :
https://www.thomann.de/de/rme_ntcardbus_x.htm
It will not make the headphone louder, it's just for battery saving of the notebook during a recording session.
If you one day connect an external power supply to your Babyface, don't be surprised when it not powers on.
It must have USB power for booting up.
The external power is in use afterwards.

Thanks for the advice. I probably won't get the power supply if I don't need it. I connect to a Lenovo Legion that has three USB-3 ports, which should have more than enough power for the Babyface. Since the external power supply does not boost headphone volume, I will just look for a small headphone amp to connect to the Babyface.

  • ramses
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  • Registered: 2012-10-14
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Re: Original Babyface - Does power supply make headphone output louder?

waedi wrote:

Very good !
Just in case you didn't discover yet, this one is a very good headphone amp :
https://rme-audio.de/adi-2-pro-fs-be.html

Just in case you didn't discover yet, see post #3.

BR Ramses - UFX III, 12Mic, XTC, ADI-2 Pro FS R BE, RayDAT, X10SRi-F, E5-1680v4, Win10Pro22H2, Cub14