If you have a seperate headphone amp and a spare A2D converter (like from an effects unit or something like that) you could use the S/PDIF digital out of the E-MU 1212M as a dedicated heaphone bus.

Otherwise you need some sort of switchbox.

This is a very common problem.

The Samson C-Control may be ok...Some people that are using it claim to like it.

However, the only thing I ever owned by Samson I didn't really care for...a DMS80 monitoring setup...very cheaply made..buzzy-sounding preamp, with not-such-good-sounding speakers.

Presonus Central Station is the perfect solution, but is digustingly overpriced...I bought one of these for myself just a few days ago, and I really like it, but I don't think it is worth anywhere near what I had to pay.

There is a simple switching device called the "Switch Witch" that is about one-third the cost of the Central Station...a rackmount box with several toggle switches on the front....not so elegant, but it should do the trick...looks well-made.

*UPDATE*

The Presonus Central Station I purchased a few days ago has a problem...the level meters work for about a minute, and then quit.

The only thing that gets them going again is to turn the unit off and then back on. That gets them up again for another minute, then they die once more.

I talked to a tech guy at Presonus and he said he'd never heard of that problem before....somehow I don't really believe him.

Anyway...Same Day Music has promised to send me another unit quickly.

You get what you pay for?...not so much, anymore... :(

Mackie makes a monitoring station called the Big Knob that is very fully featured.... Looks attractive to me...to bad its not rackmount. I actually use my VS880 for this....i run my interface to it via digital coax, then i hook my monitors up the aux bus outs, and the master fader controls total volume, and there are seperate knobs for aux out and headphone out. The Mackie knob thing costs 350 i think. I'll probably end up getting one cuz its a little less of a footprint and use the VS880 for recording the stereo bus of sessions like a used to do with my DAT before it broke.

K

Yah...I'd expect the Mackie to be good....and the price is within reason.

My setup is totally racked mobile, so I think the Mackie would be a bit of a hassle for that use...the idea of something unmounted, needing a place to set, with several cables coming out the back seems like it might be a bit frustrating to deal with.

I still think Presonus has the best design idea in the Central Station...if you want to quickly select inputs, or turn the main volume up or down from the desk, the optional remote is a nice addition, and it only requires a single cable connection.

They are currently selling the Central station around the net for $600 now (as of the date of this post), remote included...this is $100 cheaper than a just few weeks ago, but still pretty stiff for something that is just a bunch of small switches and relays, and made in China, just like Behringer.

*Update*

SameDayMusic has an excellent way of handling returns.

As soon as you let them know you need to return an item they immediately ship you a replacement...they don't wait until they recieve the returned item to ship you a new one, so you are not sitting around waiting.

When the replacement item arrives it has a prepaid return shipping label, so all you do is place that on the return package, and hand it to the delivery service.

It would be nice if all the vendors did things this way.

My second Presonus Central Station seems to work as designed.

Even though I like the way SamedayMusic handles returns I'm hesitant to fully endorse them, since the first Central Station they sent was screwed up.

This first unit may have had a factory flaw...but then again...it maybe have been an over-used floor sample SameDayMusic was trying to pass off on me...who knows?

Anyway...because of this I will have to think hard before I use SameDayMusic again.

AmericanMusical remains the best seller I've come across on the net for music-related products...and Zzounds remains the worst.

:roll: