M-Audio 2496 - needs a headphone pre-amp ! Ugh !

I've just written to m-audio coz I bought an audiophile 2496 which I love, but.........there's no headphone out on it.

Now, on my crappy old 5 squids card, I used to use a 3.5 mm jack splitter, and direct one output to my amp, and the other to my headphones. It all worked really nicely.

I can't just use my amp all the time coz I do my missus's nut in once I've been working on the same loop for like 3 days in a row. M-Audio wrote back and told me I need a headphone pre-amp. Can anyone recommend one here ? Or.......should I just get an RCA splitter and hope there's enoguh signal, or......should I buy a cheap DJ mixing desk, and use that ?

p.s. My amp doesn't have a headphone out, it's a cambridge audio a500.

Any help much appreciated.

if you want to do it right.. a minimal mixing desk will be the best.

I''ve managed for years with the old DAT machine in record pause mode and usin ghte headphone monitor on that. Any half decent old bit of hi-fi recording technology usually works.

lol I've donne the same some years ago with my soundblaster Live!! :eh: ... I was using the digital out into the dat .. in doing this I was trying 2 avoid the SB "trademark" sound as much as possible...

Z

Thanks for the replies.....I think a mixer might be the way to go.....I might even have a bit of fun borrowing a mates turntable, and see if I can get reason going on one chan, and the turntable on the other...