Headphone outputs sounds "better" than Main Output

[LeifAndreasOberg]

Hi,
I connected the One to my new RME Fireface UFX III and connected headphones to the RME.
I was surprised to find that the sound was quite different from when I have the headphones connected to the Moog. I
A B tested this 40 times by putting in the headphones in the Moog One and then playing a bit and then inserting it into the RME headphone out.
I came to the conclusion that the Moog One headphone out seem to have a bit more base, but I also think it sounds a bit more pleasant.

What could be the reason for this? Have they maybe lifted the base a bit on the headphones to compensate or does the RME change the sound this much?
I also tested to use the Sub outputs and they sounded a bit different from the Mains which also surprised me, but I have not AB tested it yet.

Ideally I would like to have the sound from the headphone outs from the Moog since it sounds the best!

Best wishes,
Andreas

[Matthias Adloff]

The headphones outs sound far better than the main outs. It's the balanced transformers, the A/D -> D/A chain, the very weak headphone amp in the FireFace.
Look, using the headphones directly glues your ears to the oscillators. There's nothing else happening. Using the RME means a lot of additional steps as seen above. Even with 384kHz and a SPL phonitor running on Burls or HEDDs you will not get the same result. That's why analog synths should not be overrated when it comes to real-life music production. Chances are that you will never get that direct punch and clarity on your hard disk that your synth actually delivers.