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Headphone Volume Damage

post #1 of 5
12/30/11 at 3:00pm
Thread Starter 

Hi everybody, today I received my first "nice" pair of headphones, some Audio Technica ATH-AD700's. After listening to some music with them on my computer for a few minutes I accidentally turned the volume all the way up. I quickly turned the volume back down, it could not have been at 100% for more than 3 seconds. I just had them plugged into the headphone port on my computer. They were not plugged into any type of amp. They still sound fine to me but I am by no means an expert on headphones. Could this have damaged them in any way? Thanks in advance for your help.

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post #2 of 5
12/30/11 at 3:10pm

They should be fine, it takes a LOT of volume to damage headphones, more than a PC's audio out port could deliver.

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post #3 of 5
12/30/11 at 3:13pm

The most common way for headphone drivers to fail is to have the coil "jump the gap"  Which means that the coil (and cone) is pushed too far out (out of the magnetic field created between the t-pole and magnet)  The suspension will usually crease and the driver will be ruined, most likely leaning to one side and scraping the coil against the magnet.  It's also possible with some drivers to dent the coil by having it driven too far down and hitting the backing plate, but that's rare, usually the driver surface will hit the t-pole first with most designs (in headphone drivers), you could also over heat the coil, where it will either burn the wire, or melt the epoxy resin that holds it in place and it will unravel and jam up in the gap.  All of these are immediately noticeable.  The only way that I can think of that you could damage a driver without entirely ruining it is if the design allowed the cone to make contact with the grill before the coil jumped out of the gap, which could leave a small dent or wrinkle in the cone, but I havent seen any with grill that close to the driver.

 

You most likely haven't hurt them at all.


Edited by sexiewasd - 12/30/11 at 3:16pm
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post #4 of 5
12/30/11 at 3:14pm
Thread Starter 


 

Quote:
Originally Posted by Phos View Post

They should be fine, it takes a LOT of volume to damage headphones, more than a PC's audio out port could deliver.


 

Thanks a lot. I feel better now.

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post #5 of 5
12/30/11 at 3:17pm
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by sexiewasd View Post

The most common way for headphone drivers to fail is to have the coil "jump the gap"  Which means that the coil (and cone) is pushed too far out (out of the magnetic field created between the t-pole and magnet)  The suspension will usually crease and the driver will be ruined, most likely leaning to one side and scraping the coil against the magnet.  It's also possible with some drivers to dent the coil by having it driven too far down and hitting the backing plate, but that's rare, usually the driver surface will hit the t-pole first with most designs (in headphone drivers), you could also over heat the coil, where it will either burn the wire, or melt the epoxy resin that holds it in place and it will unravel and jam up in the gap.  All of these are immediately noticeable.  The only way that I can think of that you could damage a driver without entirely ruining it is if the design allowed the cone to make contact with the grill before the coil jumped out of the gap, which could leave a small dent or wrinkle in the cone, but I havent seen any with grill that close to the driver.

 

You most likely haven't hurt them at all.


Thanks for the explanation.

 

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