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Headphone jack on powered speakers - does it power headphones?

post #1 of 6
1/27/12 at 8:25am
Thread Starter 

Hi all,

 

Been lurking for a couple of weeks now doing some research on headphones to replace my broken, terribad Plantronics Gametron headset. About to take the plunge into the world of decent sounding headphones finally. I am still learning about how to properly power headphones, and what capabilities sound cards have, etc. I wanted to try and avoid having to buy a separate amp, and was wondering, will my headphone jack on my speakers amplify the signal to my headphones?

 

I saw this thread about my speakers but didn't want to necro a 10-yr old thread, but I have the old Altec Lansing 641 system. I am going to go with the Sennheiser HD558 headphones and see how they work out. Any info or tips would be greatly appreciated! Thanks.

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post #2 of 6
1/27/12 at 8:38am

Yes, the headphone jack will power headphones.  That's what it's there for.  But if you're asking whether it will be as powerful as a dedicated headphone amp, that really depends on the particular pair of powered speakers and how the headphone jack was designed.  You might be able to tell something by looking at the spec sheet for the particular pair of powered speakers to see how much power and voltage they put out, and what impedences they support.

 

(To which you're likely to ask "what about X speakers?", and I don't know the answer to that.)

 

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post #3 of 6
1/27/12 at 8:48am
Thread Starter 

Thanks for the reply. Here's what I found on the specs of the system, does this tell us anything useful?

 

 

Nominal Output Power (Total)200.0 Watt

 

 

 

Max (RMS) Output Power (Total)400.0 Watt

 

 

 

Input Impedance10.0 KOhm


Edited by Ruhnie - 1/27/12 at 8:49am
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post #4 of 6
1/27/12 at 1:18pm

Would be surprised if these specs apply to the headphone out as well.

If they do you’re in for buying a new headphone as it will burn completely

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post #5 of 6
1/29/12 at 6:27pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Roseval View Post

Would be surprised if these specs apply to the headphone out as well.

If they do you’re in for buying a new headphone as it will burn completely



Agreed.  There should be separate specs for the headphone output.

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post #6 of 6
1/30/12 at 8:30pm

That link provides nothing of use about the headphone jack, and I'm guessing the user manual will probably be equally devoid of information. Just shooting in the dark, the jack is either going to be rated to a few volts into some really low impedance, or a few volts into some really high impedance. Assuming the setup doesn't pick up noise and send it out the headphone jack, it will probably work decently well with headphones that are regraded as "easy to drive" (most of the Audio-Technica, Sony, less exotic AKG, Sennheiser, etc) but may be less than ideal with loads that are at either extreme (my guess is that it will preference lower impedance loads, because that's what a lot of cheap headphones are, but it may be the other way 'round (which means it will hiss on low impedance loads, and be fine with 200-300 ohm loads, assuming it can put out enough power)). 

 

With the 558s, again assuming it doesn't bleed noise, it shouldn't have a problem. The 558s should be able to plug straight into your PC and work, having said that. They're not an overly complicated load to deal with. If the thing picks up noise, try them straight into the front L/R output on the PC; if that's problematic then I would consider buying something. 

 

 

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