[dudefromearth]

http://www.32ohmaudio.com/store/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=63_66_77&products_id=335&zenid=35422d08718de07e1c7e1078ab1378e9
 
I ordered these off the net for the HD 800, but I realised there are different 1/4 jacks. Can they work? You put the HD 800 into the female 1/4 jack and the adaptor leads to the laptop.

 

[muad]

The hd800 is a 300ohm headphone. Your laptop won't be able to provide enough power for them. To the point where you won't even get sufficient volume. You're gonna need an amp...  So do you want amp recommendations? 

 

[dudefromearth]

i'm going to get a Burson Audio HA160 amp. I have a nuforce uDAC usb amp in my laptop too. The nuforce uDAC has a 1/8 jack, but this adapter is a female 1/4 jack converter.
 
Would I be able to plug in the HD800 to the female 1/4 jack? I will be getting the amp.

 

[Farnsworth]

Yes, the adapter will work with the HD800's very well.

 

[TheHighBuilder]

Thanks for sharing.
Quote:

http://www.32ohmaudio.com/store/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=63_66_77&products_id=335&zenid=35422d08718de07e1c7e1078ab1378e9
 

 

[muad]

The hd800 will plug directly into the burson without an adapter. If you need to plug it into the udac then you will need the adapter. Im not sure if it's even worth getting it for use with a udac....
 

 

[Mr Joboto]

As long as you eventually get the Burson it should be fine

 

[Uncle Erik]

It's been beaten to death around here, but impedance has nothing to do with how difficult headphones are to drive. If low impedance is easy to drive, what about the Apogee loudspeakers with a 1.2 Ohm impedance? They're one hell of a load and - literally - melt lesser power amps by overheating them. If you want to maximize the HD-800, you'll want tubes. Preferably, one with output transformers for a nice, high, damping factor. A few of the high end solid state amps (e.g. Beta22, Dynamight) do well with the HD-800, but to these ears, they really deserve a proper tube amp.

 

[Mochan]

That's a bit deceptive, why are you bringing speakers into a headphone discussion? Powering speakers is a totally different beast altogether. But yeah impedance is not the be all end all for determining how hard a can is to drive. It is an indicator but as things like the K701 will show, impedance isn't the whole story.

 

[JxK]

Quote:

That's a bit deceptive, why are you bringing speakers into a headphone discussion? But yeah impedance is not the be all end all for determining how hard a can is to drive. It is an indicator but as things like the K701 will show, impedance isn't the whole story.

Is it fair to say that impedance + sensitivity is the whole story for how difficult headphones are to drive, or is there something else I'm missing?

 

[muad]

 
Quote:

It's been beaten to death around here, but impedance has nothing to do with how difficult headphones are to drive. If low impedance is easy to drive, what about the Apogee loudspeakers with a 1.2 Ohm impedance? They're one hell of a load and - literally - melt lesser power amps by overheating them. If you want to maximize the HD-800, you'll want tubes. Preferably, one with output transformers for a nice, high, damping factor. A few of the high end solid state amps (e.g. Beta22, Dynamight) do well with the HD-800, but to these ears, they really deserve a proper tube amp.

Nobody was talking about that! I just said his laptop wouldn't do it...  but Im sure he appreciates the recommendations none the less.

 

[Uncle Erik]

Mochan, do you understand how impedance works? It's all about the transfer of power. The closer the output impedance of an amp matches headphones or speakers, the better the power transfers. If there's a mismatch, there is power loss. There's even a formula for power loss due to impedance mismatch. The people who sell amplifiers will tell you that their product works with everything, but that is not the case. With most OTLs, they won't even tell you what the actual output impedance is. Neither will they tell you how much they cranked up the sound-deadening (IMHO) negative feedback in order to lower their output impedance. When you start to get technical, the cheap amps show themselves to be... Well, cheap amps. There are all sorts of tricks used to lower price, not to mention performance. Not to mention that those selling them are unlikely to tell you the truth. JxB, the other side of the equation is the output impedance of the amp. There's a very good reason most manufacturers won't tell you - it makes their products look bad. You want a low output impedance with low or zero negative feedback. With tubes, this is very difficult to do unless you're running a 6C33C (like the Zana Deux), 6C41C (no amps in commercial production), a handful of other tubes not in current production amps, or running with output transformers, which are not cheap. There's a lot of hype and marketing out there, but the plain truth is that you need expensive output transformers (or otherwise specialized circuits) to get the most out of tubes. The desire to sell product leads to all sorts of misleading claims.