kelliegator
New Head-Fier
Hello. I'm not necessarily new to this whole audiophile thing but some of the technical stuff is a bit hard for me to understand, which is why I'm making this thread to ask for help with a thing.
I have a Sony Walkman NW-ZX507, which I'm very happy with overall, aside from one little thing; it's a bit on the quiet side. From what I know it may be because of the EU volume cap limit that European versions of this DAP has. I'm not exactly asking for something outrageous, but just something that may be a bit louder and more powerful that I can use at home.
Currently I only have one pair of headphones; Bang & Olufsen Beoplay h9i (25ohm). These are great headphones because of their versatility, but a bit quiet with my Walkman, which is why I'm considering a second pair that I can use at home to offer a better audiophile experience.
The headphones I'm thinking of getting are either the Drop Hifiman HE-35X (dynamic) or Drop Hifiman HE4XX (planar magnetic), mostly because those two are within the price range I'm willing to go for.
Since I'm hoping to get a louder and better experience (if possible), I'm not sure which one of those is the right choice. Mostly because I'm having a hard time wrapping my head around the whole impedance thing. I've tried to watch a few videos and read some articles on the subject and by the look of things I should get a HE-35X because of it's lower impedance (19ohm) and slightly higher sensitivity, but the HE4XX isn't that much higher, at 35ohm. I don't have a headphone amp at home so my primary way of listening is via my Walkman (if I'm not using my hi-fi system).
It's also worth noting that I have an adapter so I can use the balanced 4.4mm output on my Walkman, so that's what I primarily use.
Where I'm confused is that I heard that a recommendation when it comes to headphones and amps is that the amp impedance should be 8 times lower than headphone impedance, but if that's true then neither of these headphones seem to fit? Or am I just misunderstanding this? I have to admit my math is terrible but I've tried to work things out with my calculator and I'm just getting a headache over this.
Or does the volume limit on EU devices make this whole thing irrelevant? I'd appreciate some closure on this. Hope you can help me out on this.
I have a Sony Walkman NW-ZX507, which I'm very happy with overall, aside from one little thing; it's a bit on the quiet side. From what I know it may be because of the EU volume cap limit that European versions of this DAP has. I'm not exactly asking for something outrageous, but just something that may be a bit louder and more powerful that I can use at home.
Currently I only have one pair of headphones; Bang & Olufsen Beoplay h9i (25ohm). These are great headphones because of their versatility, but a bit quiet with my Walkman, which is why I'm considering a second pair that I can use at home to offer a better audiophile experience.
The headphones I'm thinking of getting are either the Drop Hifiman HE-35X (dynamic) or Drop Hifiman HE4XX (planar magnetic), mostly because those two are within the price range I'm willing to go for.
Since I'm hoping to get a louder and better experience (if possible), I'm not sure which one of those is the right choice. Mostly because I'm having a hard time wrapping my head around the whole impedance thing. I've tried to watch a few videos and read some articles on the subject and by the look of things I should get a HE-35X because of it's lower impedance (19ohm) and slightly higher sensitivity, but the HE4XX isn't that much higher, at 35ohm. I don't have a headphone amp at home so my primary way of listening is via my Walkman (if I'm not using my hi-fi system).
It's also worth noting that I have an adapter so I can use the balanced 4.4mm output on my Walkman, so that's what I primarily use.
Where I'm confused is that I heard that a recommendation when it comes to headphones and amps is that the amp impedance should be 8 times lower than headphone impedance, but if that's true then neither of these headphones seem to fit? Or am I just misunderstanding this? I have to admit my math is terrible but I've tried to work things out with my calculator and I'm just getting a headache over this.
Or does the volume limit on EU devices make this whole thing irrelevant? I'd appreciate some closure on this. Hope you can help me out on this.