[Soundsquealer]

Im thinking of buying a DAP and over-ear headphones.
I was first intrested in Pioneer XDP-30R but then i read in this forum that many people thought the volume was to low on Pioneers DAP´s. And then i read that EU had some law that the volume on DAP´s must be limited.
I like to listen to music LOUD.
Do all brands have limited volume?

Anyway now im thinking of buying an Astell & Kern AK-70 insted but is the volume limited on AK´s as well?
I haven´t found any complains regarding the volume on the AK.
Or do i have to buy a DAP outside of Europe to get high volume?

Thanks

 

[cossix]

You can always buy an amp to go along with it, but I've never heard of a volume limit other than the simple hardware volume maximum :/

 

[ProtegeManiac]

Im thinking of buying a DAP and over-ear headphones.
I was first intrested in Pioneer XDP-30R but then i read in this forum that many people thought the volume was to low on Pioneers DAP´s. And then i read that EU had some law that the volume on DAP´s must be limited.
I like to listen to music LOUD.
Do all brands have limited volume?

Anyway now im thinking of buying an Astell & Kern AK-70 insted but is the volume limited on AK´s as well?
I haven´t found any complains regarding the volume on the AK.
Or do i have to buy a DAP outside of Europe to get high volume?

Thanks

You can buy an amplifier. If the DAP has a dedicated line out (and ideally it should), AFAIK the voltage isn't limited by law there. So the X1II, X5III, X7 will all have 1.9volts. Past that it'll be the amplifier's gain and power (plus the sensitivity of your headphones) that will determine the volume.

You can always buy an amp to go along with it, but I've never heard of a volume limit other than the simple hardware volume maximum :/

EU has an output voltage limit which of course doesn't take into account the sensitivity of what it's driving. It's not like a car with a speedometer so instead of limiting power outright the ECU just cuts fuel and air if the speedo is at 250kph or something (but there's nothing illegal if you go to Brabus, Renntech, Alpina, etc, and have them disable it).

 

[castleofargh]

it's hard to say who applies the EU limitation and how it's interpreted. in general I would imagine that this limitation is more strictly applied for gears sold with a pair or earphones.
sony is famous for making specific gear for different parts of the world, so they will have a EU attenuation. small brand can't even afford to do that tey just lack the structure to sell in other countries or make several manufacturing chains. when you buy most Chinese DAPs, yu get them straight from China, or from small resellers who did get the DAPs from China. those will probably not have any EU restrictions.
so it might be a case by case situation. asking around for a specific brand can help of course, but then again most people don't measure anything and very very few will have both EU and non EU models side by side to confirm a difference.
so instead of wondering which device has high gain output, I suggest you start looking for headphones with high sensitivity. and for IEMs, most are sensitive enough to ruin your ears even with the weakest source, so that's less likely to be an issue.

and as suggested above you can also consider an external amp when you really wish to use a low sensitivity headphone. in such a case even more than for usual usage, you really have to start with picking the headphone, and then find out the gain you'll need and the amp able to deliver that into that specific load.