I'm hoping some very knowledgeable people can help me. I've owned my Onkyo DP-X1A since it was first available on the market. It has brought me countless hours of listening enjoyment with a variety of headphones. Recently, I purchased a pair of Rosson Rad-O headphones. They are rated at 29 ohms impedance, however for balanced 2.5mm TRRS usage, the DP-X1A spec-sheet says that the range should be 32 ohm to 600 ohm and that using headphones outside of this range "may cause damage". Well, wouldn't you know, after listening on normal gain at volumes ranging from 140 to 155 out of 160 for only a few hours total (a few one hour listening sessions), I'm not sure if it's a coincidence, but the right transducer on the phones stopped working. I've done lots of subsequent testing, and the Onkyo seems to still be working perfectly with other headphones, balanced or unbalanced. The Rosson's right can no longer works with anything, and will likely have to be sent in for warranty repair.
My question is now obvious... could this have caused the transducer to fail? I have been reading for hours and hours, and particularly liked this article:
https://www.headphonesty.com/2019/04/headphone-impedance-demystified/
However I'm still not sure I'm any further ahead in understanding this situation. I obviously don't want to use the headphones with the DAP if they are incompatible, although the unbalanced option does seem to fall within the range. Is anyone able to look at the specifications for both the DP-X1A and the Rad-O to advise me correctly?
Rosson Rad-O:
- Frequency Response: 20 Hz – Beyond Audible Range
- Driver: 66mm Planar Magnetic
- Impedance: 29Ω
- Sensitivity: 98 dB
I should also mention that I've been using Final E5000 headphones for years with this DAP, running in balanced, which have the following specification:
- Impedance: 14Ω
- Sensitivity: 93dB
Never had a single issue and they sound perfectly driven by the DPX-1A when compared with my non-portable gear, so I'm confused.
Any assistance would be most appreciated.