iamwill
New Head-Fier
- Joined
- Jan 14, 2012
- Posts
- 4
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- 0
Hi all,
I'm buying my first pair of headphones to be used solely for monitoring/referencing purposes. I've been researching this for a while and have arrived at a dilemma. I record and mix so searched for a reasonable headphone known for the flattest/most honest response possible within a price range of up to $400 and I came up with the Beyer DT880s being the cans I was most likely to part with my cash for.
I'm sure you all know about the sonic qualities of the current 32, 250 and 600Ohm variants of the 880 either by hearing first hand or reading about them. Before pulling the trigger on a pair of the 600Ohm Beyers I decided to read a little about the amplifier requirements... I may be lucky I did. As much as I've learned in the last couple days about impedance matching, damping factors, the difference between voltage and current, voltage swing and the importance of the sensitivity/efficiency of the cans, I'm still at a crossroads.
I recall reading from a few different sources that the Beyer cans, particularly the higher 600Ohms are suited only to being driven from high output impedance amps (>100Ohms). This is mainly where I felt my plan fall apart as the only detail I know of the (SS) headphone amp inside my Metric Halo 2882 is that it has a output impedance of <1Ohm. This, together with the fact that the 880's have what I think is a relatively low sensitivity, meaning they require more power to be driven 'as loud', has me wondering if I should be looking at other options. The question is whether the amp will have sufficient power/voltage to be able to drive them efficiently and to suitably loud levels? Unfortunately for some reason the headphone output specs aren't detailed anywhere in MH's documentation so I wonder if a little guessing work from some knowledgeable heads may be useful here.
I've seen many equuations over the last couple days but don't think there is anything that can help given my lack of info on the headphone amp.
Can anyone give an experienced opinion as to how I may fair pairing these cans with my 2882?
Keenly watching this space.
Cheers
I'm buying my first pair of headphones to be used solely for monitoring/referencing purposes. I've been researching this for a while and have arrived at a dilemma. I record and mix so searched for a reasonable headphone known for the flattest/most honest response possible within a price range of up to $400 and I came up with the Beyer DT880s being the cans I was most likely to part with my cash for.
I'm sure you all know about the sonic qualities of the current 32, 250 and 600Ohm variants of the 880 either by hearing first hand or reading about them. Before pulling the trigger on a pair of the 600Ohm Beyers I decided to read a little about the amplifier requirements... I may be lucky I did. As much as I've learned in the last couple days about impedance matching, damping factors, the difference between voltage and current, voltage swing and the importance of the sensitivity/efficiency of the cans, I'm still at a crossroads.
I recall reading from a few different sources that the Beyer cans, particularly the higher 600Ohms are suited only to being driven from high output impedance amps (>100Ohms). This is mainly where I felt my plan fall apart as the only detail I know of the (SS) headphone amp inside my Metric Halo 2882 is that it has a output impedance of <1Ohm. This, together with the fact that the 880's have what I think is a relatively low sensitivity, meaning they require more power to be driven 'as loud', has me wondering if I should be looking at other options. The question is whether the amp will have sufficient power/voltage to be able to drive them efficiently and to suitably loud levels? Unfortunately for some reason the headphone output specs aren't detailed anywhere in MH's documentation so I wonder if a little guessing work from some knowledgeable heads may be useful here.
I've seen many equuations over the last couple days but don't think there is anything that can help given my lack of info on the headphone amp.
Can anyone give an experienced opinion as to how I may fair pairing these cans with my 2882?
Keenly watching this space.
Cheers