[jux Tpose]

Hello, I have a question about driving my Koss Pro 4aaa phones.

From my research, these headphones have 250 ohms resistance. I have a Fiio A3 portable amp and from my limited knowledge it is not powerful enough to get the most from my Koss'.

I would prefer a portable amp, but would settle on a stationary unit if it's significantly superior. I'd also like to keep the price under $120.

My playback sources are typically an iPhone S6 or MacBook Pro.

Thanks very much for any help you can offer.

 

[ProtegeManiac]

From my research, these headphones have 250 ohms resistance. I have a Fiio A3 portable amp and from my limited knowledge it is not powerful enough to get the most from my Koss'.

I would prefer a portable amp, but would settle on a stationary unit if it's significantly superior. I'd also like to keep the price under $120.

My playback sources are typically an iPhone S6 or MacBook Pro.

Schiit Magni3

 

[jux Tpose]

Thanks, I did just stumble across the Schiit Magni 3. Do they produce low end well? Sometimes I find myself using the bass boost on the A3 to help push the Koss low end out a bit.

 

[serman005]

FiiO A5.

 

[ProtegeManiac]

Thanks, I did just stumble across the Schiit Magni 3. Do they produce low end well? Sometimes I find myself using the bass boost on the A3 to help push the Koss low end out a bit.

They reproduce bass well in that:

1. They don't screw up the response of the original signal
2. Have no problems with impedance and damping factor that will EQ the low end of the headphone they're driving

That however will not address:

1. How a headphone is rolled off at the bass
2. How a headphone can have auditory masking due to other frequencies getting emphasized

So for example if your headphone starts rolling off at around 60hz and has a slight plateau from 80hz to 120hz, and then has midrange and treble spikes, no, the Magni3 isn't going to change how that sounds like. You'll just get the input signal (regardless of its quality) amplified into a 3W (into 16ohms) signal without it getting altered nor have any problems controlling proper driver movement.

 

[jux Tpose]

They reproduce bass well in that:

1. They don't screw up the response of the original signal
2. Have no problems with impedance and damping factor that will EQ the low end of the headphone they're driving

That however will not address:

1. How a headphone is rolled off at the bass
2. How a headphone can have auditory masking due to other frequencies getting emphasized

So for example if your headphone starts rolling off at around 60hz and has a slight plateau from 80hz to 120hz, and then has midrange and treble spikes, no, the Magni3 isn't going to change how that sounds like. You'll just get the input signal (regardless of its quality) amplified into a 3W (into 16ohms) signal without it getting altered nor have any problems controlling proper driver movement.

Thanks a lot, I understand. I think the Magni will be perfect and have no problem driving high impedance headphones.

 

[jux Tpose]

I have another question that doesn't warrant a separate thread: Is there a multi channel (2-8 channels) amplifier that you recommend for driving multiple headphones? All of the headphones are likely to be the same 250 ohm Koss pro 4AAA's.

Edit: I have an Art passive 4 way splitter, can I use this after the Magni without noticeable quality loss? (I understand there will be volume loss.) Thanks again.

 

[ProtegeManiac]

I have another question that doesn't warrant a separate thread: Is there a multi channel (2-8 channels) amplifier that you recommend for driving multiple headphones? All of the headphones are likely to be the same 250 ohm Koss pro 4AAA's.

Edit: I have an Art passive 4 way splitter, can I use this after the Magni without noticeable quality loss? (I understand there will be volume loss.) Thanks again.

I'm not sure how exactly the splitter will work with the amp. Sure you can wire it that way, but as much as you can just crank up the Magni, you'll mostly just send it a higher voltage signal. Current performance, output impedance, etc that will interact with the headphones will be dependent on the Art splitter, not the Magni, unless it's designed more like the speaker amp output adapter that comes with Stax headphones.

 

[jux Tpose]

Thanks

 

[buke9]

Agree with ProtegeManiac on this one hard to tell. I would think it would work and not sound too bad but I bet you will really heat the amp up if listening loud for a long period with 4 headphones . Impedance and resistance are a bit different but pretty close (just looked it up for parallel use) .It says both conform to Ohms law so many headphones in parallel will lower the impedance seen by the amp but not the sensitivity so will draw a bunch of power if I’m reading correctly. I think it will heat it up pretty good but could be wrong not saying anything for sure.

 

[ootrom]

You won't do any better than a Schiit Magni 3 at that price. And yeah, it makes the bass.

 

[jux Tpose]

After talking to my Sweetwater representative, I'm leaning more toward the Aphex Headpod 4. It drives 4 headphones up to 1000 ohms.

Costs about $250, but since these will sometimes be used in a recording studio it seems worth it.