[Amputate]

Hello Head-fi!
 
I've been the proud owner of an Asus Essence One for a while now and even though it has always worked perfectly there is one thing that bothers me about it though.
Whenever I plug in my headphones directly into the Essence One I just can't turn up the volume beyond 10% (if even that much) because it's just ludicrously loud.
Atm it's connected to my PC via a NuForce USB cable and I'm using a H650 to listen to music.
 
Sometimes when I'm a bit tired or having a headache I turn the volume down to 1 click beyond minimum (which is almost off) and it's still adequately loud.
Is that normal at all ??
Or is there some rule with PC audio where you don't max out the windows volume?
It seems strange that turning the volume to 25% can blow my eardrums 

 

[Calypso]

Quote:

Is that normal at all ??

Yes, the gain is too high. The Muses edition has a gain switch (allegedly?) , but your basic version does not have that 

. Also the HD650 has a rather high sensitivity, so that does not help either. 

 

[fabio-fi]

Well, it shouldn't be too loud even when maxing the windows volume. 
 
Is your amp still under warranty? I'd call for a RMA

 

[Arctia]

Probably just a bad combination of things.
 
- Essence One has a high gain compare to other popular amps.
 
- HD650 has high sensitivity, reacts very well to volume gain
 
- Your music is loud. Since you are on PC, use Foobar's replaygain scanner to scan your music. I bet Foobar will suggest applying -10db to a lot of them.

 

[kramer5150]

Quote:

Hello Head-fi!
 
I've been the proud owner of an Asus Essence One for a while now and even though it has always worked perfectly there is one thing that bothers me about it though.
Whenever I plug in my headphones directly into the Essence One I just can't turn up the volume beyond 10% (if even that much) because it's just ludicrously loud.
Atm it's connected to my PC via a NuForce USB cable and I'm using a H650 to listen to music.
 
Sometimes when I'm a bit tired or having a headache I turn the volume down to 1 click beyond minimum (which is almost off) and it's still adequately loud.
Is that normal at all ??
Or is there some rule with PC audio where you don't max out the windows volume?
It seems strange that turning the volume to 25% can blow my eardrums 

The rule is you should max the volume when amp-ing a headphone out.  Maximize current going into the amp and use it (the amp) as an attenuator.  I am not sure why this is universally accepted though, being that many headphone outputs will clip and distort.  Treat it as case by case, and follow your ears.  Sounds like your amp is too high gain for your cans and source.