mulder01
Headphoneus Supremus
- Joined
- Jan 13, 2012
- Posts
- 1,874
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- 781
I don't think most people realise how little power their headphones consume at normal listening volumes. But also I don't think people are willing to try less expensive amps with their super expensive headphones in the fear that they are missing out on something.
However, on the other side of the argument, there is an article that was written over 50 years ago that explores the question of "How much power is enough" here:
http://www.stereophile.com/content/amplifier-power-how-much-enough#zb5GKiUdI85VgEXg.97
Which is as inconclusive today as it was then. Though it seems to point toward needing headroom. There are other arguments about how different manufacturers do their measurements - often figures are quoted at a certain point - at 1mW and 1kHz for example, but the distortion characteristics may not be linear across the entire frequency or power range.
I have recently been using a DAP to power my Abyss. I only found out after I bought it that it will only put around 120mw into them. If I knew that at the time I may not have bought it out of fear of not having enough power. However, now that I've had time to live with it, I have found that the VU meter peaks out at about -6db at my normal responsible listening volume. Which is one quarter of the amp's max output. I haven't measured the volume, but a 46ohm load with 85 dB/mW sensitivity requires 32mW (0.032w) for 100dB SPL (moderate volume), so that sounds about right. Yet there are some insisting you need a 100w speaker amp to drive the Abyss to it's potential. Why? Probably comes down to design and voicing and the pairing complementing eachother and being subjectively satisfying to the listener.
Why does the Mojo get a bad wrap with the LCD-4? Either the figures quoted on the mojo are misleading, people who think that it's fine are too afraid to say anything out of fear of being ridiculed on the forum by people with more expensive gear or they've been reading the forum too much and have set themselves up to not like it without doing a proper A/B test or giving it a proper chance. Who knows. I'd say if people are happy to use their Mojo then great. *edit* I was going to use the expression "more power to you" but I don't think it was the best choice. Gonna go with "great".
However, on the other side of the argument, there is an article that was written over 50 years ago that explores the question of "How much power is enough" here:
http://www.stereophile.com/content/amplifier-power-how-much-enough#zb5GKiUdI85VgEXg.97
Which is as inconclusive today as it was then. Though it seems to point toward needing headroom. There are other arguments about how different manufacturers do their measurements - often figures are quoted at a certain point - at 1mW and 1kHz for example, but the distortion characteristics may not be linear across the entire frequency or power range.
I have recently been using a DAP to power my Abyss. I only found out after I bought it that it will only put around 120mw into them. If I knew that at the time I may not have bought it out of fear of not having enough power. However, now that I've had time to live with it, I have found that the VU meter peaks out at about -6db at my normal responsible listening volume. Which is one quarter of the amp's max output. I haven't measured the volume, but a 46ohm load with 85 dB/mW sensitivity requires 32mW (0.032w) for 100dB SPL (moderate volume), so that sounds about right. Yet there are some insisting you need a 100w speaker amp to drive the Abyss to it's potential. Why? Probably comes down to design and voicing and the pairing complementing eachother and being subjectively satisfying to the listener.
Why does the Mojo get a bad wrap with the LCD-4? Either the figures quoted on the mojo are misleading, people who think that it's fine are too afraid to say anything out of fear of being ridiculed on the forum by people with more expensive gear or they've been reading the forum too much and have set themselves up to not like it without doing a proper A/B test or giving it a proper chance. Who knows. I'd say if people are happy to use their Mojo then great. *edit* I was going to use the expression "more power to you" but I don't think it was the best choice. Gonna go with "great".