Sorry to resurrect this thread but I am also looking for some advice and think I'm in a bit over my head. I have the LG V30 and am enjoying the sound it is producing compared to my Galaxy S6 and Sansa Clip but the volume seems pretty low coming out of my ATH M50s compared to both of those players (seems to lack punch too, but I think that is a volume issue as I enjoy the M50s at higher volumes on other players).
Galaxy S series has a tendency to have a boost to the lower range so that's likely the "kick" you're hearing vs the flatter sound of the V30.
As for overall volume, that can depend on the firmware, which isn't limited to EU Nanny State requirements. My S3 and S5 sounded louder than my Note3 and Note4 (not necessarily better or cleaner sounding), with the S3 originally going from "almost there" to "OHMYGODTURNITDOWNNOWWWWW!!!!" between lvl 3 to lvl 4 (based on how many times you press the + button from mute) on my 125dB/1mW Aurisonics ASG-1.3.
I'm a complete noob with no understanding of the what and why of sound, but I understand that a higher impedance headphone will produce louder audio through the V30?\
ATH-M50S is
not a high impedance headphone. Its nominal impedance load is 38ohms. Quad DAC drive mode triggers at 50ohms.
Try looking for the software hack that will get past that impedance sensor so it runs Quad DAC all the time and see if it sounds better to you.
If that is the case I am also looking for recommendations for high impedance headphones...
As much as Quad DAC triggers at 50ohms and you get considerably more power there than at 32ohms, the higher the impedance, the lower the output power (except for OTL amplifiers), so it's likely that if you put a 300ohm load on it the Quad DAC will not be pushing out as much power as its power saving drive mode at 32ohms. Quad DAC isn't really something that runs better for high impedance loads in absolute terms, but LG basically assuming that impedance has more impact than sensitivity on loudness, therefore using that as the basis for when Quad DAC triggers. As to why it has to be triggered at all in the first place, well, it's for surviving in a market that isn't completely comprised of audiophiles - if some website ran the phone to test battery life and Quad DAC is how it normally functions, then they'd look bad compared to the competition.
Also, as much as headphones typically have a higher impedance headphone having higher sensitivity (ie how loud it gets at 1mW on headphones; 1w at 1m distance on speakers) than its counterparts, this is more true if you're comparing Sennheiser or Beyer to AKG or HiFiMan. In the case of your M50S, at 99dB/1mW, its sensitivity is higher than even the HD600, HD650, and even the HD660S. That means that if you just get a headphone with higher impedance you'll have more of the same problem now that you have lower sensitivity and probably not enough power over what the M50S is getting without Quad DAC.
Which is why before blowing more money on headphones you should try the hack to run Quad DAC as the default mode and see first if you like the improvements.
...but don't really know what kind of sound I'm looking for as I've never really compared headphones before; I guess neutral(?), maybe a little bassy (shocker, right?).
Well, do you want bassy or do you want (as) neutral (as current technology allows)? Neutral in some cases just gets thought of as "not bassy" not simply because the response lacks bass boost, but because it also rolls off at a higher frequency. The HD600 starts rolling off at around 55hz, so basically everything below that is already weaker than 1000hz, on top of which, many "neutral" headphones are open back which allows more ambient noise to get in the way of hearing the low bass. By contrast something like the HE400i would be as neutral as it gets with a near flat response from 1000hz to 10hz, but while it reproduces the bass more accurately, people tend to feel the bass is "weak" since it doesn't get any boost. Having open cups on both of those headphones just adds ambient noise to get in the way of hearing the bass.
(RE the DT770s mentioned above: there is a 250ohm and 80ohm version; since both of those will trigger the high impedance mode what is the difference between the two and why are they the same price?
80ohms would trigger the Quad DAC without having to worry about how much less power that Quad DAC will produce at 250ohms vs 32ohms to 100ohms.
