gilency
Headphoneus Supremus
- Joined
- Mar 30, 2007
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I have compared the 250 with 600 DT880's and was not sure they sounded different. I love the DT880's either way.
Originally Posted by MrGreen /img/forum/go_quote.gif I am highly skeptical of the whole 600 ohm thing myself, to be honest. |
Originally Posted by 3602 /img/forum/go_quote.gif It says this everywhere. Chinese forums. Head-Fi. Blogs. I don't get it: higher impedance is easier to drive, but better sound quality? |
Originally Posted by nierika /img/forum/go_quote.gif Do your think there might be a reason that the new flagship T1 only comes in 600 ohm? |
Originally Posted by MrGreen /img/forum/go_quote.gif No idea, but considering it's a completely new driver it is completely different. It's probably where they thought nominal performance occured. It could have to do with that driver mass thing though. |
Originally Posted by prone2phone /img/forum/go_quote.gif noise floor, jitter, whatever. 600ohm sound serious even for people that know little about headphone specs, when you look like this : ibuds 16ohm, px100 32ohm, akg 271 64ohm, hd600 300ohm, T1 - whopping 600ohm |
Originally Posted by Menisk /img/forum/go_quote.gif Wow them with a pair of HD414s at 2000ohms. |
Originally Posted by Uncle Erik /img/forum/go_quote.gif Headphone impedance matters most when considering the output impedance of the amp you're using. Impedance, by itself, tells you very little unless you know the output impedance of the amp you're using. Impedance tells you how well power transfers from the amp to the headphones. The closer the match, the better the transfer. If there is a severe mismatch, you can lose power. How much power gets through considered with the sensitivity of the headphones tells you how loud the headphones will get. Also, you have to keep in mind the impedance curves of the amp and headphones. Impedance (usually) is not constant across the frequency spectrum. Both the amp's and the headphones' impedance varies by frequency. Yes, this is slightly complicated. When you lay the output impedance curve against the impedance curve of the headphones you find the sound signature of an amp with a particular pair of headphones. This is where amp synergy comes into play. Two amps with the same power output but different output impedance curves will make the same pair of headphones sound different. It's a complex dance between the amp and headphones and you cannot reduce this to "high impedance is hard to drive" and similar conclusions. Unless you know what is powering the headphones, the headphones's impedance tells you very little. It's like knowing that a vehicle has 300 horsepower. That might sound like a fast car, but what if it is 300HP in a 12,000 lbs. school bus? Would 300HP behave differently in a 2,500 lbs. sports car? You have to look at the vehicle's weight, gearing, torque, and other factors to understand how it will perform. It is much the same with amps and headphones - you have to look at a number of different factors. |
Originally Posted by Uncle Erik /img/forum/go_quote.gif Headphone impedance matters most when considering the output impedance of the amp you're using. Impedance, by itself, tells you very little unless you know the output impedance of the amp you're using. Impedance tells you how well power transfers from the amp to the headphones. The closer the match, the better the transfer. If there is a severe mismatch, you can lose power. |
Originally Posted by Koyaan I. Sqatsi /img/forum/go_quote.gif Dude, we're talking about headphones here, not transmission lines. The most efficient transfer of power over a transmission line occurs when the source and load impedances are matched because then you're not losing power due to reflection losses. Reflection losses are only an issue when the length of the line is on the order of the electrical wavelengths of the signal you're sending down the line. But again, we're talking about headphones here. The shortest electrical wavelengths at audio frequencies are MILES long! Transmission line theory just doesn't apply in this situation and invoking it only serves to cause more confusion and erroneous assumptions. se |
Originally Posted by aimlink /img/forum/go_quote.gif Your counter to Erik's point is exactly why I almost started a thread the other day on this very issue. |