[shotgunshane]

I find it hard to believe that CA / ALO would create a product so susceptible to small variances of impedance given their existing presence in the audio gear market. So would I be correct in assuming that equipment and headphone manufactures are building to the same types of existing standards that home audio adheres to (I think), like a known 8 or 4 ohm load? And iPhone's or any other mobile device not being designed as a dedicated piece of audio gear just got left at the curb? If that were the case, and I'm not saying that it is because this is all news to me...then the mobile device manufacturers would have dropped the ball if not adhering to the same "given" specs. This is all presumptuous on my part of course. 

You cannot compare iems using balanced armature full sized speakers. You just have little experience with very sensitive iems, it's nothing hard to believe. Single balanced armatures can have wild impedance swings all by themselves. Combine that with multiple armatures and crossovers and you can get some pretty varying impedance curves. Manufacturers only state the rating at 1k for standardized specs but the truth is, it can vary heavily at any other point on the frequency response.

Campfire isn't the only one making super sensitive iems; Shure, Empire Ears, Ultimate Ears, Jerry Harvey Audio, well you get the picture. If you want to read more on the varying effects of impedance on balanced armature iems (small dynamics in iems tend to have flat impedance responses), you can check out Rin Choi's blog. While he hasn't updated it in ages, it's a great library of information: http://rinchoi.blogspot.com/2010/05/determining-very-dbspl-coming-out-of.html?m=1
Just check out any iem measurements made with armatures. He'll often show varrying frequency response measurements with adding 10, 33, 50, 100 ohms; possibly even recommend an impedance value to bring the iem response closer to a measurable neutral response.

The output impedance of a given dap or amp can be dependent upon the opamp used, some require more output impedance. A designer might prefer the sound of certain opamps; output impedance be damned. Sometimes it's just the circuit design of the engineer. Apple has had iPhones under 1 ohm, around 2 ohms and around 3. I'm not an electrical engineer, so I can't tell you why they change the design each model for differing output Z but you can't necessarily consider a few ohms a fail, if you don't know their design target. Most portable and full size headphones can take higher amounts of impedance before they are affected but as an iem user, it would sure make my life easier if everything was 1 ohm or less.

 

[kino lau]

Campfire isn't the only one making super sensitive iems; Shure, Empire Ears, Ultimate Ears, Jerry Harvey Audio, well you get the picture. 

Thanks for the short version education. Again, I really just got lucky. If I had known all of this I would have been picking apart every little piece of information available and suffering paralysis by analysis. My Shure's (replaced 846's) are still in their packages, and again...I guess I just got lucky that I picked DAP's that had no issues. Now I'll probably never buy another piece of head-fi gear out of fear...lol

 

[shotgunshane]

Haha, you own two extremely sensitive iems! Sometimes it's better to be lucky than good!

In general daps with 2 ohms or less will play well with most everything. But at the end of the day, as long as you like the sound, that's all that matters.

 

[Midgetguy]

Haha, you own two extremely sensitive iems! Sometimes it's better to be lucky than good!

In general daps with 2 ohms or less will play well with most everything. But at the end of the day, as long as you like the sound, that's all that matters.

Better lucky than good is indeed sometimes the case. I've been listening to the Nova, the P1, and the Supra this week through my iPod Touch 5th gen. Sounding good every day of the week.

 

[shotgunshane]

Better lucky than good is indeed sometimes the case. I've been listening to the Nova, the P1, and the Supra this week through my iPod Touch 5th gen. Sounding good every day of the week.

5G Touch is 1 ohm OI if I'm not mistaken. Great little all rounder.

 

[Midgetguy]

5G Touch is 1 ohm OI if I'm not mistaken. Great little all rounder.

I've found people to say it measures somewhere around 1 ohm to less than an ohm. Works great and I like to avoid having an extra amp to carry around so it's a great little device to have. Plus, I haven't used many standalone DAPs, but it seems to me that the UI tends to be nicer and the screen is nicer than most standalone DAPs too. That, plus the fact that I do use it for many iOS apps while my main phone is a Windows phone makes it a fantastic all-around device that just works. Many can cry out as much as they want that all those $400+ DAPs are absolutely the way to go if you care about your sound quality, but to them, I say screw it, I love how my IEMs sound from my modern smart device! Modern devices have com so far and with the detriment to how many devices you carry around, it seems less and less worth it to have a audiophile-grade DAP.

 

[goldendarko]

Really pleased with the dragonfly red pairing with the Andromeda. Was concerned there might be some noise since it was a lot more power than my iPhone 6 but no such issue. Really brings out the best in the andromeda though while maintaining pocket portability. Best $140 I've spend on an audio upgrade thus far.

 

[SincerelyAural]

Really pleased with the dragonfly red pairing with the Andromeda. Was concerned there might be some noise since it was a lot more power than my iPhone 6 but no such issue. Really brings out the best in the andromeda though while maintaining pocket portability. Best $140 I've spend on an audio upgrade thus far.

That's interesting, I remember the Dragonfly 1.2 nearly blowing my ears out at minimum volume when I tried to use it with a similarly sensitive IEM. I guess Audioquest have made some improvements with the new generation.

 

[WCDchee]

Really pleased with the dragonfly red pairing with the Andromeda. Was concerned there might be some noise since it was a lot more power than my iPhone 6 but no such issue. Really brings out the best in the andromeda though while maintaining pocket portability. Best $140 I've spend on an audio upgrade thus far.

Somehow off the iphone the dfb is actually louder than the dfr by a large amount.the pairing is sick isn't it and the dfr with a phone honestly performs better than many daps sonically a few times its price

 

[goldendarko]

Yeah quite awesome and still keeps it simple and portable enough as a DAP just about. Really impressive little device. Andromeda definitely scales with better gear too

 

[ExpatinJapan]

http://monoadc.blog64.fc2.com/blog-entry-99.html

Some output impedances of devices (old)

 

[kimD]

http://monoadc.blog64.fc2.com/blog-entry-99.html

Some output impedances of devices (old)

Do you realised iPhone 6s SQ much better than iPod touch 6th Gen isn't.
I am just realised quite a lot difference and even soundstage with clarity of textured.

 

[Audiowood]

Do you realised iPhone 6s SQ much better than iPod touch 6th Gen isn't.
I am just realised quite a lot difference and even soundstage with clarity of textured.

I do.. I think the iPhone 6 has the best sq compared to all previous .. In my personal opinion.

 

[kimD]

I do.. I think the iPhone 6 has the best sq compared to all previous .. In my personal opinion.

The only way used iPhone 6s as a DAP LOL
Option for iPhone SE smaller and lighter

 

[aohk1997]

Hi, may i know what is a suitable output level for daps which are to be used with the andromeda? Planning to get either an ak70 or Opus 1 to pair with it