Dac output impedance?

Jan 26, 2019 at 3:53 PM Thread Starter Post #1 of 7

Viper Necklampy

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Hi, I'm thinking to buy Jds atom amp, Topping d50 dac And Audeze El8 titanium/closed headphones, but a thing come to an eye, the 100ohm output of dac Topping D50, now i'm scared to buy :(
So Atom amp have 0,7 output impedance and El8 closed 30ohm, they should work flawlessy, but that 100ohm output impedance is scaring me, i promise i'm a noob, I probably misunderstood something as i don't know much about Output impedances.. Thanks for the comprehension, i hope to come to an happy conclusion ^^
 
Jan 26, 2019 at 5:06 PM Post #2 of 7
It doesn't matter. It's only the amp's output and the headphone's impedance that you may need to consider. The DAC is driving the high impedance input of the amp which is typically 10 KOhms or more, so there's no problems there.
 
Jan 26, 2019 at 5:08 PM Post #3 of 7
100-Ohm output impedance for a line-output jack is fine, maybe one could say normal.
My Xonar DX sound card's line-output is 100-Ohm.
Where as the headphone jack also outputs voltage, somewhat the same as the line-output signal, but it has it's differences, for better controlling the diaphragm in the headphone cup.
So the headphone jack having a very low impedance (Ohm) is good for damping control.
 
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Jan 26, 2019 at 5:20 PM Post #4 of 7
100-Ohm output impedance for a line jack is fine, maybe one could say normal.
I believe the higher impedance allows for a stronger voltage signal, which i guess is a positive (good thing) for a line connection (clear and strong signal).
Where as the headphone jack also outputs voltage, somewhat the same as the line signal, but it has it's differences, for better controlling the diaphragm in the headphone cup.
So the headphone jack having a very low impedance (Ohm) is good for damping control.
But i'm not the expert.
The way to look at is, the 100 ohm output impedance of the DAC is being connected to amps that has input impedance magnitudes higher so that you get maximal signal delivered to the amp.

100 ohm, 10, or 1 ohm really doesn't matter as the value is insignificant compared to amp's input impedance, which is always magnitudes greater. Which will always be at the input of the amp.

Although we think of the amp as a box that increases driving power for headphones that needs it, but it also reduces the output impedance to the headphone in the path.

So, amp has magnitudes higher input impedance to take in maximum signal from the DAC output, and also to reduce the output impedance to the headphone.
 
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Jan 26, 2019 at 5:30 PM Post #5 of 7
The way to look at is, the 100 ohm output impedance of the DAC is being connected to amps that has input impedance magnitudes higher so that you get maximal signal delivered to the amp.
100 ohm, 10, or 1 ohm really doesn't matter as the value is insignificant compared to amp's input impedance, which is always magnitudes greater. Which will always be at the input of the amp.
Although we think of the amp as a box that increases driving power for headphones that needs it, but it also reduces the output impedance to the headphone in the path.
So, amp has magnitudes higher input impedance to take in maximum signal from the DAC output, and also to reduce the output impedance to the headphone.
COOL :)
 
Jan 27, 2019 at 2:14 AM Post #6 of 7
Hi, I'm thinking to buy Jds atom amp, Topping d50 dac And Audeze El8 titanium/closed headphones, but a thing come to an eye, the 100ohm output of dac Topping D50, now i'm scared to buy :frowning2:
So Atom amp have 0,7 output impedance and El8 closed 30ohm, they should work flawlessy, but that 100ohm output impedance is scaring me, i promise i'm a noob, I probably misunderstood something as i don't know much about Output impedances.. Thanks for the comprehension, i hope to come to an happy conclusion ^^

That's the line out on the DAC. The amp's input has an impedance of typically 1,000 to 10,000ohms. Some portable amps might have around 500 to 800ohms.
 
Jan 27, 2019 at 7:45 AM Post #7 of 7
pretty much what everybody said. 100-200ohm for a DAC output is normal. the job is to send the accurate voltage from the DAC to the amplifier, we're not concerned with current at that point in the circuit. different needs resulted in different standards and all is well.
 

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