[Acidicfriend]

you will have flabby and high distortion bass (perhaps that's the way you like them) with that output impedance. The amp is also severely current limited. not a good fit for E3 IMO

I won't be taking any advice from you, so you might as well keep your terribly-dismissive, gatekeeping opinions to yourself. Anyone else, however, is free to give their 2-cents on the portable DAC/AMP-front

 

[BlankName]

you will have flabby and high distortion bass (perhaps that's the way you like them) with that output impedance.

The e3 has a flat impedance...

 

[BassicScience]

The e3 has a flat impedance...

Right, but the problem is that the output impedance of the amp is about double(!) that of the headphone, which gives you no damping factor. The result will be poorly controlled bass.

 

[chesebert]

Comparing E3 with Mojo2 to E3 on mScaler/TT2 (which you would have to agree has plenty of power) I can tell it’s being driven just fine. The differences are in the resolution between the devices, not the power.

So you don't find E3 upper mid unbearable from time to time on you TT2? The initial attack on TT2 must be relentless. Do you also hear a sense of dryness in the mid and lower bass?

 

[Acidicfriend]

Right, but the problem is that the output impedance of the amp is about double(!) that of the headphone, which gives you no damping factor. The result will be poorly controlled bass.

So in this instance the 5.2 V RMS supplied by the previously suggested Mojo 2 would be preferred since the damping factor is a higher ratio.

None of these power settings would supply the E3 better?

 

[deyna]

So in this instance the 5.2 V RMS supplied by the previously suggested Mojo 2 would be preferred since the damping factor is a higher ratio.

None of these power settings would supply the E3 better?

They're talking about the output impedance. The specs you listed show an output impedance of 50 ohms while the E3s have an impedance of 27 ohms.

As a rule you want the output impedance of an amp to be about 1/8th that of the impedance of whatever you're driving or less.

 

[deyna]

So in this instance the 5.2 V RMS supplied by the previously suggested Mojo 2 would be preferred since the damping factor is a higher ratio.

None of these power settings would supply the E3 better?

Also, those aren't power settings.
That's saying that the amp can supply X power at Y load.
It could send 2W to a headphone with 32 ohms of impedance or 930mW to ones with 300, etc.

 

[Acidicfriend]

Also, those aren't power settings.
That's saying that the amp can supply X power at Y load.
It could send 2W to a headphone with 32 ohms of impedance or 930mW to ones with 300, etc.

I see so then there really isn't an ideal DAP/portable DAC/AMP that can supply the E3's under the suggested 1/8 ratio. I haven't seen a portable dac/amp under 30 ohms

 

[deyna]

I see so then there really isn't an ideal DAP/portable DAC/AMP that can supply the E3's under the suggested 1/8 ratio. I haven't seen a portable dac/amp under 30 ohms

I don't think you're looking in the right place.
I just checked the specs of the Mojo 2 and it only has 0.06 ohms of output impedance.

 

[Acidicfriend]

I don't think you're looking in the right place.
I just checked the specs of the Mojo 2 and it only has 0.06 ohms of output impedance.

I was indeed looking at the wrong spec. The other amp does ≤0.40 ohms balanced, and I see that 50ohm output now under the unbalanced specs. Thanks for the explanation and clarity.

EDIT: turns out that 50.2 ohm output impedance was a typo from the site, it is 0.2 ohm and 0.4 for balanced

 

[jarnopp]

So you don't find E3 upper mid unbearable from time to time on you TT2? The initial attack on TT2 must be relentless. Do you also hear a sense of dryness in the mid and lower bass?

I do not. From initial reviews I was concerned they might get “shouty” at times, but find the E3 both more energetic than Aeons and less prone to harsher “unbearable” upper mids. As for dryness, I find the TT2 does not remove (or add) anything to the recording, which is my preference. As such, it’s imperative that the transducers can reproduce the timbres and dynamics that are there faithfully. E3 succeeds at that to my ears, better than the Aeon (more musical and detailed and less analytical in presentation). Really very technically good and not difficult to drive if there is enough damping and current, as you point out. In particular, well recorded piano is very revealing of all this.

 

[Cecala]

I was indeed looking at the wrong spec. The other amp does ≤0.40 ohms balanced, and I see that 50ohm output now under the unbalanced specs. Thanks for the explanation and clarity.

EDIT: turns out that 50.2 ohm output impedance was a typo from the site, it is 0.2 ohm and 0.4 for balanced

I was just about to point this out. Verify before posting. I cannot remember seeing an output impedance anywhere near 50 ohms for an amp.

 

[Acidicfriend]

I was just about to point this out. Verify before posting. I cannot remember seeing an output impedance anywhere near 50 ohms for an amp.

Yeah it threw me for a loop because I didn't have any pretense for what was and wasn't correct specifications for amps, so today I did some reading. I never had to really look too closely at power-requirements and impedance before, makes me a bad audiophile.

 

[jarnopp]

I was just about to point this out. Verify before posting. I cannot remember seeing an output impedance anywhere near 50 ohms for an amp.

Well, the Bottlehead Crack OTL tube amp has a 120 ohm output impedance, but that’s an anomaly for sure. But, you should know in case!

 

[Grimlock248]

They would almost always be better off with mid priced cans and top electronics.

This is contrary to almost everything I’ve heard in the hobby (and think myself) - headphones > amps > dacs (ignoring source, pad rolling, etc.) I think most are much better off spending more on better headphones driven by adequate amp / dac. Take this with a grain of salt, as I’m not someone with the talent to know what a headphone “should” exactly sound like.