Ah, my bad, and your right it IS max 4VRMS. So, this means my calculations for what can be given as max volume for the Yinmans before they start to skew (minus any swing that might take place) is roughly 101.3dB instead of the previously mentioned 98dB:@samandhi, very nice.
@h8uthemost, the Q5K puts out (max low gain) 1 VRMS, (max high gain) 2 VRMS at the 3.5SE and (max low gain) 2 VRMS and (max high gain) 4 VRMS at the 2.5Bal outputs.
I'm listening to the Yinman 600 right now (at my computer) and the Q5K is driving it nicely from the 2.5Bal with high gain (max 4 VRMS) setting enabled. BTW, you will never even crank it to max, you would hurt your hearing / blow your eardrums out.
I think you can be very happy with the Yinman 600 / Q5K combo without any regret.
Below from the Qudelix website: https://www.qudelix.com/products/qudelix-5k, also in the user manual: https://www.qudelix.com/blogs/5k-dac-amp/user-manual-pdf
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Yinmans need (at this volume level):
- 4.02VRMS
- 26.92mW
- 6.7mA
- 4VRMS
- 26.67
- 6.6mA

Well, there are two answers to this question. If I say yes it is the same, it would be because the manufacturer simply added a resistor in the 150ohm version to make it look like a high ohm driver. There have been some companies that try and cheat the customer by simply adding a resistor internally to make those that desire higher impedance head gear (for the right reasons) think that is what they are getting (in other words, scamming them).Thanks. So, let's say i have an impedance adapter (150 ohms), i plug it to my source then plug my "Shoonth ESEP-01BL" on the adapter and, basically, i have upgraded to the "Shoonth ESEP-01BLE" for a fraction of the price, correct ?
All right, i'll get a set of "Qlabs Athena 2" instead...
If I say no its not the same, it is because instead of using a resistor to artificially inflate the ohms rating, that there are more Widings on the voice coil that subsequently add to the resistance, and adding 150ohm resistor doesn't do the same thing (nothing in fact, other than crippling the potential sound that transducer might be able to reproduce). High(er) impedance DDs aren't just made that way to be higher resistance. One of the hardest parts to tune in a DD is the upper frequency. With more windings you achieve more than one thing here. First is the control of noise/hiss you would get from a lower impedance set. Secondly, as you get more windings, it acts like a driver coating by keeping the driver from damping too little. This makes the upper frequency (more so than any other frequencies) sound tighter, more precise, and imaging is improved a lot (in some cases almost like a planar).
Also, if you added a 150ohm adapter to the output into a set of buds, they would sound SO flat, lifeless, bloated, blurry, etc.. that you would probably hate it.
Hopefully that helps some?!

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