[apatN]

^ Might be but my DT880s sound very reasonable unamped and the HD650 sounds more muffled unamped.

 

[Uncle Erik]

Amps are about control, not volume. Yes, they make things louder, but that is not the point. It's the difference between trying to carry a 20 lbs. suiitcase with a handle and trying to carry a 20 lbs. greased watermelon. They both weigh the exact same, so carrying them should be exactly the same. Right? A driver needs power to start and stop. Stopping might be more important than starting even - that is where bloat and "veil" come from. It's not the headphones. A quality amp will move the transducer with authority, not slop it around because it's weak.

How difficult headphones are to drive depends entirely on the amp you're using. Think of it more as finding a compatible pair than an either/or proposition.

The transducer is second in importance to recording quality, so pick the one you want carefully. Find one that suits your tastes and buy it. Once you know which headphone you want, then select an amp that is well suited to it. That's the only way to get the sound you want, unless you want to spend a lot of money buying incompatible gear before stumbling on a good match.

 

[sean-xenos]

Stock DT880s are 250 Ohm, the 32 Ohm models are custom made "Manufactur" orders.
IMHO DT880s can be tricky to amp adaquately, not always an easy task, they need a well-matched amp to reach their full potential.

AKG K-701s are 62 Ohm, in theory they should need more of a current swing than a voltage swing, but that's not so simple, again tricky to amp, the K-701 also need a well-matched amp.

HD 600s are 300 Ohm and IMHO the easiest to amp properly, but will always welcome a good amp, matching is not so critical...

The Sennheiser models usually show some colouration described as "veil", the highs are not so present... So the Senns tend to tolerate bright sources quite well, whereas DT880s or K-701s would not like them, ill synergy ...

HD 650s are also 300 Ohm but tend to be more demanding considering bass control, with badly-matched amps the bass can sound bloated or imprecise

 

[tintin47]

Quote:

Originally Posted by lucky /img/forum/go_quote.gif Would you use your amps just as much if they didn't provide any more volume output than you'd receive from, say, an iPod?

Absolutely. I do, actually. I have an amp ~2x gain and I would have no problem building another one with 2x or no gain. Even with 2x gain, I usually listen no louder than 10 o'clock on the pot. I would rather have an amp where my comfortable level was at around noon. That is more in the range where volume pots are most accurate.

 

[lucky]

Quote:

Originally Posted by tintin47 /img/forum/go_quote.gif Absolutely. I do, actually. I have an amp ~2x gain and I would have no problem building another one with 2x or no gain. Even with 2x gain, I usually listen no louder than 10 o'clock on the pot. I would rather have an amp where my comfortable level was at around noon. That is more in the range where volume pots are most accurate.

Then it sounds like you've got amps you enjoy matched with headphones you enjoy. I feel the same way about my gear. Perhaps we could let this be enough for both of us?

 

[Aruna]

for easiest to drive, especially unamped. My choice is HD600. It sounds ok.

DT880 unamped ~ bass shy
K701 unamped ~ bass shy
HD600 unamped ~ little veil

 

[UTF]

I ended with buying a HD600, and now tried it with headphone outputs from my Marantz CD player and NAD integrated amp. I feel it is obvious that under same volume HD600 sounds better (controlled) with NAD headphone output (which is supposed better than the Marantz's). However, it still does not sound as good as I expect (not even better than my old HD590 on some music directly unamped). So I guess I will need an amp to make it sound "properly" (rather than best).

 

[donunus]

the 590s might just sound better to you because the hd600s are very easily powered by an integrated amp. Only thing you might be missing is some synergy since the nads are a tad on the dull side of things sonically.

 

[lucky]

Regarding the HD600/650, JaZZ said in this thread that both the 600 and the 650 require slightly more volume on his setup than does his K701.

Quote:

Originally Posted by JaZZ No. I can say with certainty that my K 701 is slightly louder than both HD 600 and 650 on every low-impedance headphone out.

 

[donunus]

On the gilmore lite, the k701 needs more volume than the hd600 to sound as loud. We are not talking about easier to drive here though, we are talking sensitivity. The problem with the k701 though is that if you want to crank it up, they break up and distort while the hd600 keeps on slammin til your ears bleed. I dont think its the glites fault so far as being underpowered that the k701s break up at high volumes though because the glites put out about double the power or more at 64 ohms than the k701s are rated at.

 

[lucky]

It might have to do with the K701's maximum input (200mw?). I don't know what the HD600's is, but if it's higher, that could be it.

I'm not sure what volume we're talking about here, though. I can drive mine up as loud as my ears can stand without noticing any breakup. Perhaps it depends on the amp?

 

[tintin47]

Quote:

Originally Posted by lucky /img/forum/go_quote.gif Then it sounds like you've got amps you enjoy matched with headphones you enjoy. I feel the same way about my gear. Perhaps we could let this be enough for both of us?

Sure. I never meant anything personal. I was just correcting your statement that the main point of amps is to increase volume. I stand by what I said. Amps are not really about volume. Either way, wasn't trying insult you or anything.