Headphone & Amp Impedance Questions? Find the answers here!

[bigshot]

The OP was looking for recommendations for DAC/amps that suit his setup.

 

[redrol]

Well it tends to be that the 'best' amps have as low an impedance as possible for the aforementioned reasons. I do own the Aune B1S which is just an amp but is around 2ohm OI so maybe that kind of thing would work. It is my favorite amp for in ears.

 

[bigshot]

This is a long way from my area of expertise, but a simple dongle style DAC would probably do the trick, wouldn't it? Those are designed for low impedance/high sensitivity cans. I have Oppo PM-1s, which are sort of like that, and they work fine straight out of my iPhone without any fancy amp or DAC.

 

[redrol]

Yes and no. There are some great dongle amps and a lot of potatoes out there. It's a mine-field for sure.

 

[bigshot]

Which cheap dongle would you recommend for him?

 

[redrol]

I think the E1DA 9038D (single ended out so you can run into a amplifier if you want) https://e1dashz.wixsite.com/index/9038d

 

[bigshot]

That says it causes noise with cell phones in the specs.

 

[redrol]

Well it doesn't make noise for my phone and devices and sounds super good. I mean crap, just get an apple dongle and call it a day. 10 bux

 

[bigshot]

I'd suggest trying an Apple dongle too. For $8, even if it doesn't work, you won't take a huge hit financially. And if it does, it'll sound as good as any other DAC.

 

[redrol]

Nah not as good as any other DAC but when you are stuck with a potato phone and limited options, fine.

 

[bigshot]

Bologna. The Apple DACs are as good as any others. The amp circuitry is low and can't push big headphones, but used with cans that suit them, they work perfectly. https://www.kenrockwell.com/apple/lightning-adapter-audio-quality.htm

We all have difference circumstances and different needs. Someone who offers useful information will take that into account and not just recommend the same stuff to everyone because they're on "Team (brand name)". The OP asked for a DAC that was designed to use with a phone and would have decent EMI shielding. Recommending something that says on the spec sheet that it reacts poorly to EMI wasn't particularly helpful. I thought since you spoke of EMI a lot that you knew something about what DACs aren't susceptible to it.

Not knowing myself which DACs are properly designed to reject EMI and which aren't, my advice to the OP is to not spend a lot of money on a DAC and make sure you can return it if it buzzes with your phone. I bet it won't be hard to find a small dongle DAC that works perfectly. Just avoid high priced audiophile stuff.

 

[LarsHP]

The OP was looking for recommendations for DAC/amps that suit his setup.

If you are referring to me here, then no. I specifically asked in this thread because of it's title and because it's in the science forum. If I was looking for recommendations for DAC/amps, I wouldn't ask in this thread, but in the UM Miracle thread in the Equipment Forum, for instance.

I was asking in order to understand why the frequency response from UM Miracle varies so much, even though both iBasso D7 Sidewinder USB-DAC (sounds awfully dark) and FiiO M11 Plus (sounds quite close to how I think it was intended) have a stated OI of less than 1 Ohm. The Balanced Amp card for Hifiman HM901S has stated OI of 1 Ohm, but sits between the two others in terms of tonal balance. I was asking in order to figure out which of these has the lowest vs highest OI (but I didn't write that specifically, granted).

 

[bigshot]

No, the original poster who started this thread. He’s looking for something that won’t buzz with EMI from his phone and works with his gear.

 

[Davesrose]

I was asking in order to understand why the frequency response from UM Miracle varies so much, even though both iBasso D7 Sidewinder USB-DAC (sounds awfully dark) and FiiO M11 Plus (sounds quite close to how I think it was intended) have a stated OI of less than 1 Ohm. The Balanced Amp card for Hifiman HM901S has stated OI of 1 Ohm, but sits between the two others in terms of tonal balance. I was asking in order to figure out which of these has the lowest vs highest OI (but I didn't write that specifically, granted).

I think it's a matter of comparing apples to oranges. So the issue with plugging the same headphones into one USB DAC vs another, is that they have a different software driver, and a device that has different stages going to IEM (so it's not a comparison of that device's amp stage or DAC chip soley). This has been my issue of some audiophile claims like a particular DAC chip is warmer or brighter sounding: all of them are linear, and they may be forming this opinion with whatever component they listen to (I know I have some devices with DACs that are claimed to be bright or warm, and they don't sound that way on my device). Not sure how a DAC should sound, since it's not the component producing the sound. We also have the issue of digital devices going through additional changes in digital processing before going to the analog amp stage. I also have devices with amp stages that have balanced and unbalanced options. The main difference I've observed with them is that the balanced has more gain. This might be a better feature for high Ohm over ear headphones (but of course many will say going overboard anyway, and a well designed amp doesn't need to be balanced with personal applications).

 

[LarsHP]

I think it's a matter of comparing apples to oranges. So the issue with plugging the same headphones into one USB DAC vs another, is that they have a different software driver, and a device that has different stages going to IEM (so it's not a comparison of that device's amp stage or DAC chip soley). This has been my issue of some audiophile claims like a particular DAC chip is warmer or brighter sounding: all of them are linear, and they may be forming this opinion with whatever component they listen to (I know I have some devices with DACs that are claimed to be bright or warm, and they don't sound that way on my device). Not sure how a DAC should sound, since it's not the component producing the sound. We also have the issue of digital devices going through additional changes in digital processing before going to the analog amp stage. I also have devices with amp stages that have balanced and unbalanced options. The main difference I've observed with them is that the balanced has more gain. This might be a better feature for high Ohm over ear headphones (but of course many will say going overboard anyway, and a well designed amp doesn't need to be balanced with personal applications).

We would need the exact same circuits after the DAC chip and preferably a headphone that doesn't change frequency response when feeded by amps with different output impedance.

I think FiiO M11 Plus LTD vs FiiO M11 Plus ESS are good candidates for such a comparison since they are basically the same devices with different DAC chips. The first mentioned has a DAC chip which is supposed to have a "musical" sound while the Sabre is supposed to have more emphasis on details and bass and treble. I have seen reviews of the two DAPs and this is what is claimed.