SanjiWatsuki
500+ Head-Fier
- Joined
- Oct 21, 2011
- Posts
- 716
- Likes
- 106
You've completely misunderstood the point of a low-impedance amp. The whole point of having a low impedance amp is because I know nothing about what you like!
The whole point to have an amp which colors the sound the least and is the most predictable in how it will change the sound of the headphone. If I have a 120 ohm source, it would ruin the sound of any balanced armature headphone I plugged in, because it would screw up the cross overs, it would tweak the frequency response curve by 8-12dB in certain areas. But, putting IEMs aside, let's focus on normal headphones.
With most, but not all, dynamic headphones, a high impedance source will color the sound by emphasizing the 70-120hz area. This is the area which adds subjective "warmth" to the headphone. Many people love this sound with many different headphones, hence the popularity of tube amps. The problem is just that you can perfectly imitate this sound change with equalization. Famously, the Carver Challenge had one man take on the audiophile magazines by making a solid state amp sound like the expensive tube amps. One thing about tube amps is that they normally have a very high output impedance, which generally colors dynamic speakers by coloring them in the 70-120hz area. Carver was able to make the solid state amp sound so close that nobody could tell it apart in testing.
The issue isn't that the coloration is bad, the issue is that the coloration is unpredictable without a ton of data about both the amp and the headphone you're hearing. Not every headphone will have the boost in the 70-120hz region. Not every headphone will have the same amount of boost in any region. The reason it is more important for lower impedance headphones is because they have a greater amount of coloration from a high impedance source.
The way I see it, I want amps to color the music the least. That way, we have an equal ground to talk their sound, and we can also have the blankest slate to equalize them to how we want to hear it. I'm not telling you what sounds better, I'm giving you the blankest, most predictable slate to chisel the headphone's sound into.
Quote:
The whole point to have an amp which colors the sound the least and is the most predictable in how it will change the sound of the headphone. If I have a 120 ohm source, it would ruin the sound of any balanced armature headphone I plugged in, because it would screw up the cross overs, it would tweak the frequency response curve by 8-12dB in certain areas. But, putting IEMs aside, let's focus on normal headphones.
With most, but not all, dynamic headphones, a high impedance source will color the sound by emphasizing the 70-120hz area. This is the area which adds subjective "warmth" to the headphone. Many people love this sound with many different headphones, hence the popularity of tube amps. The problem is just that you can perfectly imitate this sound change with equalization. Famously, the Carver Challenge had one man take on the audiophile magazines by making a solid state amp sound like the expensive tube amps. One thing about tube amps is that they normally have a very high output impedance, which generally colors dynamic speakers by coloring them in the 70-120hz area. Carver was able to make the solid state amp sound so close that nobody could tell it apart in testing.
The issue isn't that the coloration is bad, the issue is that the coloration is unpredictable without a ton of data about both the amp and the headphone you're hearing. Not every headphone will have the boost in the 70-120hz region. Not every headphone will have the same amount of boost in any region. The reason it is more important for lower impedance headphones is because they have a greater amount of coloration from a high impedance source.
The way I see it, I want amps to color the music the least. That way, we have an equal ground to talk their sound, and we can also have the blankest slate to equalize them to how we want to hear it. I'm not telling you what sounds better, I'm giving you the blankest, most predictable slate to chisel the headphone's sound into.
Quote:
[sarcasm]
I'm sorry to have to be the one to tell you that you are doing it wrong.
If you drove them properly, from an amp with a 0-ohm output impedance, you would find them much more to YOUR liking.
That's right, I know what you should like and I'm going to tell you how to get it!
Please pay no attention to the fact that I know absolutely nothing about what you like.
[/sarcasm]
Glad to hear you found a sound you like. I think the mixed drinks analogy is perfect.