[Longfellow78]

Hello.

Tldr - if its loud enough is it powerful enough.

I am wondering when running Planar headphones (or any headphones) if there is a difference between "volume and power" . I mean, if I can run my Planar headphones to a deafening level without maxing out my volume control which physically hurt my ears for some time afterwards, by definition do I have "enough" power in my amp?

I ask as I am trying to decide between the fiio ka5 and fiio ka13. I have bought both and while the ka13 is clearly louder and puts out 550mw at 32ohms, and the ka5 outs out 265mw, the ka5 is more than loud enough to hurt my ears at max volume, whereas on the ka13 I can literally deafen myself.

I am running t60rp and while conventional wisdom says they need a nuclear reactor to run them (my desktop amp can do 3000mw) they sound fine on the ka5.

I am worried however that I am giving up some fidelity with the ka5, because it is so much weaker on paper, is the extra "power" from the ka13 worthwhile? I guess what I'm really asking is if you have two amps, one more powerful but you set them to the same objective volume, if they have identical components and neither is maxed out, does the same volume equal the same sound quality.

The ka13 is is way cheaper so normally it would be a no brainier, BUT the ka5 has a hardware play pause which is very important to me.

Thanks.

 

[ClieOS]

Having enough volume means you have enough voltage feeding into the headphone to an desired loudness.

Having enough power means, not only you have enough voltage to reach the desired loudness, but also enough current that you are not stressing the amp section. When the amp is not stressed, distortion will be low and electrical dampening will be at its best. The headphone at this point is said to sound 'tight' and 'controlled'. Generally speaking, you want the amp to have much more current than the headphone needed so the amp will never come close to being stressed at any given moment. That being said, there is a technical difference when you are comparing amp that is 'just enough powerful' to an amp that is 'way more powerful' than what a particular headphone needed, but that difference will rapidly disappear once both amp become more than enough powerful. Thus always looking for more power is not the solution.

 

[Longfellow78]

Having enough volume means you have enough voltage feeding into the headphone to an desired loudness.

Having enough power means, not only you have enough voltage to reach the desired lou dness, but also enough current that you are not stressing the amp section. When the amp is not stressed, distortion will be low and electrical dampening will be at its best. The headphone at this point is said to sound 'tight' and 'controlled'. Generally speaking, you want the amp to have much more current than the headphone needed so the amp will never come close to being stressed at any given moment. That being said, there is a technical difference when you are comparing amp that is 'just enough powerful' to an amp that is 'way more powerful' than what a particular headphone needed, but that difference will rapidly disappear once both amp become more than enough powerful. Thus always looking for more power is not the solution.

Thanks you, this I think pretty much answers my question. I've found an amazing app, that let's you control the play/pause, skip, etc, by using the volume buttons, so while not quite as convinient as on the dongle, it's 90% of the way there and saves me £50, so that's my decision. KA13. Thanks.

 

[dougms3]

In the past, I assumed the same, if the device has enough power to drive the iems, headphones to louder volumes, it means it is powerful enough.

Fairly recently, I've noticed something though.

I have the shanling up4, ua2, fiiobtr5, hiby r5g2 and the desktop system in my sig.

While they're all powerful enough to drive my focal clears, it sounds very different on all of those devices. Anemic is the word Id use to describe playback from the up4, ua2, and btr5. Its better on the hiby but they're all way behind my desktop setup. Even though those devices have enough power, I think the difference is the ability to meet peak power.

Another member pointed out something to me regarding the power. Reproduction of certain sounds like heavy bass hits draw alot of power, a peak, same difference as with subwoofers, where they all have different rms and peak specs.

And I think the reason why it sounds so much better on the desktop system, ie punch, liveliness, etc, is because of the voltage drops during those peaks. A desktop system is more capable of stabilizing the voltage while the portables are not as capable and will experience greater instability in the voltage.

 

[Longfellow78]

In the past, I assumed the same, if the device has enough power to drive the iems, headphones to louder volumes, it means it is powerful enough.

Fairly recently, I've noticed something though.

I have the shanling up4, ua2, fiiobtr5, hiby r5g2 and the desktop system in my sig.

While they're all powerful enough to drive my focal clears, it sounds very different on all of those devices. Anemic is the word Id use to describe playback from the up4, ua2, and btr5. Its better on the hiby but they're all way behind my desktop setup. Even though those devices have enough power, I think the difference is the ability to meet peak power.

Another member pointed out something to me regarding the power. Reproduction of certain sounds like heavy bass hits draw alot of power, a peak, same difference as with subwoofers, where they all have different rms and peak specs.

And I think the reason why it sounds so much better on the desktop system, ie punch, liveliness, etc, is because of the voltage drops during those peaks. A desktop system is more capable of stabilizing the voltage while the portables are not as capable and will experience greater instability in the voltage.

Thanks for your excellent reply. The 550mw on the ka13 is pretty huge for a portable dac/dongle. Even most daps can't do this except very high end ones, even some budget desktop amps. I think it will do great for me and I think you are right about the power. I suspected this but hadn't confirmed it. Cheers.