[Lindholdt]

Appreciate the reply @castleofargh
I guess I'll have to just give it a try and listen if I can hear a difference.
I was just hoping to have the "dog poop on a stick" statement made a bit more specific in terms of what actually happened with the sound in that scenario. I understand that it will be different in my case, but at least it could give me some pointers to what to listen for when testing.

 

[Born2Cuddle]

Appreciate the reply @castleofargh
I guess I'll have to just give it a try and listen if I can hear a difference.
I was just hoping to have the "dog poop on a stick" statement made a bit more specific in terms of what actually happened with the sound in that scenario. I understand that it will be different in my case, but at least it could give me some pointers to what to listen for when testing.

It means it doesn't sound good. They sounded like they were being blown out with too much power.

https://www.head-fi.org/threads/why... reason is OTL,meant for high impedance loads..

 

[BS5711]

Appreciate the reply @castleofargh
I guess I'll have to just give it a try and listen if I can hear a difference.
I was just hoping to have the "dog poop on a stick" statement made a bit more specific in terms of what actually happened with the sound in that scenario. I understand that it will be different in my case, but at least it could give me some pointers to what to listen for when testing.

I used my Dan Clark Aeon Noire (13 ohm) planars on my Woo Audio WA6 a few times, the WA6 has an output impedance of something like 15 ohms and 50 ohms on the two different settings if I recall correctly.

The WA6 is a transformer coupled amp so will do better than an OTL amp. However, with the poor impedance match, modest power output and low current available from the WA6 the bass was soft and flabby at higher volumes. At low volume it sounded fine.

 

[fidgeraldo]

It's been informative since mentioning OTL...now I just have to pay more attention to OTL and what it is made for

Interestingly, they have great limitations in marketing since I would say these days there are a lot of lower-impedance headphones and not so many high impedance.
The whole range of planars, but dynamic headphones, too.

What makes the OTL amp better than other tube amps that are more versatile?

Cheers!

 

[silent-circuit]

I’m really wondering about this. Reason being currently I only have a $80 portable fiio k17 alphen 2 from 2017 I bought back in 2018 used for $80 and have been using it with my sundara and it’s great but recently I’ve been wanting an abyss Diana MR. and according to specs it would definitely get it loud. But would it actually bring out its full potential? I would be extremely thrilled if that’s the case because some of the amps I see recommended to pair with it are another few thousand but I have this FOMO when I get it that I’ll listen to it on my fiio and wonder “but what if this amp…” I don’t know I’m on the fence on this because it just seems so ridiculous to get a headphone that price and power it on a portable $80 amp from 2017.

Only way to know is to experience it for yourself. I personally notice a significant difference between my various amps and DACs, but my friend who uses a pair of HD6XX and a Topping D50/A50 stack regularly didn't hear much if any difference when trying the HD6XX on the D90/A90. Everyone is different.

 

[szore]

I’m really wondering about this. Reason being currently I only have a $80 portable fiio k17 alphen 2 from 2017 I bought back in 2018 used for $80 and have been using it with my sundara and it’s great but recently I’ve been wanting an abyss Diana MR. and according to specs it would definitely get it loud. But would it actually bring out its full potential? I would be extremely thrilled if that’s the case because some of the amps I see recommended to pair with it are another few thousand but I have this FOMO when I get it that I’ll listen to it on my fiio and wonder “but what if this amp…” I don’t know I’m on the fence on this because it just seems so ridiculous to get a headphone that price and power it on a portable $80 amp from 2017.

Planar phones need volume (voltage), yes, but they also need current, and an amp needs to be able to deliver that.

 

[VNandor]

This headphone is definitely one of the harder ones to drive by the way, it claims to have both low impedance and low efficiency (30ohm and 93dB/mW). You wouldn't have to pay much to get a more powerful amp than the e17k, especially compared to the price of the headphones. I personally wouldn't get an OTL tube amp for a low impedance headphone because that would certainly not get rid of my fear of not getting 100% performance from the headphones, although I'm sure it could sound great from some of the the OTL tube amps, I just dislike the idea of it.

 

[szore]

Guys, I'm new to this thread, just want to say I've heard tons of stuff at Canjams: I have a Schiit Jot 2 ($400) in it drives my Arya beautifully!, Zero desire to upgrade. I think much more bang for the buck can be gotten by investing in a decent DAC!

 

[Neoxas]

Super late to the thread but sharing for the next lurker, I was running a soundblasterx g6 for many years and eventually when I got my hands on my 64 Audio Nio's I had a similar feeling that I needed to upgrade my sounderblaster to something nicer due to "get the most" out of my IEM's. I ended up getting a SMSL C200 and I can't say soundwise that they make the Nios sound any better, but I do notice I need to put my volume slider lower now lol.

 

[bigshot]

I'm told that IEMs can have very specific impedance requirements. With most headphones, it might be OK to go with the rule of thumb, but with certain models of IEMs, you really need to do the math to get the right amp.