In need of help of finding a suitable amplifier for a pair of power hungry headphones.

[KNewguy]

Hello everyone. My name is James living in Slovenia at the moment. This is my first post on this wonderful website and I hope to make more. I am a complete newbie when it comes to anything HiFi but hope to get a better understanding through this website

I am interested in a pair of Wharfedale ID1's. They are supposedly 25 watt and 150 ohm according to this old thread.
https://www.head-fi.org/threads/wharfedale-isodynamic-headphones.380283/page-2

Yeah they require 25 watt and are 150 ohm it's funny when i plug them in my ipod it's sooo silent and there is all kinds of blackrubber coming off but they do sound sooo good! I think that my asgard can drive these

They say that to really use them a speaker amplifier is required.

My plan was to use a portable amplifier to drive these headphones. Specifically the Inaukustik headphone amp No. 1 in combination with my old Macbook Air from 2017.

https://in-akustik.com/headphone-amp-no-1-00415005
They are rated:

Impedance:	8 - 300 ohms
Output power:	2 x 320 mW max.

Amplification:	10 dB

Dynamic range:	> 96 dB

Would this be enough power to run these headphones? I ask because in an another old thread the user from the previous thread I linked asked if a DAC rated 125mW @ 32 ohms could run these someone told him yes.

Quote:


Well, it's rated at 125mW @ 32 ohms. So sure, why not

https://www.head-fi.org/threads/aud...dable-outstanding-tiny-dac-amp.617241/page-32

Here is an image of what specifications are given from the headphone manufacture. I hope this can help in answering my question.

I would be very grateful if anyone could help me with my endeavour! I might not respond in a timely manner since I am posting this quite late where Im at. All the best.

 

[castleofargh]

From the specs in the picture, 30mW to reach 95dB would suggest a sensitivity of about 80.22db@1mW(just in case you later look for other amps and find some online calculators using sensi in dB/mW).
Or looking for voltage into that load using P=V²/R
0.03mW=V²/120ohm
V=1.9V So basically 2V to reach 95dB SPL.

Let's say the MacBook maxed out, gives 2Vrms(I don't know what the value is). Then it's simple, you get the 95dB SPL from the specs in the picture. And if you add that akustic portable amp saying it has a gain of 10dB, that should mean we're reaching up to 105dB SPL, ideally.
A quick google search hardly returns anything, but for macbooks of other years I saw 1.4V mentioned a few times and for other products even 1.25V.
Let's say it's 1.4V instead of 2V, that's a drop of 3dB(you get the change in dB with 20log10(V1/V2)), so your best hope now is 102dB SPL. IS that good for you?
All in all, it might work fine if you don't listen loud(ever) and all the spec are correct(are they? I don't know), but it's not a great scenario. We usually aim for an amplifier that can reach up to 115dB SPL at the headphone because it's considered a safe worst case scenario(listening loud, having a little EQ, or a tiny unused headroom from some old albums not remastered in a long time), and still easily getting as loud as we'd like.
So once again, no need for a calculator, if the headphone output 95dB SPL with 30mW, and 105 with 300mW, then 115dB SPL would require 3W. Obviously, you won't get anything like that from a portable amp that lasts days on one charge.


If you trust the specs and my guesstimate, and you know you never listen to music loudly, you might try your proposed setup. I would hesitate to do so myself because I'm not sure how much I can trust all the specs involved. But then again, I have trust issues with the audio industry in general, so I tend to get an amp only if the specs show many loads, many variables, and give a completely clear unit for all of them. Most consumers aren't that paranoid. If you feel like you play music loud from time to time, then get a more powerful amp IMO. Otherwise, good luck with your shopping.

 

[KNewguy]

From the specs in the picture, 30mW to reach 95dB would suggest a sensitivity of about 80.22db@1mW(just in case you later look for other amps and find some online calculators using sensi in dB/mW).
Or looking for voltage into that load using P=V²/R
0.03mW=V²/120ohm
V=1.9V So basically 2V to reach 95dB SPL.

Let's say the MacBook maxed out, gives 2Vrms(I don't know what the value is). Then it's simple, you get the 95dB SPL from the specs in the picture. And if you add that akustic portable amp saying it has a gain of 10dB, that should mean we're reaching up to 105dB SPL, ideally.
A quick google search hardly returns anything, but for macbooks of other years I saw 1.4V mentioned a few times and for other products even 1.25V.
Let's say it's 1.4V instead of 2V, that's a drop of 3dB(you get the change in dB with 20log10(V1/V2)), so your best hope now is 102dB SPL. IS that good for you?
All in all, it might work fine if you don't listen loud(ever) and all the spec are correct(are they? I don't know), but it's not a great scenario. We usually aim for an amplifier that can reach up to 115dB SPL at the headphone because it's considered a safe worst case scenario(listening loud, having a little EQ, or a tiny unused headroom from some old albums not remastered in a long time), and still easily getting as loud as we'd like.
So once again, no need for a calculator, if the headphone output 95dB SPL with 30mW, and 105 with 300mW, then 115dB SPL would require 3W. Obviously, you won't get anything like that from a portable amp that lasts days on one charge.


If you trust the specs and my guesstimate, and you know you never listen to music loudly, you might try your proposed setup. I would hesitate to do so myself because I'm not sure how much I can trust all the specs involved. But then again, I have trust issues with the audio industry in general, so I tend to get an amp only if the specs show many loads, many variables, and give a completely clear unit for all of them. Most consumers aren't that paranoid. If you feel like you play music loud from time to time, then get a more powerful amp IMO. Otherwise, good luck with your shopping.

Thank you so much for your reply! I know my suggested set up is nothing to be considered as being truly HiFi and the optimal solution would be to buy a reputable amplifier, but this is my first time really trying to get into the audiophile space just in a more budget friendly way. It is unfortunate that my suggested set up doesn't reach the ideal scenario of 115dB SPL. I definitely don't listen to music too loudly so it wouldn't be such a bad compromise if your guesstimate is correct. The suggested benefits you gave when having an amplifier reach the optimal do raise concerns on whether or not I should go through with this set up.

In the end I know that in the future (if I do end up getting the pair of headphones) I will most likely purchase a more powerful amp to run them properly.

Again thanks so much for doing some research about macbooks and giving an estimate on what I should expect. I really didn't expect such a warm welcome to this community!

If I do go through with my set up I will post some details about it as there isn't much info about running these headphones. Thanks again

castleofargh!​