[litetaker]

Hi guys, I recently had the opportunity to test a pair of Sennheiser HD201 headphones and I thought the sensitivity in those was aweful! I had to turn up the volume all the way up on my computer to hear them reasonably clearly. In contrast, I have a cheap pair of Sony MDR-EX10LP in ear earphones and I can hear clearly at around 30% volume on my PC compared to having to turn it up to nearly 100% for the Sennheiser.
 
Naturally, I returned the Sennheiser due to this and other issues. And I have just purchased the Superlux HD681. Will this suffer the same plight as the Sennheiser in the volume department or are these far more sensitive than the Sennheiser?
 
Please help! Thanks!

 

[ShiftySound]

I have the superlux 668b, and it can get pretty loud out of my sansa clip+, and good enough from my pc without amp.
So your Superlux can go even louder in theorie.

 

[scuttle]

Quote:

I have the superlux 668b, and it can get pretty loud out of my sansa clip+

Bizarrely, the minute Clip+ has a more powerful than average amp - it drives my HD25-1-iis without any problems even though ny PC struggles with them, and it would be very strange indeed if the HD201 wasn't a lot easier to drive than those.
 
I'd have thought the Superlux's would be fine with any decent player though. And the same for the 201s to be honest.
 
If it turns out the OP's soundcard is a bit wimpy, then a cheap Fiio e5 amp should fix the problem - about $25 on ebay or Amazon, I think?

 

[litetaker]

Quote:

Bizarrely, the minute Clip+ has a more powerful than average amp - it drives my HD25-1-iis without any problems even though ny PC struggles with them, and it would be very strange indeed if the HD201 wasn't a lot easier to drive than those.
 
I'd have thought the Superlux's would be fine with any decent player though. And the same for the 201s to be honest.
 
If it turns out the OP's soundcard is a bit wimpy, then a cheap Fiio e5 amp should fix the problem - about $25 on ebay or Amazon, I think?

I don't think the problem is with my soundcard. My cheapo sony in ear buds will destroy my eardrums at 100% volume on my PC whereas I can just manage to enjoy listening to my tunes at 100% volume using the HD 201.
 
This review on Amazon voices 2 of my exact issues with the HD201: low volume and poor bass. Also, upon looking at the packaging of my now-returned HD201, I noted that they needed about 1 Volt for about 105 dB or so at 1 KHz. Whereas, the Superlux HD681 claim to deliver 95 dB at 1 KHz for about 0.22 Volts. So, clearly that HD201 needed a lot of power to drive it to reasonable volume...
 
I ordered the Superlux HD681 and I am very excited with all the reviews and also hoping to get a more clear and loud audio!

 

[MrViolin]

Senns have a sensitivity of 108 db and 24 ohms. Those should be able to be driven easily.  As for the sony's, they also had a sensitivity of 108db, but had an impedance of 16db (draws more power, requires less voltage). The superflux has a low impedance, but has a sensitivity of 98dB, so it should be a bit harder to drive. However numbers aren't everything

 

[litetaker]

Quote:

Senns have a sensitivity of 108 db and 24 ohms. Those should be able to be driven easily.  As for the sony's, they also had a sensitivity of 108db, but had an impedance of 16db (draws more power, requires less voltage). The superflux has a low impedance, but has a sensitivity of 98dB, so it should be a bit harder to drive. However numbers aren't everything

 


That's odd. Firstly, Superlux has a higher impedance than all three, at 32 Ohms. And as per my testing, it was far easier to drive the Sony than the Sennheiser... Somehow the numbers don't seem to match reality. In any case, worst case scenario, I'll be returning another pair of cans... I sincerely hope I needn't and that the Superlux is good enough for me...

 

[shadow419]

What onboard sound are you using?  If realtek, did you make sure the output jack you were using was set to headphone and not speaker out?  The in-ears are almost always going to be easier to drive.  The extra isolation and extremely sensitive drivers make it pretty easy to get ear splitting levels.

 

[scuttle]

Quote:

I don't think the problem is with my soundcard. My cheapo sony in ear buds will destroy my eardrums at 100% volume 

Sorry, I took this for granted: cheapo earbuds are usually the easiest things in the universe to drive. 

 

[scuttle]

Quote:

 


That's odd. Firstly, Superlux has a higher impedance than all three, at 32 Ohms. And as per my testing, it was far easier to drive the Sony than the Sennheiser... Somehow the numbers don't seem to match reality. In any case, worst case scenario, I'll be returning another pair of cans... I sincerely hope I needn't and that the Superlux is good enough for me...

People think impedance is everything, but it's secondary. (Except for making sure your amp has a low enough impedance relative to the headphone to avoid distortion - it should be 1/8 or less.) Decibels per mW are more fundamental. A headphone can very very impedance but still reasonably driveable from a low power amp if it is very efficient and gives a lot of those db for each mW it is given: the rare HD25-13 is this way I believe - a 600 ohm player that is is driveable from most DAPs.

 

[MrViolin]

Quote:

 


That's odd. Firstly, Superlux has a higher impedance than all three, at 32 Ohms. And as per my testing, it was far easier to drive the Sony than the Sennheiser... Somehow the numbers don't seem to match reality. In any case, worst case scenario, I'll be returning another pair of cans... I sincerely hope I needn't and that the Superlux is good enough for me...

the ohms don't matter much when it comes to driving as scuttle has said. And yes, numbers aren't everything. They only give you a rough idea of how it should go.