[thegen]

I am really sorry if this has been sorted out before, I could not find any definitive answers though. I have a pair of LCD-2C's which "require" above 100mW of power. Now I don't have a dedicated amplifier just yet, but will be getting one closer to christmas. Can I safely use my onboard soundcard with an integrated amplifier (TI NE5532) for the LCD's. I have no idea of what kind of output power the TI NE5532 is capable of, but the manual for my motherboard states up to 600Ohms.

I've been careful with the volume as I'd only reach as far as about 20% in Windows. It sounds good and all, except theres not much bass.

I've never heard headphones clipping or distort before. Is it easy enough to destinguish, like underpowered speakers? I can however hear, in lack of better knowledge some kind of noise in some tracks. They're however in the same spot of the song everytime. Are these the headphones or just crap in the songs?

 

[PaganDL]

I am really sorry if this has been sorted out before, I could not find any definitive answers though. I have a pair of LCD-2C's which "require" above 100mW of power. Now I don't have a dedicated amplifier just yet, but will be getting one closer to christmas. Can I safely use my onboard soundcard with an integrated amplifier (TI NE5532) for the LCD's. I have no idea of what kind of output power the TI NE5532 is capable of, but the manual for my motherboard states up to 600Ohms.

I've been careful with the volume as I'd only reach as far as about 20% in Windows. It sounds good and all, except theres not much bass.

I've never heard headphones clipping or distort before. Is it easy enough to destinguish, like underpowered speakers? I can however hear, in lack of better knowledge some kind of noise in some tracks. They're however in the same spot of the song everytime. Are these the headphones or just crap in the songs?

Hi @thegen,

No problem, happy to help.

The honest answer is a definite NO for using that sound card to drive the LCD 2C from a sonics point of view.

From a technical point of view, in general, most onboard soundcards could 'technically' drive the LCD 2C but it most definitely won't sound good.
Not to mention the noise floor (SNR & THD), among other things would be terrible as there is also bleed & interference from your PC components.
This is more than likely what you're hearing in some tracks by the noise you describe.

Though I am curious, what song are you listening to which has this particularly?
How well recorded are your music, is it CD Quality, at least 320 kpbs (.mp3), or average 16 bit (.flac / .ogg)?

A headphone amplifier alone won't make your LCD 2C sound better if you don't use something other than the onboard sound.
I suggest also looking into a good DAC, usually an audio interface is the more affordable option compared to most consumer DACs as they last longer & if necessary, you can also use record sound if you feel so inclined.
Some I recommend considering are as follows :

Lexicon Alpha (Have this for almost 20 years, still going strong)
Any Focusrite Scarlett Series.


Try any of the above I mentioned, I am certain you will notice a definite improvement in sound quality.
Depending on how your experience with the audio interfaces go, I also suggest looking into the Presonus HP4 as a dedicated head amp to start.
By the way, any pro shop will also offer good deals on these pro audio gear as well so it never hurts to ask.
With an interface or DAC in general, you can safely set PC system volume to a 100 % & control overall volume level by program &/or via interface.

You will definitely know if a headphone clips or distorts as there will be all sorts of terrible noise & this definitely isn't good for your ears or your headphone.
Generally, underpowered speakers don't clip or disort per say, they just don't sound like much at all.
Speakers only clip or distort if you run them above spec, say 2000 watts into 4 Ohms which will destroy said speakers in short order.
This also proves why Power & Wattage isn't everything & Current has more to do with how headphones or speakers can sound overall, which is why impedence is also important to a certain extent as it is the resistance on how much electrical signal gear can handle.
For example, think of electricity like water as they act essentially the same by choosing the path of least resistance.
As such, Impedence is like turning a water tap or how open a dam sluice is.
The more flow or electrical current running through gear will influence how much is needed to run said gear to a safe, listening level.
That is, unless you want to lose your hearing in short order.
Unfortnately, I don't have time to go into this now but hopefully I have given you a better idea of what is required.

Hope this all makes sense.

Feel free to ask more.

Hope you have a great day !

 

[ProtegeManiac]

Lack of power, harmful?

No. If it was then practically everyone with passive speakers would be wrecking them all the time, what with all the people using 15wpc Class A amplifiers or 50wpc Class A/B amplifiers or hell, 2wpc ultra low noise Class A tube amps.

What you have to look at is power at the impedance, sensitivity, distortion+noise...even a speaker that recommends 35w to 150w can get ridiculously loud (ie, neighbors will complain) off a good 35wpc amp before distortion sets in.

The thing is though sensitivity and actual output are not literal once you have to factor in source material gain, line voltage, and preamp gain, plus listener perception. A speaker system playing 70dB in a very quiet room where the amplifier's noise is really not audible (speaker amps tend to have annoying noise if you sit near the speakers; sit 2m away and it only gets in the way of how solid the low end sounds, while something like a First Watt won't have any noise at all on most speakers) can sound fine but a headphone playing 70dB even in a room that seems quiet but the ambient noise (whether outside or as in the case of most headphone systems, a computer's cooling system) is high enough has a tendency to sound anemic and lacking low end. Basically if headphones tend to cause more hearing damage than speakers (barring concerts) it's because there's a tendency to crank it up to compensate for the lack of tactile bass, while speakers have the ever present threat of neighbor complaints to limit it regardless of how much bass you can hear.

I am really sorry if this has been sorted out before, I could not find any definitive answers though. I have a pair of LCD-2C's which "require" above 100mW of power. Now I don't have a dedicated amplifier just yet, but will be getting one closer to christmas. Can I safely use my onboard soundcard with an integrated amplifier (TI NE5532) for the LCD's.

Yes. Just don't crank it up that it clips the signal. Just be aware that planars have slightly less distortion vs dynamic drivers since planars are less dependent on damping factor given the physics. Dynamic drivers have to pump farther out to produce bass, and the driver needs to be larger to produce lower freqs but a larger one tends to distort the harder the driver needs to pump back and forth; planars just vibrate and they tend to be larger, so the less violent motion allows for that size to not have the surface area producing the sound get bent out of the shape while it moves. That might mean you can go from "no perceivable distortion" then cross into "clips signal" more easily without noticing how close you are.

I have no idea of what kind of output power the TI NE5532 is capable of, but the manual for my motherboard states up to 600Ohms.

That's impedance, not power. Power output is at watts, or fractions thereof (headphone amps are rated for mW; in some cases, in V). Output changes depending on the load impedance.

I've been careful with the volume as I'd only reach as far as about 20% in Windows. It sounds good and all, except theres not much bass.

You need to crank it up to get more of the bass given the perception issue discussed above, plus there's ambient noise. In some cases getting an amp might still necessitate switching over to Noctua or BeQuiet (depending on how much air you need to go into the case for the graphics card if you're not putting, say, an NZXT G12+X62 with the upcoming 140mm Sterox fans on it). Or since listening to music alone isn't necessarily power intensive (for the source anyway), use a fanless system or save a separate profile where all your cooling fans and any pumps will run at the barest minimum speed (and get a fan that is actually quiet if not also moving quite a bit of air at say 700rpm).

I've never heard headphones clipping or distort before. Is it easy enough to destinguish, like underpowered speakers? I can however hear, in lack of better knowledge some kind of noise in some tracks. They're however in the same spot of the song everytime. Are these the headphones or just crap in the songs?

It's easiest to hear with bass. Unless you're putting so much power that the drivers can handle it and actually pushing the drivers to overexcursion, it'll sound just like it where instead of "thump! thump!" you'll get "thuwhack! thuwhack!"

Being on the same part of the song is not indicative since that can happen because you're clipping a sudden loud signal or there's really just a problem with how the song was recorded or mastered, or the specific copy is damaged (scratch on CD, error on other digital copes).

 

[thegen]

Thank you both for such in depth answers! I will probably wait for the Asgard 3 which I hope will work well with these cans. I use Spotify with the highest quality. I did switch to my Shure IEM's and could hear the same noise with them. I remeber hearing these with my previous gear aswell, Meridian Explorer and the PS-500. But still, gets me worried each time I hear these noises. Must be some kind of debris in the recording.

I read somewhere that you should not have headphones connected to the amplifier while turning on or off the amplifier, as there can be some DC spikes if remembering correctly. But if I would plug them in with the amplifier on, there is still some thumping noise from the drivers. I understand this is due to the fact that you are shorting the TRS connector. Which way, or how do you guys plugin headphones? There seems to be no way around this except for using XLR connectors..

 

[ProtegeManiac]

I read somewhere that you should not have headphones connected to the amplifier while turning on or off the amplifier, as there can be some DC spikes if remembering correctly. But if I would plug them in with the amplifier on, there is still some thumping noise from the drivers. I understand this is due to the fact that you are shorting the TRS connector. Which way, or how do you guys plugin headphones? There seems to be no way around this except for using XLR connectors..

I just unplug my headphones when I'm done so I avoid any issues like that. Not that my amp has that problem but I also don't want cable spaghetti all over my desk.

 

[thegen]

I just unplug my headphones when I'm done so I avoid any issues like that. Not that my amp has that problem but I also don't want cable spaghetti all over my desk.

You do so while the amp is still live?

 

[ProtegeManiac]

You do so while the amp is still live?

Uh...yeah.

Switch on power strip with line filter, switch on amplifier, plug in headphone.

Unplug headphone, switch off amplifier, switch off power strip.

It's the on/off cycling that can cause a thump in the headphone or speakers. That's why it's colloquially called an "on/off thump."

 

[thegen]

Uh...yeah.

Switch on power strip with line filter, switch on amplifier, plug in headphone.

Unplug headphone, switch off amplifier, switch off power strip.

It's the on/off cycling that can cause a thump in the headphone or speakers. That's why it's colloquially called an "on/off thump."

Thanks, never had HP’s this expensive, wouldn’t want to cause any damage to them so just making sure.

 

[ProtegeManiac]

Thanks, never had HP’s this expensive, wouldn’t want to cause any damage to them so just making sure.

Very generally if it's not sounding like crap at louder output vs at lower volume then it's safe.

A more common way to break headphones is beating up the cable, including accidents that pull the cable and damage the socket in the headphone cup or the solder to the wires going to the drivers.