Quote:
Originally Posted by guyx1992 /img/forum/go_quote.gif
Hi all, I am a newbie and I wanted to ask a few questions :O
|
OK - I'll give it a shot.
Quote:
| First of All, 1) how much impedance is too much and it requires an amp? |
You've sort of asked THE question (Do I need an amp?), but a better one is
which headphones sound better with an amp? Answer: just about all of them.
It's not just impedance, you have to factor in the sensitivity of the headphones, too. For instance, The AKG K701's impedance is listed at 62 ohms - that's fairly low by most "audiophile" headphones. However, the current demand is such that you'll find very few, if any, who would recommend those phones without an amp.
Conversely, high impedance phones don't need much current, but they need an amp that can swing high voltages. Each headphone's combination of impedance and sensitivity is different. So, predicting the answer to your question in a general sense is very difficult. That's why I prefer the other question and answer: just about all headphones will benefit from a dedicated amp.
Quote:
| 2) What's the difference between a DAC and a sound card? Don't they both do the same job? |
Yes, a sound card does the same job. A sound card also provides multi-channel sound, accepts inputs for recording, has interfaces for midi, and provides headphone amplification, to boot. So, why would anyone want to buy a DAC when it doesn't do nearly as much?
Answer: the same reason you don't want to buy a Walmart version of a combination stereo - the ones that have tape, CD, radio, speakers, and even a sing-along microphone. The DAC does only one thing, but it does it better than any other device: converts digital to analog music. If that's all you need for headphones, but you've bought one of the world's best headphones (and amplifier), then you may need one of the world's best sources.
Quote:
| 3) What's the difference between a regular amp and a tube amp? |
Put simply, the method of amplification is the difference. BTW, there is no "regular" - tube amps were "regular" at one time, because there wasn't anything else. Generally speaking, tube amps impart a "flavor" to the music that's preferrable to some, but others will tell you that a great tube amp is indistinguishable from a great solid-state amp. The nuances are difficult to describe in one post, but understand that some great guitar players demand tube guitar amps because of those nuances.
Quote:
| 4) Where can I find a "dictionary" that can explain to me some of the hi-fi terms? Such as, "LOD". |
Line Out Device(?) or Line Out Dock? It's a special connector that lets you take the unamplified signal out from a DAP (Digital Audio Player). In other words, if you purchase an amplifier that's 10 times the quality of the tiny amp in a iPod, you'd hate to corrupt the signal by feeding it with the puny iPod's amp. You'd want a clean, virgin signal so that your dedicated amplifier is not going the route of Garbage In = Garbage Out. Don't get me wrong, the iPod's amp is OK as far as it goes, but it's redundant if used with a dedicated headphone amp. So, twice amplification will corrupt the output more than a virgin signal (a great reason to use the DAC mentioned above: a truly outstanding, pure signal source for your amp).
