[SRV]

I've noticed that when it comes to headphones, the ones that sound the best also have the higest impedences. Has anyone else observed this phenomona, or have an explanation for why it may hold true?

 

[Braver]

Grados have pretty low impedances and I wouldn't say they sound less than a Sennheiser. the Sony R10 also has a pretty low impedance.

 

[dohminator]

double post.

 

[dohminator]

audio technica phones also have low impedences and they sound great.

This seems to be a property of the German cans. Beyer and Sennheiser.

 

[kerelybonto]

It's true that all the crappy little headphones out there are low impedance -- but you're mistaken to think there's some correlation.

There are plenty of great low-impedance designs out there. As mentioned, the entire Grado line -- including the Reference Series and the old Signature Series -- check in at 32 ohms. All the Sony 'phones, including the V6 and R10 are about the same. Audio Technica and Koss cans are generally pretty low impedances. The Etymotic ER-6 and ER-4P have only 27 ohms resistance. At 100 ohms, even the ER-4S has relatively low impedance. A lot of the Stax line is low impedance, too.

The Sennheiser HD600 sits at 600 ohms, which is about as high up there as you get.

Really, there's no reason to worry about headphone impedance until it comes to amp matching. A lot of amps work well only with one range of impedances.

kerelybonto

 

[andrzejpw]

Wait, the 600 is 600 ohms? My 580 is 300!

 

[kwkarth]

There is no correlation between intrinsic/characteristic impedance and quality of sound in headphones.

 

[SRV]

is the impact of impence iam thinking of actually a characteristic of amplifiers? I am not a hundred percent sure on this but, i think as you go from a higher impedence to a lower impedence the THD present increases.I think this also may depend on the rating of the amp. Is this train of thought any more accurate?

 

[kwkarth]

It is a general rule of thumb that harmonic distortions increase in an amp as the impedance of the load being driven is lowered, but that being said, it is also true that many amps are designed to properly drive low impedance loads. So, given the supposition that a proper amp is used, there is still no direct correlation between sound quality and driver impedance.

 

[SRV]

Thanks for clearing this up for me. It looks like i should only use the impedence rating when considering amplification, but as far as sound quality is concerned i should just trust my ears.

 

[kwkarth]

Wise choice! You can't go wrong that way.

 

[martioz]

For your info HD600s are 300ohms.

Correlation:
low impedance - high current, low voltage. That is reason why almost all "portable" headphones have low impedance.
high impedance - low current, "high" voltage. Usually powered by external Amp. That the reason why we need external amp like META42 to drive HD600 from, for example, D-EJ01.

Moreover there is a correlation between impedance and sound quality, but is negligible at this stage.

 

[kwkarth]

Quote:

Originally posted by martioz For your info HD600s are 300ohms. [size=xx-small] Correlation: low impedance - high current, low voltage. That is reason why almost all "portable" headphones have low impedance.[/b][/size]

Non-sequitur Quote:

[size=xx-small] high impedance - low current, "high" voltage. Usually powered by external Amp. That the reason why we need external amp like META42 to drive HD600 from, for example, D-EJ01. [/size]

No, it is not the reason. Quote:

Moreover there is a correlation between impedance and sound quality, but is negligible at this stage.

Nope.
Sorry, no cigar. Your reasoning and information are faulty.

 

[kerelybonto]

Yep, sorry abou that -- martioz is right: the HD600 is 300 ohms impedance.

kwkarth, I think martioz's statements are accurate. All you have to do is look at the basic V=IR equation to see that a higher impedance headphone needs more voltage.

kerelybonto

 

[kwkarth]

That's obviously not what I'm referring to.