[koolkat]

The primary purpose of a resistance adapter is to increase the impedance of the cans, yes?
 
I am currently looking to amp my Sennheiser HD438s with the PA2V2.
The HD438s have a low 32ohm impedance. Will adding a resistance adapter to increase the impedance
of the headphones improve the sound quality of the cans, when I run it through an amplifier?
What is/are the purpose(s) of increasing the impedance of full sized headphones?
 
Couldn't find any useful info on the Search engine regarding this.
 
Thanks

 

[Steve Eddy]

 
It's not so much increasing the impedance of the headphones, but rather effectively increasing the output impedance of the amplifier.
 
Some feel their headphones sound better when driven from a source impedance that's higher than their amplifier's output impedance.
 
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[koolkat]

I noticed you said "some feel". So I guess it doesn't make much of a difference, in your personal opinion?
Quote:

 
It's not so much increasing the impedance of the headphones, but rather effectively increasing the output impedance of the amplifier.
 
Some feel their headphones sound better when driven from a source impedance that's higher than their amplifier's output impedance.
 
se

 

 

[Steve Eddy]

 
Well, it's not so much that it doesn't make much difference. It certainly can make a significant difference depending on the particular headphones and how much resistance you're adding. What I meant by "some feel" was with regard to subjective improvement. In other words, some feel it sound better, some feel it sounds worse.
 
se