[snee]

Hi,

First of all - sorry form my bad English, I hope that you will be able to understand me.

I want to buy Sennheiser HD 600 headphones. Also, I'm interested in Topping A30 but I'm not sure how HD 600 will work with it.

The reason I'm considering buying Topping A30 is because in many reviews it is stated that it has a neutral and balanced sound. As stated here:

The Topping A30 does not seem to feature any colouring ...

This is important to me because I'm planning to use my HD 600 headphones for some basic mixing/fixing. I also considered Schiit Magni 3 which is recommended by many, but I read on various websites/forums that it has "colored sound".

My question:

Is Topping A30 able to run HD 600 (to drive it at it's full potential)?

I am noob when it comes to this stuff and correct me if I'm wrong, but according to the specs (if I understand them well ) - A30 should be able to run HD 600 (to drive it at it's full potential):

Sennheiser HD 600:

Impedance average in band from 40 Hz to 15 kHz: 352,2 Ω

Impedance Versus Frequency (goes from 300 up to 560 Ω):

Power Required: 199 mW [source]
Current Required: 26 ma
Voltage Required: 7.74v rms​

Topping A30 - Maximum output power::

1551mW x 2 (PO = Hi, 6.35 output, RL = 32Ω, THD + N = 1%)
291mW x 2 (PO = Hi, 6.35 output, RL = 300Ω, THD + N = 1%)
152mW x 2 (PO = Hi, 6.35 output, RL = 600Ω, THD + N = 1%)

Maximum output voltage swing: 26.6Vpp

Output impedance: 10 Ω (6.35 mm output)​

 

[yong_shun]

Do you have a DAC?

 

[snee]

Do you have a DAC?

No, I plan to use only Headphone AMP (because of this).

 

[snee]

It is interesting that on their website there is this:

Suitable Headphone Impedance: 16-600 Ω

... but also on their website they recommend AliExpress stores that specified the following Recommended Headphone Maximum Impedances:

HIFI College Store and Shenzhenaudio Store: 251-300 Ohm
Aoshida-HIFI Audio Store: 101-150 Ohm

 

[buke9]

If it does 291mw@300 ohms you should be good at running them.

 

[yong_shun]

Purely considering power, you need to look at four specifications:

1. Headphone Impedance (ohms)
2. Headphone Sensitivity (dB/mW)
3. Amplifier Output Voltage or Power at your headphone's impedance (V or mW)
4. Amplifier Output Impedance (ohms)

1) Make sure amplifier output impedance is less than (Headphone Impedance)/8

2) Check needed power to reach desired volume. Most agree that 110dB is a painful listening level, and 115dB is thoroughly excessive. Decide the maximum volume level you expect, then insert your headphone's sensitivity into the equation or chart below.

Required Amplifier Power = 10^((Volume - Sensitivity)/10)


...or here's that equation in a convenient lookup table:

Headphone Sensitivity db/mW)	Volume, 110 dB	Volume, 112.5 dB	Volume, 115 dB
85	316.2	562.3	1000.0
86	251.2	446.7	794.3
87	199.5	354.8	631.0
88	158.5	281.8	501.2
89	125.9	223.9	398.1
90	100.0	177.8	316.2
91	79.4	141.3	251.2
92	63.1	112.2	199.5
93	50.1	89.1	158.5
94	39.8	70.8	125.9
95	31.6	56.2	100.0
96	25.1	44.7	79.4
97	20.0	35.5	63.1
98	15.8	28.2	50.1
99	12.6	22.4	39.8
100	10.0	17.8	31.6
101	7.9	14.1	25.1
102	6.3	11.2	20.0
103	5.0	8.9	15.8
104	4.0	7.1	12.6
105	3.2	5.6	10.0
106	2.5	4.5	7.9
107	2.0	3.5	6.3
108	1.6	2.8	5.0
109	1.3	2.2	4.0
110	1.0	1.8	3.2
111	0.8	1.4	2.5
112	0.6	1.1	2.0
113	0.5	0.9	1.6
114	0.4	0.7	1.3
115	0.3	0.6	1.0
116	0.3	0.4	0.8
117	0.2	0.4	0.6
118	0.2	0.3	0.5

An amplifier is capable of cleanly driving your headphones as long as its rated power meets or exceeds the above value at the headphone's impedance. Obtaining output power information from a manufacturer is the challenge.

You can check this post by JDS Lab. It is informative. No rocket science but simple calculation

 

[snee]

If it does 291mw@300 ohms you should be good at running them.

What about impedance spikes in the lower frequencies? They go up to 560 Ω - does this mean that A30 will have trouble to handle the lower frequencies? Or maybe I completely misunderstand that

 

[buke9]

At what gain and impedance setting are you referring to?

 

[Oscar-HiFi]

What about impedance spikes in the lower frequencies? They go up to 560 Ω - does this mean that A30 will have trouble to handle the lower frequencies? Or maybe I completely misunderstand that

A30 drives the HD600 fine. Although I personally like them with an OTL tube amp.

 

[snee]

At what gain and impedance setting are you referring to?

Hmm, I'm not sure if I understood you well... is this question is related to impedance spikes in the lower frequencies? Or settings on headphone AMP?

As for Topping A30 + HD 600, I guess that I will need to set the power switch to "Hi", and not sure about the gain selector but first I would start with "0 dB". Also, I would use 6.3mm output (output impedance is 10 ohms).

 

[Oscar-HiFi]

Hmm, I'm not sure if I understood you well... is this question is related to impedance spikes in the lower frequencies? Or settings on headphone AMP?

As for Topping A30 + HD 600, I guess that I will need to set the power switch to "Hi", and not sure about the gain selector but first I would start with "0 dB". Also, I would use 6.3mm output (output impedance is 10 ohms).

Yes high power + 0dB gain + 6.3mm socket will be great with the HD600.

 

[snee]

OK, I also checked the following Headphone Power Calculators:

• http://www.digizoid.com/headphones-power.html
• https://www.headphonesty.com/headphone-power-calculator

... and as for the required power (mW) - everything is OK. But I cannot find info about Voltage (volts RMS) and Current (millamps RMS) for the Topping A30 - the specifications listed on their site do not include this information

 

[Bhargu]

The listing you copied already shows Vpp at 26.6 V, right? That puts Vrms at arout 9+ volts. You can use any Ohm's law calculator to calculate current, if you want it.

Edit: An Ohm's law calculator will calculate both Vrms and current for you if you provide impedance and power.