[nishan99]

Hi

I have a relatively easy to drive headphones, the Hifiman Ananda with a sensitivity of 103db and 25 ohm impedance

but with some quiet recordings like some classics, i go full tilt in normal mode with my ifi micro BL which is 5.5V/1,900 mW @ 16 Ohm, i know it's too much for my headphones but i need these extra volumes to get the record to be ~90db loud, and for this i need to switch to turbo mod which packs 10.0V/4,000 mW @ 16 Ohm !
but I am afraid that will damage my sensitive headphones.

So should i go with loudness or watts to keep my headphones safe ?

 

[kukkurovaca]

I highly doubt you're going to damage planar drivers by listening at 90db.

 

[MindsMirror]

They are the same, that's what the sensitivity tells you. When your headphone receives 1mW of power, it will produce 103dB of sound. If you adjust your volume so that they are producing 103dB of sound, you know that they are receiving 1mW of power. That is regardless of the amp's specified max power or the gain setting. It's not automatically delivering max power just because the volume knob is maxed. In your case, if you set the gain and volume such that the music is at ~90dB, your headphones will be receiving ~0.05mW of power.

 

[nishan99]

They are the same, that's what the sensitivity tells you. When your headphone receives 1mW of power, it will produce 103dB of sound. If you adjust your volume so that they are producing 103dB of sound, you know that they are receiving 1mW of power. That is regardless of the amp's specified max power or the gain setting. It's not automatically delivering max power just because the volume knob is maxed. In your case, if you set the gain and volume such that the music is at ~90dB, your headphones will be receiving ~0.05mW of power.

wow, this is actually new to me, thank you <3