[kool bubba ice]

Is higher the better Thanks..

 

[MacGyver]

Ohms measure resistance, so cans with a lower reading will be easier to drive, and higher readings would be harder to drive. From what I know, that seems to be the jist of it, but for those more knowledgeable, feel free to elaborate on this or correct me.

 

[kool bubba ice]

Ah, thank you..

 

[Asr]

To add onto that, ohms are NOT an indicator of "quality" among headphones (so there's no "the higher the better" or anything like that). A lower-impedance headphone doesn't necessarily sound better than a higher-impedance headphone, or vice versa:

IEMs/canalphones usually have ohm ratings between 16 and 40 Ohms.

Audio Technica headphones are routinely low-impedance (ranging between 30 and 60 ohms) and lots of people have raved about them (I've only heard the ATH-W2002, very briefly). AT's woodied headphones are quite high-end as well and have the low impedance too.

There are portable headphones of all types that run between 40 and 100 ohms, including the Koss KSC75 (earclip), Sony MDR-V6/Senn HD280 (full-size), and Grado/Alessandro models.

Then you've got most full-sized circumaurals, which begin around 250 ohms and can run up to as much as 600 ohms.

All those types of phones can sound nearly as good as each other. The difference between them is the level of amplification they need, which is something the manufacturer decides in the design process. Both have their pros - low-impedance cans are easier to get louder and don't use much power from your source. High-impedance cans put out better sound.

 

[rodbac]

Ohms aren't the only factor in how hard a can is to drive, though. It's an ok rule-of-thumb, but it breaks down a lot.

 

[kramer5150]

Heres my understanding (please correct me as needed)...

headphone impedence is measured in Ohms. Impedence is the resistive load COMBINED with the inductive load the headphone voice coil places across the amplification circuit output.

High impedence is not necessarily better than low impedence (and vise versa).

What IS important is to pick the right amplification circuit (be it a dedicated amp or an unamped headphone output)... so that it matches the impedence load presented by the headphone.

If your amp is designed with low impedence loads and you plug in a high impedence (and low sensitivity) headphone, the output will be "weak".

If your amp is designed for high impedence loads and you plug in a low impedence headphone it wil hiss and have poor S/N performance.

 

[Towert7]

From my basic electricity and magnetism courses, this is what I have pulled from them.

Ohms is the unit of both DC resistance and AC impedance. (headphones are AC driven)
Impedance can be thought of as the AC equivalent of resistance (so to speak). The higher the impedance, the less AC signal is getting to the other end. This is the principle behind a simple dimmer switch (just a variable inductor with AC current)

The principle behind this is that:
If you have a very small impedance, you don't need a high voltage to have a resonable output power at the headphone driver. This means, because the driving voltage can be low, there is more current. Meaning more power wasted passing through the wire to the headphone, and more room for signal degradation (in theory).
If you have a high impedance, then you will need a large driving voltage to overcome it, which means that less current is needed for the same output power at the headphone (and thus less power wasted in the cable). In theory, there should be less room for signal degradation.
This is also in theory why long transmission lines are high voltage for long distances. Very little singal loss (meaning less power wasted).

More technical information can be found here wikipedia

Which sounds better, is always up for debate, lol.
It's more a simple indicator of what type of amp is needed for the headphones.

~Hope this helps

 

[kool bubba ice]

Quote:

Originally Posted by kramer5150 Heres my understanding (please correct me as needed)... headphone impedence is measured in Ohms. Impedence is the resistive load COMBINED with the inductive load the headphone voice coil places across the amplification circuit output. High impedence is not necessarily better than low impedence (and vise versa). What IS important is to pick the right amplification circuit (be it a dedicated amp or an unamped headphone output)... so that it matches the impedence load presented by the headphone. If your amp is designed with low impedence loads and you plug in a high impedence (and low sensitivity) headphone, the output will be "weak". If your amp is designed for high impedence loads and you plug in a low impedence headphone it wil hiss and have poor S/N performance.

Just got the 595's, & I do notice a hiss, (but only happened when playing poor sounding DVDs with 2.0 stereo, ala Night gallery).. sound when driving them through my reciever..They have a OHM of 50..I'm getting my 650's on Tuesday..
I'm from SJ too..What side? I'm on the eastside..