[jefemeister]

I'm curious about the range of loads and sensitivities for non electrostatic headphones. Ie, what impedances might a headamp encounter and how many watts will it be expected to provide in order to accomodate pretty much everything out there?

 

[viviorunitia4]

Most headphones impedances are between 32 and 600 ohms. Grados are 32 ohms, while the Sennheiser hd-600 has a 600-ohm impedance.
I'm pretty sure that headphones only need a few milliwatts, but someone can correct me if I'm wrong

 

[jpelg]

Quote:

the Sennheiser hd-600 has a 600-ohm impedance.

The Senn's are 300-ohms. There are AKG headphones that go up to 600 ohms, such as the 240M & 240DF. There may also be some older versions of the BeyerDynamic pro series (DT770/990) still floating around as NOS, although the newer versions are 250-ohm.

Of course, these are all "nominal" impedance ratings that can, and do, actually vary across the frequency spectrum.

 

[TravelLite]

jefemeister, you can skim over the following table, even though it's really not 100% up-to-date.

Rane - Understanding Headphone Power Requirements:
http://www.rane.com/note100.html

TravelLite

 

[lini]

TravelLite: Apparently they fell for the usual confusion, too - sound pressure per power is efficiency, not sensitivity. Sensitivity is sound pressure per voltage.

Greetings from Munich!

Manfred / lini

 

[TravelLite]

LOL lini, yes.

For some reason the practice seems rather ubiquitous throughout the headphone industry. I dare say the convention is almost the de facto norm.

TravelLite

 

[jefemeister]

TravelLite,

Sweet table. Thanks for the info.