[iFi audio]

  I don't own any iem's so I skipped the iematch but then I bought some Beyerdynamic T90's for my vintage sansui au2200. T90's are real hum detector's and turns out my sansui has a hum but that is now gone as I bought the iematch. Early days but I now have a choice between the T90's or ZMF Vibro's depending on mood.    

 
Yes - it works with sensitive headphones too. Of course IEMs are more sensitive than headphones but there are some quite sensitive headphones out there.

 

[Roen]

What makes IEMatch different from attenuators that you can find from other headphones?

I have one from my Bose QC35 that I can use to increase resistance from my amp. What makes the IEMatch superior?

 

[Roen]

What makes IEMatch different from attenuators that you can find from other headphones?

I have one from my Bose QC35 that I can use to increase resistance from my amp. What makes the IEMatch superior?

I just answered my own question. The Bose attenuator makes things sound tinny and hollow.

 

[HuoYuanJia]

I just received a second iEMatch unit. Interestingly, the package names Ver 1.2. My other unit says Ver 1.1. The package has a small difference ("S-Balanced" was changed to "TRRS-Balanced") and the box now includes a small card with a request for product registration.
 
iFi audio, anything else? Is there also a version 1.0 or 1.3?

 

[willowbrook]

  I just received a second iEMatch unit. Interestingly, the package names Ver 1.2. My other unit says Ver 1.1. The package has a small difference ("S-Balanced" was changed to "TRRS-Balanced") and the box now includes a small card with a request for product registration.
 
iFi audio, anything else? Is there also a version 1.0 or 1.3?

Mine is v1.1 and it includes a warranty card, but package says s-balanced. Any physical difference between 1.1 and 1.2?

 

[HuoYuanJia]

  Mine is v1.1 and it includes a warranty card, but package says s-balanced. Any physical difference between 1.1 and 1.2?

Warranty card, yes. But in addition the new version has an inlay telling you how to register your product in 3 easy steps. Nothing you would need.
 
I cannot notice any differences with the hardware, but maybe iFi Audio knows better. Production of both units is 3.300 pcs apart.

 

[iFi audio]

Just to clarify, there's no difference in the hardware from one version to another.

 

[willowbrook]

  Just to clarify, there's no difference in the hardware from one version to another.

Awesome. Thanks for the clarification!

 

[iFi audio]

Awesome. Thanks for the clarification!

Yup, anytime. And please do not run if you see a groundhog!

 

[involuntarysoul]

anyone got a comparison between the UE buffer, 75ohm impentience adapters, and the iFi?
also what is the actual resistance of high and ultra setting?

 

[iFi audio]

anyone got a comparison between the UE buffer, 75ohm impentience adapters, and the iFi?
also what is the actual resistance of high and ultra setting?

Our iEMatch is 1-2.5 ohms. Hence it hardly affects the headphone's frequency response.

 

[Topspin70]

A question for @iFi audio or anyone who can advise. May I know which measurement should I look at to determine how sensitive a headphone/iem is?

Is it dB/1mW (i.e. efficiency)? If so, what level is considered very sensitive or ultra sensitive? (Sorry if this probably sounds very fundamental in Head-fi.)

I have the iEMatch for a couple of months now and usually I just put it between anything that lets me move the volume up to 11am or more. But that's just means cutting the output gain down for easy-to-drive cans. On my iDSD BL, gain and iem match are separate settings so I'm thinking the iematch isn't designed to be simply a gain reducer, but rather to match certain types of headphones of certain sensitivity measurements.

 

[iFi audio]

A question for @iFi audio or anyone who can advise. May I know which measurement should I look at to determine how sensitive a headphone/iem is?

We recommend to normalise all measurements to dB/1V, as used by Sennheiser.

There are several reasons. Common smartphones tend to have around 1V maximum output on a headphone jack (unless software limited), so you know the maximum loudness a smartphone will provide on peaks, that's one of them.

And obviously, the higher the number the louder things are, and numbers can be directly compared to everyday noises (a truck, a jackhammer, a jet at takeoff etc.), making 1V very intuitive and so to speak graphic.

A good alternative, but less intuitive to handle is used by headphones measured by Innerfidelity.com, which lists V/90dB. In this case, the lower the number of Volts, the more sensitive headphones are.

Both dB/1V and V/90dB can be easily converted into each other.

Is it dB/1mW (i.e. efficiency)?

This dB/mW measurement is unfortunately the least intuitive. Let's take a 16 ohm and a 600 ohm headphones, both rated at 102dB/1mW.

The 16 ohm headphones' sensitivity will be 120dB/1V, which we would consider at the lower edge of high sensitivity.

Meanwhile the 600 ohm headphone will be 102dB/1V, which qualifies as low sensitivity, meaning you will need an amplifier for use with a smartphone or at least "normal" mode on an iDSD micro.

We have put together an excel / webpage calculator that is used internally to help with calculations and with converting dB/1mW; dB/1V and V/90dB into each other and to calculate maximum SPL & dynamic range with different iFi products and iEMatch settings. It is available by opening a support ticket.

 

[Topspin70]

We recommend to normalise all measurements to dB/1V, as used by Sennheiser.

There are several reasons. Common smartphones tend to have around 1V maximum output on a headphone jack (unless software limited), so you know the maximum loudness a smartphone will provide on peaks, that's one of them.

And obviously, the higher the number the louder things are, and numbers can be directly compared to everyday noises (a truck, a jackhammer, a jet at takeoff etc.), making 1V very intuitive and so to speak graphic.

A good alternative, but less intuitive to handle is used by headphones measured by Innerfidelity.com, which lists V/90dB. In this case, the lower the number of Volts, the more sensitive headphones are.

Both dB/1V and V/90dB can be easily converted into each other.



This dB/mW measurement is unfortunately the least intuitive. Let's take a 16 ohm and a 600 ohm headphones, both rated at 102dB/1mW.

The 16 ohm headphones' sensitivity will be 120dB/1V, which we would consider at the lower edge of high sensitivity.

Meanwhile the 600 ohm headphone will be 102dB/1V, which qualifies as low sensitivity, meaning you will need an amplifier for use with a smartphone or at least "normal" mode on an iDSD micro.

We have put together an excel / webpage calculator that is used internally to help with calculations and with converting dB/1mW; dB/1V and V/90dB into each other and to calculate maximum SPL & dynamic range with different iFi products and iEMatch settings. It is available by opening a support ticket.

Thank you so much for this. You guys are not just helpful, but educational as well. This really explains a lot, and makes complete sense. In fact there's an ongoing discussion on the BL thread about driving our high impedance HD800S. What you just posted supports my experience.

I'll open a ticket to get the calculator.

 

[iFi audio]

Look what was spotted in the wild at Munich!