This whole blog is a treasure for new EEs. The great mystery is that the author disappeared while working on a DAC revision but has kept their site running for over a decade.
Do you need to put any effort into a Blogspot site to keep it online?
Headphone and Amp Impedance (2011)
41–50 of 115 posts
Re: Headphone and Amp Impedance (2011)
#42Earlier quoted context omitted.
> i want to use 3.5mm jacks for super simple data communications and power That sounds like an all around bad idea.
It's not the best idea, but it's not the worst idea either. The original Stripe reader used the 3.5mm jack for example. It's even been used in some power applications ( https://www.amazon.ca/UY-CHAN-Original-Soldering-Replacement... )
Square*
Re: Headphone and Amp Impedance (2011)
#43I'm very skeptic of that 1/8th rule. Usually output impedance should be as low as possible, so that the resistance added by the cable becomes negligible in comparison, and its intrinsic capacitance won't turn it into a low pass filter. Unless I'm missing something, at least in audio, amplifiers with lower output impedance are always better than those with higher output impedance.
> most headphones work best when the output impedance is less than 1/8th the headphone impedance This doesn't seem to disagree with what you're saying?
1/8 max seems still too high to me. For example it would be satisfied by a 12.5 Ohm Zout amp with a 100 Ohm headphone, but that wouldn't be ideal in case of long cables. I'd aim to much lower impedance anyway, especially today that it's easy to obtain with common parts.
Re: Headphone and Amp Impedance (2011)
#44I find myself guilty of deep-diving into headfi-territory audiophilia once in a while, this time it got to me as well and I started thinking how neat it'd be to finally do it and get some high-end replacement for my 250 ohm dt990 pro cans, and I've heard both the hifman arya and sennheiser hd800s and know they are quite a lot better.. but THEN comes the amp question... and the rabbithole deepens.. and then the DAC and in the end I give up, every time.. this time too! I've also heard the o2 amp, and it's quite nice..
In the end, a year ago or so, I went a bit overboard and decided that since my subjective experience of even cheaper studio monitors have been on-par with even the most expensive headphones, I should go all-in on that account instead..
I somehow managed to convince myself that a pair of Genelec 8350s would solve all my problems, so I replaced my Presonus Eris E5s with them, and replaced the scarlett 2i4 with a Yellow Tec Puc2 lite, and got the calibration box and mic and the silly volume knob (so I could pour pure PCM at 0dB straight into the monitors DACs).. Of course, audiophilia is a sickness, and it never ends, so I've been looking at a rather pricey stereo-subwoofer setup to go along.. but fortunately, my room can't support that at the moment..
I guess what I hate about gear, is what others love, that there's no one right, no one truth, and that subjective experience has to be taken into account.. I don't want subjective, I want the objective truth, accurate reproduction.. but what is even that..
Re: Headphone and Amp Impedance (2011)
#45This whole blog is a treasure for new EEs. The great mystery is that the author disappeared while working on a DAC revision but has kept their site running for over a decade.
Do you need to put any effort into a Blogspot site to keep it online?
You need to pay hosting bills. Or keep a server running somewhere in your home.
Re: Headphone and Amp Impedance (2011)
#46Re: Headphone and Amp Impedance (2011)
#47Re: Headphone and Amp Impedance (2011)
#48I find myself guilty of deep-diving into headfi-territory audiophilia once in a while, this time it got to me as well and I started thinking how neat it'd be to finally do it and get some high-end replacement for my 250 ohm dt990 pro cans, and I've heard both the hifman arya and sennheiser hd800s and know they are quite a lot better.. but THEN comes the amp question... and the rabbithole deepens.. and then the DAC an…
I went the customcans hifiman route after my open dt 990 pros blew from feedback
https://customcans.co.uk/shop/product-category/home/headphon...
Not quite the thousand dollar Arya but I like the dampening/venting work and signal testing he did + nice cables + I switched to a balanced xlr setup with my amp as I have grounding issues in my house.
I personally find the amp the most interesting part over headphones. I really like the tone of tube amps. It's fun testing out the (noticeable) differences. As long as headphones are relatively flat I'm happy. Not sure the planar thing is as dramatic as people say but I only have a modified entry level one.
If I was going this path again I'd probably get a (modified) 990 Beyer again cuz I loved that one and I don't find much value in spending a couple K since it's never just the headphone purchase... I know from experience a new fancier speakers/headphones means you then notice how bad your amp is, or your phono preamp, or turntable, or your DAC, etc and you invest a tone of time/money on upgrading everything.
Re: Headphone and Amp Impedance (2011)
#49I find myself guilty of deep-diving into headfi-territory audiophilia once in a while, this time it got to me as well and I started thinking how neat it'd be to finally do it and get some high-end replacement for my 250 ohm dt990 pro cans, and I've heard both the hifman arya and sennheiser hd800s and know they are quite a lot better.. but THEN comes the amp question... and the rabbithole deepens.. and then the DAC an…
> my subjective experience of even cheaper studio monitors have been on-par with even the most expensive headphones, I should go all-in on that account instead
That's certainly an interesting experience, I've heard that a good pair of speakers costs much more than an equivalent pair of headphones. You can get "audiophile" level Sennheisers/Audio Technicas for a few hundred dollars, but that's close to the starting price for any half-decent pair of speakers, with "good quality" setups probably costing in the thousands to tens of thousands of dollars.
There are a few things you could do to make headphones more speakers-esque - use an external subwoofer or rumbler, add a bit of cross/mix between the channel and perhaps use a dsp plugin for HRTF (Head related transfer functions). Assuming your amp/source is good, it should definitely smoke a fairly more expensive speaker system out of the water.
Re: Headphone and Amp Impedance (2011)
#50[dead]