3 ms·

Useful if connecting higher end headphones, not useful if you're only going to connect simple low power in ears. The moment you connect any sort of bigger head

by p_l 3y ago

Useful if connecting higher end headphones, not useful if you're only going to connect simple low power in ears. The moment you connect any sort of bigger headphones that do not have their own amplifier to "standard" 3.5mm on most portable devices (even laptops), you find yourself benefitting from such pocket amplifier. The power available on those outputs tends to be quite low, so attaching higher impedance headphones means the resulting sound is quieter, which results in user cranking volume up to compensate, which makes the usable range of volume smaller for adjustments, but also that often quality noticeably falls down because most amps have more distortion at upper ends of power. Depending on devices, sometimes you even get noticeable difference in power drain.

ilitirit 3y ago
My comment stands for over-ear headphones as well - it's just not going to matter for 90% of users. An Apple dongle is usually more than enough. I have several different amps, a tube pre-amp, several DACs and a Qudelix 5k DAC. I regularly switch between an HD600, HD650, HD560s, HE4xx and Audeze Maxwells. I can maybe count on one hand when I thought one combination sounded "better" than another, although I'm sure I could bump up this number if I tried. The problem is 90% of the time it just doesn't matter. There's loads of resources on the net that talk about this, e.g. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K8zAko5G6eg https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K8zAko5G6eg Most of the time the differences are not that important, unless, as the adage goes, you're using the music to listen to your equipment rather than using the equipment to listen to your music. Which... 90% of users don't do.
- p_l 3y ago
  The difference may be down to "Apple Dongle" in the era of USB-C/Lightning connectors and no 3.5mm - I know that despite not having particularly high impedance headphones, the difference was huge - and I specifically avoided "listening to equipment" and didn't invest too much into it.

by p_l 3y ago

ilitirit 3y ago

My comment stands for over-ear headphones as well - it's just not going to matter for 90% of users. An Apple dongle is usually more than enough. I have several different amps, a tube pre-amp, several DACs and a Qudelix 5k DAC. I regularly switch between an HD600, HD650, HD560s, HE4xx and Audeze Maxwells. I can maybe count on one hand when I thought one combination sounded "better" than another, although I'm sure I could bump up this number if I tried. The problem is 90% of the time it just doesn't matter. There's loads of resources on the net that talk about this, e.g. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K8zAko5G6eg https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K8zAko5G6eg Most of the time the differences are not that important, unless, as the adage goes, you're using the music to listen to your equipment rather than using the equipment to listen to your music. Which... 90% of users don't do.

p_l 3y ago
The difference may be down to "Apple Dongle" in the era of USB-C/Lightning connectors and no 3.5mm - I know that despite not having particularly high impedance headphones, the difference was huge - and I specifically avoided "listening to equipment" and didn't invest too much into it.