Can I power Dt-990 250 ohm with my X570 taichi?

[Nul Atlas]

My mother board, an X570 taichi, does say it can power up to 600 ohm headphones. Here is their direct quote under audio specs.

"NE5532 Premium Headset Amplifier for Front Panel Audio Connector (Supports up to 600 Ohm headsets)"

 

So does this mean I could most likely power 250 ohm headphones through the front panel audio connector?

[191x7]

Bayerdynamic 250 Ohm yes

AKG 250 Ohm no.

Impedance doesn't say a lot about how much power a headphone needs.

[OfficialTechSpace]

Define power. It'll make sound, but it won't get very loud. Onboard audio sucks, and "up to 600 ohms" means nothing, that's just marketing. What matters is how much power it outputs into 600 ohms. Or in your case, how much it outputs into 250 ohms. Which I can guarantee is not a lot. Numbers disagree with the above answer. The NE5532 caps out at 38mA/mW output, and the DT990 250 ohm needs about ~140 or better into 250 ohms. My SP200 does a little over 400mW into 300 ohms I believe, and it still takes high-gain at 3 o' clock to power a lot of my cans well at the top end.

[191x7]

https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=snr+headphones+impedance+power

[OfficialTechSpace]

 

[startrek03]

If you want to buy the DT-990s, you can just try them out with your motherboard first and then buy an amp if necessary. 

[H713]

8 hours ago, OfficialTechSpace said:

 The NE5532 caps out at 38mA/mW output, and the DT990 250 ohm needs about ~140 or better into 250 ohms. My SP200 does a little over 400mW into 300 ohms I believe, and it still takes high-gain at 3 o' clock to power a lot of my cans well at the top end.

mA / mW, which would be a sensitivity (current output for power input) does not make sense here. Not sure where that came from.

 

The 5532 (which was introduced by Signetics in 1979 and has been a staple of the audio industry ever since) has a typical short-circuit output current of 38 mA (though it technically is specified as being from 10 mA to 60 mA). A peak output current of 38 mA would correspond to a little over 180 mW into a 250 $\Omega$ load - not terrible, and things look better if you use a pair of 5532s, one for each channel by paralleling the op-amp sections. Where things could fall apart is if they're running them off $/pm$5 V. That would be about 50 mW into 250 $\Omega$. Not great. 

 

 

The output current of the 5532 is pretty good for a generic monolithic op-amp, and it's capable of driving 15 V into 600 $\Omega$. Because of this, it's been used extensively as a line driver in pro audio equipment. It works fine for headphones as well so long as they're reasonably high impedance. Try it and see, I think there's a decent chance that they'll work acceptably well. If you find the performance lacking, then pony up for something like a Schiit Magni or JDS Labs Atom.