Will the DT 770 pro 80ohm headphones work ok when plugged into an Elgato Wave 3?

Jake91 · January 23

Hey all, first time posting a question here and I'm very ignorant when it comes to audio stuff. Title says it all, I currently use an Elgato Wave 3 as my gaming mic and I use the headphone output on the back for my audio since I prefer to hear myself (sidetone? I guess?) while gaming, otherwise I talk way louder than normal. I wanted to pick up a pair of DT 770 pro 80ohm headphones for use with the mic. Can someone smarter than me weigh in? Will the headphones work ok just plugged directly into the Wave 3's output?

Thanks

Cocococo · January 23

They'll work but you are giving up features that may be desirable for most use cases, big ones being independent headphone volume adjustment and potentially EQ software, for the whole talking louder part i don't think closed back headphones are doing any favours, talking with closed back headphones you get a lot more of the whole "own voice in head" thing, like how different you sound to yourself when you talk with your ears plugged. There are options for open headphones that completely avoid this because they're... open, if you're in a really noisy environment then i'd stick with closed backs but it won't hurt to look around

Psittac · January 24

I'm not entirely sure if they'll power them to any kind of acceptable volume or quality of sound

I'm a functional idiot when it comes to figuring out what it requires to power any given headphone, which is why I just go way overpowered. But that doesn't change the fact that 75mw at 16ohm is about as low powered as it gets. At least when looking in terms of external solutions. I see headphone amps rated in watt's not milliwatt's

Here is the schiit magni for reference (a very competent headphone amplifier)

At 16ohms that's 3000mw and generally as ohms go up power goes down, then it's a game of sensitivity.

Here is the spec sheet for all DT 770 pro's

96db I believe is on the low end of average with the oddity that is planar magnetic being ~93db and some headphones going over 100db.

I would appreciate if someone who understands all of this could quantify everything I have laid out here. But I know from personal experience that 220mw on my DT880 600ohm is simply not loud enough. Then there are thing's like audio clarity and bass response that can miss out before volume becomes an issue

DT 880 edition specs

If nothing else I'd wager to say that you should go for the 32ohm at the very least.

(I'm just bored and wanted to state these thing's in hopes that someone can clarify it for myself and the OP)

Cocococo · January 24

8 hours ago, Psittac said:

I'm not entirely sure if they'll power them to any kind of acceptable volume or quality of sound

I'm a functional idiot when it comes to figuring out what it requires to power any given headphone, which is why I just go way overpowered. But that doesn't change the fact that 75mw at 16ohm is about as low powered as it gets. At least when looking in terms of external solutions. I see headphone amps rated in watt's not milliwatt's

Here is the schiit magni for reference (a very competent headphone amplifier)

At 16ohms that's 3000mw and generally as ohms go up power goes down, then it's a game of sensitivity.

Here is the spec sheet for all DT 770 pro's

96db I believe is on the low end of average with the oddity that is planar magnetic being ~93db and some headphones going over 100db.

I would appreciate if someone who understands all of this could quantify everything I have laid out here. But I know from personal experience that 220mw on my DT880 600ohm is simply not loud enough. Then there are thing's like audio clarity and bass response that can miss out before volume becomes an issue

DT 880 edition specs

If nothing else I'd wager to say that you should go for the 32ohm at the very least.

(I'm just bored and wanted to state these thing's in hopes that someone can clarify it for myself and the OP)

Oh man i completely forgot about this mic's pathetic output power, yeah OP if you must have closed backs don't get the DT770, 96db/mw is close to the edge of where i'd say external amplification is needed (imo 95 and below NEEDS an amp, 96 and above is usually fine without) considering the low power of the mic's headphone jack i don't even think my favourite Shure 440A and 840A are the best idea, Rode NTH-100 is very high sensitivity which is good, but AKG K361 and K371 are pretty much always cheaper and (imo) sound nicer plus being just a bit more sensitive than the Rode's, good catch psittac i completely blanked on the mic