Driving 150Ω headphones

[theacp127]

I am looking to buy the Sennheiser Game Zero but they are 150Ω headphones, and I'm not very familiar with audio technology. I know I would most likely need a better sound amp than the one in my motherboard, but I'm not sure what I should get and what is the best value for amps/DACs. So it would be helpful to see some products with good value and audio quality to upgrade to the new headphones. By the way the motherboard is the MSI Z97-G45 Gaming with Realtek ALC1150 audio chipset.

[ShearMe]

Let us know what headphones they are. Just because their impedance is somewhat high does not mean they will be hard to drive.

[Stefano]

That motherboard supports up to 600 Ohm headphones.... If you want to spend $200 on a headphone amp then go ahead.

 

(http://us.msi.com/product/mb/Z97G45_GAMING.html#hero-overview)

[creatip123]

That motherboard supports up to 600 Ohm headphones.... If you want to spend $200 on a headphone amp then go ahead.

 

(http://us.msi.com/product/mb/Z97G45_GAMING.html#hero-overview)

 

Like shearme said above, impedance is not the only factor that causes a headphone hard to drive or not. One must look at the sensitivity level of said headphone.

 

Try googling the spec of Hifiman HE-6. It's only rated at 50 ohms, but I'll be jaw-dropped surprised if the HE-6 can be drived properly by that onboard's amp....

[Stefano]

Like shearme said above, impedance is not the only factor that causes a headphone hard to drive or not. One must look at the sensitivity level of said headphone.

 

Try googling the spec of Hifiman HE-6. It's only rated at 50 ohms, but I'll be jaw-dropped surprised if the HE-6 can be drived properly by that onboard's amp....

The Hifiman HE-6 have really low efficiency, stupidly low. But yes I guess 1% of headphones will need more power that that motherboards will not offer.

[BoredErica]

The Hifiman HE-6 have really low efficiency, stupidly low. But yes I guess 1% of headphones will need more power that that motherboards will not offer.

But I like HE-6 though. 

[Guest]

The Hifiman HE-6 have really low efficiency, stupidly low. But yes I guess 1% of headphones will need more power that that motherboards will not offer.

 

The point was that impedance =/= drivability.

[Stefano]

But I like HE-6 though. 

A lot of people do, it doesn't change the fact that the efficiency is 10-20dB lower than most other headphones.

[theacp127]

 

 

Let us know what headphones they are. Just because their impedance is somewhat high does not mean they will be hard to drive.

The headphones are the Sennheiser Game Zero.

[ShearMe]

The headphones are the Sennheiser Game Zero.

Nah, don't worry about extra equipment for those.

[creatip123]

The Hifiman HE-6 have really low efficiency, stupidly low. But yes I guess 1% of headphones will need more power that that motherboards will not offer.

 

Yep, that's the point. HE-6 got low impedance but also low sensitivity. So can't simply judge 'that onboard supports up to 600 ohms, so any headphone under 600 ohms can be driven properly', when in fact it can't really drive a 50 ohms (1/12 of the max impedance the onboard supports) HE-6.

 

Even my 35 ohms HE-400 can't be driven properly with a xonar DG with built-in headphone amp, I had to sell the DG and went with an external solution. 

 

 

But I like HE-6 though. 

 

 

I bet my pre-amp power-amp combo can drive it properly though. If only I got $1000 to burn for that HE-6.... :unsure:

[BoredErica]

I'd just use ODA.

[creatip123]

I'd just use ODA.

 

O2? Tried the JDSLabs version of O2/ODAC with the HE400. It still got some crackling and distortions, the kind that happens if under-voltage, I think. Dunno if that was a faulty unit of O2 though.

[BoredErica]

http://www.diyaudio.com/forums/headphone-systems/229934-version-o2-desktop-amp-oda.html

 

It's an extension of O2/Odac done by somebody else. It can power an HE-6 easily.

 

Your unit is probably faulty.

[ante1448]

Like shearme said above, impedance is not the only factor that causes a headphone hard to drive or not. One must look at the sensitivity level of said headphone.

 

Try googling the spec of Hifiman HE-6. It's only rated at 50 ohms, but I'll be jaw-dropped surprised if the HE-6 can be drived properly by that onboard's amp....

good poin there is sensitivity (like my Shure SE425 iems has 22ohm They have sensitivity at 109dB / mW But The hifiman HE-6 has 50 ohm and sensitivity of 83.5Db / mw) but the ohm is good to know to match the right ohm on the headphones and your amp gives the best results and far away will not get that they get much worse but not as bad as a couple of $ 5 headphones from Wallmark.

[creatip123]

good poin there is sensitivity (like my Shure SE425 iems has 22ohm They have sensitivity at 109dB / mW But The hifiman HE-6 has 50 ohm and sensitivity of 83.5Db / mw) but the ohm is good to know to match the right ohm on the headphones and your amp gives the best results and far away will not get that they get much worse but not as bad as a couple of $ 5 headphones from Wallmark.

 

I think impedance value, for impedance matching, has got more to do with the damping factor, output impedance of the amp vs load impedance of the headphone, in practical use. Besides, dynamic drivers' impedance ratings are measured at 1kHz (as a reference point), but they vary/fluctuate across the frequency. Planars (and electrostatics, I imagine) have relatively flat impedance measurement, almost perfect flat.

 

Here is the comparison between Hifiman HE300 (dynamic driver), above, vs HE400 (planar driver), below. Graph from innerfidelity.com

 

[ante1448]

I think impedance value, for impedance matching, has got more to do with the damping factor, output impedance of the amp vs load impedance of the headphone, in practical use. Besides, dynamic drivers' impedance ratings are measured at 1kHz (as a reference point), but they vary/fluctuate across the frequency. Planars (and electrostatics, I imagine) have relatively flat impedance measurement, almost perfect flat.

 

Here is the comparison between Hifiman HE300 (dynamic driver), above, vs HE400 (planar driver), below. Graph from innerfidelity.com

 

yes that is one part to good that you did bring it up because i did forget it, personally so do i not use dynamic headphones so much these days i will stick to my mad dog by MrSpeakers so no uneven dampening

[ShearMe]

yes that is one part to good that you did bring it up because i did forget it, personally so do i not use dynamic headphones so much these days i will stick to my mad dog by MrSpeakers so no uneven dampening

Usually a 1/8th ratio makes uneven dampening irrelevant. Not really all that hard to accomplish.

[MayflowerElectronics]

O2? Tried the JDSLabs version of O2/ODAC with the HE400. It still got some crackling and distortions, the kind that happens if under-voltage, I think. Dunno if that was a faulty unit of O2 though.

 

You shouldn't be having any problems with those headphones. The only thing I can think of was that you used high gain with it and pushed too much power.

 

http://www.diyaudio.com/forums/headphone-systems/229934-version-o2-desktop-amp-oda.html

 

It's an extension of O2/Odac done by somebody else. It can power an HE-6 easily.

 

Your unit is probably faulty.

 

We are working on it...prototype is in our shop.

[BoredErica]

You shouldn't be having any problems with those headphones. The only thing I can think of was that you used high gain with it and pushed too much power.

 

 

We are working on it...prototype is in our shop.

Orly? That's interesting. I might buy one just because.  :lol: How do you plan to update the ODA though? The guy on DIYaudio is updating the project pretty often.