Headphone impedence

[LaoJr]

When I look at headphones on amazon and all I see is 32 ohm 22 ohm headphones all the time and most of them are from beyerdynamic which is a headphone company known for outstanding headphones and they sell really low impedence headphones and not just these guys but vmoda, audiotechnica, grado, and etc when people buy really high end amps and dacs which can handle 600ohm headphones now why is that

[WunderWuffle]

Amazon has 600 ohm headphones from Beyerdynamics... DT990 600 Ohm.

[helping]

because most of the consumer base doesn't have equipment to handle high voltage loads. Mobile, iPods, laptops, and tablets are able to drive low impedance headphones but not high impedance, so the majority of what is produced is at low impedance to be universally compatible and therefore marketable. If all a company produced was 250 ohm headsets they would need some other source to back them financially because they would not sell nearly as much and would be represented by the idiots that buy 250 ohm headphones to use on their iPhone and then complain that the headphones suck.

The high impedance headphones are there, you're not looking. People with good DAC/AMPs don't buy low impedance.

[_ASSASSIN_]

higher ohm headphones doesn't nessarily mean a better headphone, impedence is essentially the power needed to power the headphones to provide clear audio, so with higher impedance headphones, you will need a more powerful amp

[prolemur]

if you're going to be using a powerful amp then get the higher impedence headphones, so you don't burn your 32 ohm headphones in your amp.

 

It would be insanely loud and would damage the headphones.

32ohm headphones are for use cases where there is no amp just the ipod or onboard audio.

[LaoJr]

if you're going to be using a powerful amp then get the higher impedence headphones, so you don't burn your 32 ohm headphones in your amp.

 

It would be insanely loud and would damage the headphones.

32ohm headphones are for use cases where there is no amp just the ipod or onboard audio.

so you are saying if I put some m50s with an STX it can damage the headphones

[prolemur]

so you are saying if I put some m50s with an STX it can damage the headphones

well the stx doesn't have a very powerful headphone amp compared to what you can get but you will be able to tell if you're damaging the headphones by how loud they are and they could be making static

[h264]

so you are saying if I put some m50s with an STX it can damage the headphones

If the amp doesn't have current limiting, then yes, you can.

[_ASSASSIN_]

If the amp doesn't have current limiting, then yes, you can.

odd to ask you this here, but does the Fiio E10 have current limiting? don't want to damage my new headphones

[h264]

odd to ask you this here, but does the Fiio E10 have current limiting? don't want to damage my new headphones

It does. Single-ended class A designs are where that issue can exist.

[_ASSASSIN_]

It does. Single-ended class A designs are where that issue can exist.

...don't know what that means but YAY

[h264]

...don't know what that means but YAY

Look up the "Schiit Asgard" sometime. An excellent example.

[ShearMe]

I thin kthe original question was: "Why do they advertise 600 ohm headphone amp when most headphones are around 30 ohms?"

 

Well, that's just plain ole marketing to consumers who don't know any better. Notice how every manufacturer makes it a bullet point on their product pages now-a-days.