Just got my HiFiMan Edition X's today, why do I need to turn the volume up on amp 10% more than my HD 650s to get same volume

[Profoundsoup]

So I got the HiFiMan Edition X's today after looking for a good pair of planars I settled on them. They are amazingly comfortable but one thing is bothering me, why do I need to put way more power into them than my 650's to get the same volume level. On my Beyerdynamic A20 I need to have to have the nob at 12 o clock to get the same amount of volume as my 650s have at 10 o clock. I thought planars I supposed to be way more efficient and can be drove by pretty much anything. Im trying just to figure out if there is something wrong with my cans or not. It makes 0 sense that 25 ohm headphones need to be played louder than 300 ohm headphones....

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it's not the resistance that determines that, it's sensitivity 

[Profoundsoup]

Just now, Ryan_Vickers said:

it's not the resistance that determines that, it's sensitivity 

So the HD 650's are that much more sensitive than planars??? 

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Just now, Profoundsoup said:

So the HD 650's are that much more sensitive than planars??? 

It would seems so, but I'm trying to check specs now

[NoobCase]

Because ohms is not the only thing defining how hard a pair of Cans is to drive I'm told.

 

and... is it really a problem? If you can play them loud enough as is?

 

 

[Profoundsoup]

1 minute ago, NoobCase said:

Because ohms is not the only thing defining how hard a pair of Cans is to drive I'm told.

 

and... is it really a problem? If you can play them loud enough as is?

 

 

 

I just trying to figure out if I have defective headphones. The fact that the planar headphones take that much more power to get the same volume level doesnt really make sense to me 

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2 minutes ago, Profoundsoup said:

So the HD 650's are that much more sensitive than planars??? 

to update, they both seem to claim 103 dB (which would be "per mW" @ 1 mW most likely, to the best of my knowledge), so, while it's not the difference I was expecting, it does make more sense than the 300 to 25 ohm comparison, since if that was true, the new ones would be more than 10x louder.

[Profoundsoup]

Just now, Ryan_Vickers said:

to update, they both seem to claim 103 dB (which would be "per mW" @ 1 mW most likely, to the best of my knowledge), so, while it's not the difference I was expecting, it does make more sense than the 300 to 25 ohm comparison, since if that was true, the new ones would be more than 10x louder.

 

Exactly, so I shouldnt have to increase the volume that much to get the same volume level....Something is off I feel 

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Just now, Profoundsoup said:

Exactly, so I shouldnt have to increase the volume that much to get the same volume level....Something is off I feel 

Well it doesn't sound like you do frankly.  You said you have to turn it up a bit more... not crank it from 1/10 to 10/10

[NoobCase]

1 minute ago, Profoundsoup said:

I just trying to figure out if I have defective headphones. The fact that the planar headphones take that much more power to get the same volume level doesnt really make sense to me 

Guess that's fair enough considering the price of the edition X

[Profoundsoup]

1 minute ago, Ryan_Vickers said:

Well it doesn't sound like you do frankly.  You said you have to turn it up a bit more... not crank it from 1/10 to 10/10

Going from 10 o clock to 12 o clock on a powerful amp like the A20 is a huge difference in volume. If I played at 12 o clock on my 650's id die...

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Just now, Profoundsoup said:

Going from 10 o clock to 12 o clock on a powerful amp like the A20 is a huge difference in volume. If I played at 12 o clock on my 650's id die...

Hm... well maybe someone has personal experience with these who can attest to what the typical volume difference would be.  I understand obviously that you want ot make sure they're not defective for that price.

 

@SSL @Dackzy

[Dackzy]

oh this is quite simple, your amp has more power around 300 Ohm than it has around 25 Ohm.

Your amp can output 170mW at 250 Ohm, while only 150 mW at 30 Ohm, I suspect that it is even less at 25 Ohm. So it makes sense that you need to turn your amp up. 

[Profoundsoup]

2 minutes ago, Dackzy said:

oh this is quite simple, your amp has more power around 300 Ohm than it has around 25 Ohm.

Your amp can output 170mW at 250 Ohm, while only 150 mW at 30 Ohm, I suspect that it is even less at 25 Ohm. So it makes sense that you need to turn your amp up. 

 

 

Interesting....So is that a good or bad thing as far as getting the best sound quality?

[Pomfinator]

3 minutes ago, Profoundsoup said:

Interesting....So is that a good or bad thing as far as getting the best sound quality?

It's actually a very strange number.  A solid-state usually provides it's max current at the lowest possible impedance, while your amp acts more like an OTL tube amp. It shouldn't effect anything, just weird. 

[Dackzy]

Just now, Profoundsoup said:

Interesting....So is that a good or bad thing? 

well, your amp is a bit weird in how the power rating goes but other than that it doesn't really matter. You can power your headphones as long as you just turn it up a bit more.

[Profoundsoup]

Just now, Dackzy said:

well, your amp is a bit weird in how the power rating goes but other than that it doesn't really matter. You can power your headphones as long as you just turn it up a bit more.

Hmmmm I was considering getting the  Audeze Deckard to just replace most of my bulky amp setup since it has 3 gain options and RCA out. Ahh one more thing, is it best to run headphones like this at a higher gain then turn the volume up slightly or low gain and turn the volume up more?

[Dackzy]

Just now, Profoundsoup said:

Hmmmm I was considering getting the  Audeze Deckard to just replace most of my bulky amp setup since it has 3 gain options and RCA out. Ahh one more thing, is it best to run headphones like this at a higher gain then turn the volume up slightly or low gain and turn the volume up more?

 

low gain for edition X and high gain for HD 650.

I don't really know the Audeze Deckard and they don't give you that many specs other than it is a powerful amp, but that doesn't really say much.

[SSL]

I'm too lazy to read this thread so I may repeat some things.

 

Pretty much no amp topology out there puts out the same amount of power into all possible loads. It's possible that the A20 puts out less power into low impedance. This would make sense since it is probably optimized for the high impedance Beyerdynamic cans.

 

Other than that, I have no ideas. The Edition X is much more sensitive than the HD 650.