Volume question between earphones

[rfcokilljoy]

Hi, I have two pairs of earphones that I use. The Shure se215's and also the generic AKG pair that came with my s9+

 

Se215's have an impendance of 17ohms, and sensitivity of 107db spl/mw

 

AKG S9 earphones have an impendance of 32ohms and sensitivity of 93.2db spl/mw

 

How come the AKG earphones are so much louder than the Shure pair? Am I imagining it? Are they just more piercing? The Shure pair have a much better seal in my ear as well. I thought that the lower impendance should make the Shure pair louder. They strike me as a little quiet tbh.

 

I listen through my s9+'s headphone jack and my motherboard audio (Asus Strix z270h) if that info is relevant.

[emosun]

the cheaper headphones might be overly loud becuase they aren't designed very well.

[rfcokilljoy]

2 minutes ago, emosun said:

the cheaper headphones might be overly loud becuase they aren't designed very well.

Samsung sell the AKG earphones for around the same price as the Se215's (they're said to be overpriced but still good?)

[emosun]

i see the akg headphones for under 10$ vs the others which look to be around 100

[rfcokilljoy]

23 minutes ago, emosun said:

i see the akg headphones for under 10$ vs the others which look to be around 100

Indeed. You can buy them split off from the phone for very cheap. (That's why I've bought about 6 pairs of them every time they damn well break). But from Samsung directly they are much more expensive.

[EsaT]

Are you sure about specs of those generic AKGs?

There simply shouldn't be any way for them to be louder with halved current and power draw for same output voltage.

 

Now maybe Samsung might have some kind impedance detection lowering gain and output voltage per volume setting...

But now sure if that motherboard would have anything like that.

[rfcokilljoy]

1 hour ago, EsaT said:

Are you sure about specs of those generic AKGs?

There simply shouldn't be any way for them to be louder with halved current and power draw for same output voltage.

 

Now maybe Samsung might have some kind impedance detection lowering gain and output voltage per volume setting...

But now sure if that motherboard would have anything like that.

Those are the specs on the Samsung website yeah! Each earphone has two drivers so I didn't think they were unreasonable specs. But I agree with you, and am just as confused

[kokakolia]

15 hours ago, rfcokilljoy said:

Indeed. You can buy them split off from the phone for very cheap. (That's why I've bought about 6 pairs of them every time they damn well break). But from Samsung directly they are much more expensive.

There are so many fake S8/S9 headphones out there. You don’t really know what you’re getting, unless you’re buying from Samsung. 

 

 

[xtroria]

It's due to the sensitivity of db spl / mW. The resistance combined with the sensitivity can tell you how hard it is to drive a headphone.

 

For example, HifiMan HE-6 is one of the most hard to drive headphone amp, typically requiring somewhere around 1W of power. But it only has 50 ohm of resistance. Meanwhile, you probably will blow up a 300 ohm HD600 with 1W pumped into it.

 

Your shure has 107 db spl/mW which is really sensitive while the AKG has 93 db spl/mW which is quite sensitive but not extreme, this is why you don't need as much volume for the shure

[rfcokilljoy]

1 hour ago, xtroria said:

It's due to the sensitivity of db spl / mW. The resistance combined with the sensitivity can tell you how hard it is to drive a headphone.

 

For example, HifiMan HE-6 is one of the most hard to drive headphone amp, typically requiring somewhere around 1W of power. But it only has 50 ohm of resistance. Meanwhile, you probably will blow up a 300 ohm HD600 with 1W pumped into it.

 

Your shure has 107 db spl/mW which is really sensitive while the AKG has 93 db spl/mW which is quite sensitive but not extreme, this is why you don't need as much volume for the shure

Hi, thankyou for your response!! I think I'm getting there understanding ? but could you just explain the last paragraph again? The way I'm reading it makes me still think the Shure ones should be louder as they are more sensitive?

[spwath]

1 hour ago, xtroria said:

It's due to the sensitivity of db spl / mW. The resistance combined with the sensitivity can tell you how hard it is to drive a headphone.

 

For example, HifiMan HE-6 is one of the most hard to drive headphone amp, typically requiring somewhere around 1W of power. But it only has 50 ohm of resistance. Meanwhile, you probably will blow up a 300 ohm HD600 with 1W pumped into it.

 

Your shure has 107 db spl/mW which is really sensitive while the AKG has 93 db spl/mW which is quite sensitive but not extreme, this is why you don't need as much volume for the shure

That would make sense but he said the akg are louder.

[rfcokilljoy]

3 minutes ago, spwath said:

That would make sense but he said the akg are louder.

Is it possible the AKG ones are just more piercing at the high end? Making me want to turn the volume down ? just a difference in sound signature thing? I don't know if I'm going crazy. Maybe the Shure's are just more pleasant to listen to at higher volumes? 

[kokakolia]

14 hours ago, rfcokilljoy said:

Is it possible the AKG ones are just more piercing at the high end? Making me want to turn the volume down ? just a difference in sound signature thing? I don't know if I'm going crazy. Maybe the Shure's are just more pleasant to listen to at higher volumes? 

The Shure would definitely be more pleasant to listen to at high volumes. The highs are softer.