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Interface hack, for head sets (Cans)

novaburst

Senior Member
Hi all

I am going to upgrading my headset, and have been considering head sets of around 300ohms not to much of an expert on this but would like to avoid a double whammy as the head sets of this sort to me are pretty pricey but does the amp need to be pricey too is my question or can i get away with the middle of the road and still get a high quality sound for mixing.


Thanks for your help
 
you don't need any fancy headphone amp for this.
Just an adequate audio interface.
I used 600 Ohm DT880s for many years and most interfaces above the 'beginner' price threshold were perfectly fine (think MOTU, RME, Apogee, etc.). The focusrite scarlet 2i2 was inadequate, for example.

Now I'm using 300 Ohm (Senny HD800s) and haven't really found an interface that couldn't drive it adequately.
If your interface cost more than $300, you're probably fine.
 
If your interface cost more than $300, you're probably fine

That is just it my interface is not a high end one.

I do read a lot that head phones of this type do sound great with out additional amperage but will sound better using an extra amp, esp low end.

its good news anyway because i would rather spend less but later i would be gutted if i knew the cans could sound much better with an additional amp.
 
Ok i take i can relax and not get to excited wondering about a headphone amp,

Thanks for that i guess i can save a bit of cash :)
 
rule of thumb: The Source Impedance output value should be way less than the Speaker/Headpones Impedance (which is not constant, watch the Impedance curve);
else the amplifier voltage drops heavily and the output might be distorted and also the "Amp" (an Op Amp usually) gets hot (BAD!).
f.i. Amp min output impedance is 30 Ohms, you can use anything bigger than 30 Ohms even 300 Ohms.
 
So just would like to say thanks for all the advice, and also would like to share a little hack for our interface.

Must say i was a little worried when i upgraded to a higher impedance headphones but the interface did handle the volumes demand, in saying that i still felt that i could get a little more from the Cans being that they are 300 ohms.

I started looking around for a head phone amp but found for a good one the cost was a bit much, so my hack was to get a little mini audio mixer https://www.gak.co.uk/en/alto-zmx52...xCPvhY3WAAx3RN4r_XhoC_ZIQAvD_BwE&gclsrc=aw.ds

i found it is very good for a headphone amp and makes the phones sound very full
 
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