Comments on: What is a Headphone Amp and why do we need them?

By: Bill Kilpatrick

Bill Kilpatrick — Mon, 20 Feb 2023 12:43:03 +0000

Great info! Maybe more than a novice really needs. Some headphones are easy to power off of just about anything. Those are the ones with high sensitivity. Others require a little help from a low-wattage amp. Others require a lot of help from a high-wattage amp.

The two factors most often looked at are the impedance and the SPL/sensitivity. A headphone with a lower impedance (Ohms) and a higher sensitivity (dB) is easier to run; one with a higher impedance and a lower sensitivity is harder to run.

Some headphones don’t need any help at all. Grados, with their 32 Ohm drivers and a sensitivity of 99.8 dB, can run off of anything.

Some headphones could use a little help. The Sennheiser HD600 (300 Ohms/97 dB) is functional on its own but not very loud. You’re never going to hear it at its best without an amplifier. On the other hand, you don’t need much amplification to get excellent results from it. A small, portable amp will suffice. Even so, this headphone scales with better, more powerful amps.

Some headphones need a lot of wattage. You can run them without an amp but you’ll only get a fraction of the performance without a high-wattage amp. Even a modest amp will make them louder but you still won’t hear everything they’re capable of unless you pair them with an amp with some serious muscle.

The HiFiMan Susvara has an impedance of only 60 Ohm, so you’d think it would be easier to run than an HD600. But its sensitivity is 83 dB. You can hear it on your MacBook Pro but you won’t know why you spent $6,000. You can pair it with a lot of amps and still not get more than a fraction of its performance. The Ferrum Oor, on the other hand, outputs 8 watts per channel, enough to handle the Susvara and the Abyss AB-1266 (50 Ohm/88 dB), another tricky headphone to power.

Most headphones don’t need that much wattage, especially your first set of headphones. The HiFiMan Sundara, for example, is easily powered at 37 Ohms/94 dB. It will function without an amp but at limited volume and fulness. Still, a small amp will get you there, which is one of several reasons it provides great bang for the buck.

By: Stefan Wyeth

Stefan Wyeth — Mon, 20 Feb 2023 12:41:23 +0000

In reply to Cynthia Hodges. Hi there, perhaps consult your local audiologist before getting recommendations from anyone else.

By: Cynthia Hodges

Cynthia Hodges — Mon, 20 Feb 2023 12:33:25 +0000

hello,I how do I get the headphone amp,with headphone I want listen to music on the go.im deafness in both ear i wear hearaids for sound i read lip.please I been try find one ,

By: Diki Ross

Diki Ross — Mon, 20 Feb 2023 03:11:46 +0000

One thing nearly all headphone amps lack is any form of EQ. There are a few scenarios where a little extra bass or something like that if you’re using in ears that might be a little light at the bottom. You don’t want to tubby up your main outs, just compensate at the headphone out.

The fact is, not all headphones are flat. A switchable EQ section is sorely missing…

By: Robert Ryan

Robert Ryan — Mon, 20 Feb 2023 00:50:16 +0000

I use the RNHP in my studio as a gold standard. that paid with a pair of hd600 is how that audio sounds good sure. for fun hifi listening I use a balanced little bear tube headphone amp

By: Peter Klein

Peter Klein — Sun, 19 Feb 2023 15:49:39 +0000

Every headphone amplifier has some additional features that nobody really needs. Obviously, these additional functions are only built in to distract from the essentials. And what is the essential? I believe essentially that you don’t need any headphone amp at all. Even not when mastering anyway, because if you want to master with headphones, you probably have to know that this is not possible at all. Otherwise, you only need multiple outputs for multiple monitors, e.g. A typical multi headphone amplifier, which would also make sense to supply several band members with their own volume. But as a single supply to only one listener I see no use in it.