Headphone input impedance?

[ryan6627]

How does impedance affect the sound levels of a headset? I see a headset I'm considering to purchase has 32 ohms of headphone input impedance; why does it matter and should I get a headset with a higher impedance? If it helps, I'm just going to be using my headset for PC gaming and nothing more.

 

[TG_thoMz]

30-50 ohms is the normal range for most headphone/headsets and would work fine with onboard audio. In fact most gaming headsets fall into this range. Higher-end headphones can carry higher impedance of even 200-400 ohms

 

[ssddx]

as far as sound levels are concered... that depends on the source driving them.

for instance if you try to use a 300ohm headphone set with a standard pc sound card you may get no more sound than a whisper while a 32ohm headset would be deafening. keep in mind that sensitivity also has alot to do with this. higher sensitivity headphones are easier to drive than less sensitive ones one the same wattage.

in general: headphones above a certain ohm rating might need an amplifier while headphones in 30-50 range can be driven by just about anything.

generally your better performing headphones are higher ohm rated. for instance a dt770 in 250ohm sounds better than the 80 sounds better than the 32. however this isnt always true and there may be cases of lower ohm headphones being better than higher ohm models.

my studio headphones (audiotechncia ath-m50) are only 38 ohm and sound fine. they can also be driven by just about anything. so your 32 ohm isnt going to have any problems. also keep in mind most gaming headsets arent high ohm rated.

unless you decide to get a pair of nice studio headphone (like the dt770 250) which are a notable improvement over gaming headsets and also use a seperate mice i wouldnt worry too much about it.

 

[ryan6627]

as far as sound levels are concered... that depends on the source driving them.

for instance if you try to use a 300ohm headphone set with a standard pc sound card you may get no more sound than a whisper while a 32ohm headset would be deafening. keep in mind that sensitivity also has alot to do with this. higher sensitivity headphones are easier to drive than less sensitive ones one the same wattage.

in general: headphones above a certain ohm rating might need an amplifier while headphones in 30-50 range can be driven by just about anything.

generally your better performing headphones are higher ohm rated. for instance a dt770 in 250ohm sounds better than the 80 sounds better than the 32. however this isnt always true and there may be cases of lower ohm headphones being better than higher ohm models.

my studio headphones (audiotechncia ath-m50) are only 38 ohm and sound fine. they can also be driven by just about anything. so your 32 ohm isnt going to have any problems. also keep in mind most gaming headsets arent high ohm rated.

unless you decide to get a pair of nice studio headphone (like the dt770 250) which are a notable improvement over gaming headsets and also use a seperate mice i wouldnt worry too much about it.

Thanks bro! That's the best answer I've seen about this topic. And since you're a moderator, I'd like to tell you that I didn't double post on purpose; I thought it was some sort of weird normal thing to have to post the topic and the question itself twice

 

[ssddx]

there are a few other headphone threads floating about you might want to look into (this same /computer peripherals/ directory)

if you click the button twice double threads can happen. its even possible to double, triple or quadruple post if the servers are lagging. dont sweat it. we typically delete them as we see them since the majority are accidental.

if you need any more recommendations or advice you might want to actually list what equipment you were considering and what your budget is.

 

[ryan6627]

there are a few other headphone threads floating about you might want to look into (this same /computer peripherals/ directory)

if you click the button twice double threads can happen. its even possible to double, triple or quadruple post if the servers are lagging. dont sweat it. we typically delete them as we see them since the majority are accidental.

if you need any more recommendations or advice you might want to actually list what equipment you were considering and what your budget is.

Trust me, I've done a lot of research since I asked the question I didn't want to spend too much money of a headset (especially because I tend to be more introverted at times) so I broke the headsets into wired and wireless categories:

Wired: Razer Kraken 7.1 Surround Sound USB Over Ear Gaming Headset ,Sennheiser Black HD 280, SteelSeries Siberia V2 (black),

Wireless:Corsair Vengeance 2100

If I go wired, I'm more lenient to the Razer Kraken 7.1, and the CV2100 if I go wireless

 

[ssddx]

another one to add to the wireless category would be the logitech g930. while i've never personally had one i've heard some good things from others on the forums.

those sennheisers look fairly decent and get rave reviews however senns in general tend to be a bit light on bass in most cases. not sure if you care about that.

 

[ryan6627]

another one to add to the wireless category would be the logitech g930. while i've never personally had one i've heard some good things from others on the forums.

those sennheisers look fairly decent and get rave reviews however senns in general tend to be a bit light on bass in most cases. not sure if you care about that.

Thanks for the mention of the G930; I saw that on Newegg but what I didn't see was the battery life of that headset until I visited another site that gave the specs of it (including the 10 hour battery life). The only considerable difference is the size of the drivers, but I think the g930 is worth the $105 rather than $130 for the 2100