Question Is my amp high enough power for my headphones?

[Gordon Lamb]

I recently bought some Audiophile headphones on Amazon. Not knowing much I read as many reviews as I could to see if they were decent or not. I went with BeyerDynamic DT 880 600 Ohms. After seeing they're pretty decent I went ahead and bought them. I also saw that some people were getting the FiiO e10k amp + DAC for it. Amazon itself was selling them as a mix combo so I went ahead and bought it. Recently though someone told me my amp won't have enough power to let my headphones run free. I've tried to figure out if they do or not, but it's still a bit confusing for me. Could anyone help me out? I appreciate any help given. Thanks

Also if they aren't powerful enough, how can I tell if an amp will be or not so I can choose a better one to use.

 

[Dunlop0078]

Well you bought a set with very very high impedance, something to look into next time you buy headphones. There is a 32ohm version of that set which is much easier to drive.

To answer your question i'm sure they will get loud enough on high gain with the E10K, but ideally you would want a more powerful amp that will get them good and loud with less gain. The difference between a Fiio E10K and a more powerful amp say a schiit asgard or something like that is likely only something a trained ear would notice. I wouldn't worry they will still sound good.

Here is a link to the amp in the E10K. I couldn't tell you how to figure out what it's capabilities are in terms of driving headphones.

http://www.ti.com/product/LMH6643

 

[Deleted member 217926]

Do the headphones get loud enough for you? If yes then that amp is powerful enough. Can higher end amps and DAC change the sound?....Yes but it's small. It's up to you if it's worth going down that rabbit hole.

Now there are headphones that require huge amounts of power to sound right. The Fostex T50 and its associated mods come to mind. But they're planar magnetic.

I've never heard that the DT880s scale with better equipment. If you had an HD6xx/HD650 then yes I'd recommend a better setup but their ability to scale with better equipment is legendary.

To go 'better' than the E10K you're looking at an O2/ODAC ( or Massdrop O2/SDAC ) a Schiit stack ( Modi/Magni ) or various others in the $150-$300 range.

 

[Gordon Lamb]

Thanks. I don't know if they're loud enough yet or not. Haven't gotten the amp yet in the mail. I figured if they weren't going to be good enough I could cancel the order and just get a different set. Good to know they'll be alright. You say the difference will be minimal. How small of a difference? Will it be noticeable if I get a better amp? Does it just change the volume of the headphones and not the quality?

 

[Gordon Lamb]

Came in the mail and I just realized something. The jack for the headphones is too big for the amp I bought....

 

[Deleted member 217926]

The headphones are hardwired with a 6.3mm - 1/4" male and the amp has a 3.5mm - 1/8" female. You need an adapter. On the high end would be something like this that gives you a lot of flexibility and isn't going to strain any connections:

https://www.amazon.com/Sennheiser-Cable-Adapter-Female-6-3mm/dp/B008JGWY2Y

And if you just want to go cheap:

https://www.amazon.com/Monoprice-3-...coding=UTF8&psc=1&refRID=7TRQTCWVN125WBNA2100

 

[Deleted member 217926]

Actually every pair I've ever bought came with an adapter. You sure the 880s didn't?

 

[Gordon Lamb]

Yea the 1/4'' unscrewed into a 1/8'' inch. Felt foolish there for a second.

 

[Deleted member 217926]

Thanks. I don't know if they're loud enough yet or not. Haven't gotten the amp yet in the mail. I figured if they weren't going to be good enough I could cancel the order and just get a different set. Good to know they'll be alright. You say the difference will be minimal. How small of a difference? Will it be noticeable if I get a better amp? Does it just change the volume of the headphones and not the quality?

This is quite headphone dependent. My HD600 and HD650 absolutely keep scaling with better stuff. That also means more power in my case. 1.7w of Class A power through the balanced connection of my Aune X7 is pretty amazing from both. They both are also supposedly magical with a tube amp which I don't have yet so that's more to look forward to.

My Fostex TH-X00s don't really seem to care what you drive them with. Any difference in amps is subtle with maybe a tad more sub bass with more power.

The Elear likes the warm Class A. I need to get a balanced cable for it. The X7S only puts out 1w through the 1/4" vs 1.7w balanced.

Yea the 1/4'' unscrewed into a 1/8'' inch. Felt foolish there for a second.