Powering headphones from sound card

Marsman

Marsman

Marsman

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I am considering buying some decent headphones to use with my Creative X-Fi, but in another thread DanF's comment about the Auzentech X-Mystique not being able to drive his AKG k702's concerns me somewhat. I can understand the Senn 650's requiring a sound card with a headphone amp as the impedence is quite high with those phones, but the k702's have an impedence of 64ohm, do they not? I would have thought they would be relatively easy to drive. Also iHeadphones have the k702's down as iPod compatible. Can't quite fathom how an iPod can drive them and a decent sound card can't, dedicated amp or not. Unless DanF really likes to blast sound from his phones that would make other peoples ear drums explode :D

I was looking to spend £50-£60, but I could stretch to £80 for that bit more quality. I have been looking at Senn 555, and possibly Denon D1001 at the max limit I could spend at £90. Maybe there are some others that can be suggested to me. These would only be for home use, and music only.

I have thought maybe any potentially decent headphones I get might be better than my X-Fi's capability. If that is the case, I could always get a Xonar STX/ST or similar in the future.

Thoughts would be welcome. :)
 
An iPod can't drive them.
AKGs are well known to be power hungry, the 701s and 702s may just be the most power hungry headphones you can buy.

Look here if you want to know which cans need amps: http://www.head-fi.org/forums/f4/headphone-buyers-guide-271258/

If you don't want to use an amp look towards Audio Technicas, they'll run on a tiny amount of power. Though their bass is a bit light if you're just listening to music.
Goldring DR150s would be an obvious choice and would allow you to save a good deal of cash.
Grados SR-60s and SR-80s are also an option if you're just going to listen to them around the house (very open back).
 
Marsman said:
Unless DanF really likes to blast sound from his phones that would make other peoples ear drums explode :D
Click to expand...

I actually have pretty sensitive hearing and listen to headphones at low levels. My house mate will literally double the volume when he tries the same headphones on :o as markop2003 says the k702's are meant to be very hard to drive, much harder than the specs suggest so it's always worth doing some research on the particular headphones that you would like to use. To give you an example I usually use a set of ultimate ear superfi 5's with a sony 8gb mp3 player, the UE's need about 7/8 out of 30 volume to get a good sound level, the k702's need over 17 for the same level where the internal amp is really struggling and the sound starts to fall apart.

Maybe have a look around for a local hifi or electronics store that you could have a look at some headphone. I'd been searching for weeks wondering what combo to start with, reading other peoples opinions and wondering if I'd prefer the same style. I just happened to pop in to a shop half way up Tottenham Court Road in London one lunchtime and found they had a great range in stock including most Sennhiser/AKG/Goldring/Grados that most would look at buying. They let me demo the HD650's K702's and SR325i's for about half an hour back to back. Once I'd decided on the headphones I just did some research with google and on head-fi to make sure the STX would sound pretty good with them.

There's a whole bunch of headphones that are meant to sound really good but are easier to drive, like the goldring 150's (work mate uses them and loves them), HD595's etc. They would probably be a better match for the x-fi.
 
Cool, thanks for the post Dan. :)

Unfortunately I live in the sticks. The local electronics stores idea of headphones are cheap £3 tin pot things. :p To get to a store that sells any credible headphones would mean a 60 mile drive, and even then it's only the likes of Dixons. Richer Sounds for eg is well over 100 miles.

I know what you mean about sensitive hearing. Friend of mine murders his ears with his Senn HD25's. I get a headache if the bass is too much. I don't how low my stereo speakers go in terms of frequency, but on some tunes the bass can get too much for me, and I have to turn it down somewhat. Sadly my stereo is not so advanced as to have bass control. At least with the X-Fi I can preserve my hearing somewhat by reducing the bass a bit :D

Gotta love the net, I'd be pretty much fudged in this instance without all the knowledge and forums available. Last pair of full size phones I bought were Sony, and if I knew then what I know now, I would have avoided them. Luckily they were 2nd hand, and I didnt pay a great deal for them. Sony can make some good stuff, but they also make their fair amount of crap too :p

Good call on the GR DR150's there Dan. I did see someeone mention that the 100's were better than their price suggests, and the 150's look decent value at £60 from hifiheadphones. Although the buyers guide on Head-fi suggests an amp for those. Still another pair to consider. Might see if I can find any info on anyone that has tried them with a soundcard without an amp, see how they perform.
 
I'm running Some Goldring DR150s directly out of my SB Audigy 2 ZS and they sound nice. :) They are quite shrill at first, after a few days of burn in this should be gone. Sometimes there's a tiny sound of distortion in the left, this may be my hearing though...
 
Cheers Monkeynut. :)

I heard some peoples comments who had the 100's they were a bit shrill, possibly they commented before they gave the chance to loosen up. Probably nearly all quality phones need to be loosened up a bit with some burn in. Sounds good though, good to know they would be a good choice without worrying about needing an amp for them.
 
Think it's come to a choice between the Senn 555's and the Goldring DR150's, both seem to be availble for £60-£70. There are the Shure SRH440 at £62 from iHeadphones which look interesting, some favourable comments. Someone prefered them to the Senn 555's, but thats only 1 comment. No comments in comparison to the Goldring's.

But, the Sony's I have bake my ears after a time, and they are closed. So probably best to choose between the open pairs.
 
Marsman said:
Think it's come to a choice between the Senn 555's and the Goldring DR150's, both seem to be availble for £60-£70. There are the Shure SRH440 at £62 from iHeadphones which look interesting, some favourable comments. Someone prefered them to the Senn 555's, but thats only 1 comment. No comments in comparison to the Goldring's.

But, the Sony's I have bake my ears after a time, and they are closed. So probably best to choose between the open pairs.
Click to expand...

If you want comfort then get the Senns. I haven't used the 555's (too low end for me) but they appear to have the same comfy velour as the more expensive models.
 
I have been reading a thread on Headfi dedicated to the Goldring's, and many people have been saying how great they are for their price. This had convinced me to go for the GR's, but then I saw some questions over biuld quality. Some peoples headband has broken just from general use.

Most comments where people have tried Senn's 555 and the Goldring's think the DR150's are better. A few favoured the 555's, but most were in favour of the DR150's. A lot seemed to agree that the Senn's had the better build and comfort for those with larger ears due to larger phones.

Some people did manage to get them for £30. For that price, I would buy them regardless if the headband ends up breaking after a couple of years. But of lot of people on Headfi buy new headphones like women buy new shoes. :p Many buy a new pair of phones just to see what they sound. If I am to buy some phones for £60-70, I would want them to last me.

Think the Senn 555's might be a better choice all things considered. To anybody that has the 555's, do soundcards with no amp drive them well enough?
 
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