You Dont Need a Headphone Amp

0 Members and 1 Guest are viewing this topic. Read 3885 times.

FullRangeMan

  • Volunteer
  • Posts: 19849
  • To whom more was given more will be required.
    • Never go to a psychiatrist, adopt a straycat or dog. On the street they live only two years average.
You Dont Need a Headphone Amp
« on: 26 Oct 2016, 11:01 am »
Looking for a way to enlarge the soundstage of my HE400(92.5dB/35 Ohms) I try it direct no volume control in the 2V RCA outputs from the CD player Sony SCD1 from 1999, to my surprise the sound was quite loud even w/the balmy smooth Sérénade Mélancolique(Maazel-Kremer) and plenty of new details before unheard.

With pop music as Art of Noise-Box Set Sampler the sound was extreme loud, after afew tracks I get ear fatigue!

So I confirm you dont need headphone amp to drive most headphones, instead you will need a potentiometer to down volume control, I suspect the ideal sound level to listen direct at the RCA outputs with no volume control will be a 90dB headphone as the HE560-45 Ohms, but if you has a CD player with volume control dont sell it.

I will listen other CDs and SACD when time allow to report.
Unfortunately the HE400 soundstage dint expand more than before when feed direct with the RCA outputs, the soundstage had the same size as the PC board with radio and YT music.

Music:
Tschaikowsky: Violin Konzert - Gidon Kremer, Berliner Phil-Maazel DG 400.027-2 1980
Art of Noise: Box Set Sampler ZTT202CD, 2006
« Last Edit: 4 Nov 2016, 04:20 pm by FullRangeMan »

dflee

Re: You Dont Need a Headphone Amp
« Reply #1 on: 26 Oct 2016, 12:48 pm »
Is there such a thing as a 2 RCA to 1/4 plug adapter. I run digital to
a DAC for the stereo so have the RCA outs available. Interesting.

Armaegis

  • Full Member
  • Posts: 858
  • slumming it between headphones and pro audio
Re: You Dont Need a Headphone Amp
« Reply #2 on: 26 Oct 2016, 03:55 pm »
Just because it gets loud doesn't mean you can dismiss headphone amps. All this tells us is that your cd player has buffered analog outputs.

You will also be pooching your damping factor. Admittedly that's hardly a factor with planar headphones, but with any dynamics with impedance peaks you'll be mucking up your frequency response quite badly. Shoving a pot in between for volume will make that even worse.

FullRangeMan

  • Volunteer
  • Posts: 19849
  • To whom more was given more will be required.
    • Never go to a psychiatrist, adopt a straycat or dog. On the street they live only two years average.
Re: You Dont Need a Headphone Amp
« Reply #3 on: 26 Oct 2016, 06:57 pm »
I used generic adaptors $1.50 each :wink: