Good afternoon ASR,
Goal: Calculate highest theoretical headphone loudness for a given AMP volume pot setting (assuming the source is maxed out), i.e 30% in low gain mode on an AMP.
I am trying to get my head around headphone calculations in regards to peak SPL at differing volume levels on the amplifier.
Headphones: Sennheiser HD 600
Impedance: 300
SPL: 97dB (1V)
DAC/AMP: Aoshida Audio SMSL C200
Headphone output power: 2.6Wx2 into 16ohm and 1.3Wx2 intro 32ohm
Low gain mode: 0dB
Dynamic range: 123dB
So I have run into a few issues, there is no descriptor for headphone output power into 300ohms and I am unsure if it is possible to reliably calculate this. Amir's review of the SMSL C200 shows "Power versus distortion using 300ohm load" which states a max power of 153 milliwatts in high gain mode, but I use low gain. Even if I had the power into 300ohm I am still unsure if/how I could calculate peak potential loudness for a given volume setting of 30% for instance.
Is there anyway with the provided information to calculate a theoretical peak loudness with the SMSL C200 AMP set to 30% in low gain mode with the HD 600? If you are wondering why I am asking such an oddly specific request I had a noise incident in late October and have no reliable way of calculating the 'worst case scenario'. I generally max out my audio on the source and then set loudness with the amp, in a scenario where the source is blasting something as loud as it possibly can I would imagine the AMP would have the final say with peak loudness as if the power isn't there it will not be represented. If specifics are impossible then my only query would be, is upwards of 110db possible on the SMSL C200 at the 30% mark in low gain achievable if the source is boosted enough? Any misconceptions I have around this that can be cleared up would also be much appreciated as math was never my strong suit.
I have noticed for instance that Spotify maxed out is always louder than YouTube maxed out, likely due to compression which I have disabled in Spotify. This being the case could any application theoretically have drastically differing volume levels despite still being 'maxed out' and how loud could this go at a given setting... i.e 30% on the specified AMP? People who typically have 'blast' incidents maxed out the volume pot accidently or hooked up to the wrong line out, this wasnt the case with me it was the usual 24-30% setting on the AMP which works for almost everything just fine but this singular application however came out absurdly loud and it has me worried that I will not be able to control for this in future as the Windows sound limiter is bypassed with external DAC's.
If any of this seems unclear or its an impossible ask totally get it, I had no luck so thought I would ask prior to forgetting about it.
Thanks for reading and your time,
Goal: Calculate highest theoretical headphone loudness for a given AMP volume pot setting (assuming the source is maxed out), i.e 30% in low gain mode on an AMP.
I am trying to get my head around headphone calculations in regards to peak SPL at differing volume levels on the amplifier.
Headphones: Sennheiser HD 600
Impedance: 300
SPL: 97dB (1V)
DAC/AMP: Aoshida Audio SMSL C200
Headphone output power: 2.6Wx2 into 16ohm and 1.3Wx2 intro 32ohm
Low gain mode: 0dB
Dynamic range: 123dB
So I have run into a few issues, there is no descriptor for headphone output power into 300ohms and I am unsure if it is possible to reliably calculate this. Amir's review of the SMSL C200 shows "Power versus distortion using 300ohm load" which states a max power of 153 milliwatts in high gain mode, but I use low gain. Even if I had the power into 300ohm I am still unsure if/how I could calculate peak potential loudness for a given volume setting of 30% for instance.
Is there anyway with the provided information to calculate a theoretical peak loudness with the SMSL C200 AMP set to 30% in low gain mode with the HD 600? If you are wondering why I am asking such an oddly specific request I had a noise incident in late October and have no reliable way of calculating the 'worst case scenario'. I generally max out my audio on the source and then set loudness with the amp, in a scenario where the source is blasting something as loud as it possibly can I would imagine the AMP would have the final say with peak loudness as if the power isn't there it will not be represented. If specifics are impossible then my only query would be, is upwards of 110db possible on the SMSL C200 at the 30% mark in low gain achievable if the source is boosted enough? Any misconceptions I have around this that can be cleared up would also be much appreciated as math was never my strong suit.
I have noticed for instance that Spotify maxed out is always louder than YouTube maxed out, likely due to compression which I have disabled in Spotify. This being the case could any application theoretically have drastically differing volume levels despite still being 'maxed out' and how loud could this go at a given setting... i.e 30% on the specified AMP? People who typically have 'blast' incidents maxed out the volume pot accidently or hooked up to the wrong line out, this wasnt the case with me it was the usual 24-30% setting on the AMP which works for almost everything just fine but this singular application however came out absurdly loud and it has me worried that I will not be able to control for this in future as the Windows sound limiter is bypassed with external DAC's.
If any of this seems unclear or its an impossible ask totally get it, I had no luck so thought I would ask prior to forgetting about it.
Thanks for reading and your time,