Audient ID4 MKII with planar like Hifiman HE400SE?

[declider]

Hi! First of all, I’m glad to leave my first message here! I’ve been reading this forum for a while now.
And I have a nooby question because there’s just too much new info for me:


I have an Audient ID4 MKII audio interface. It’s all good, except the headphone output has a high impedance (22 Ω), but I didn’t know about that because all I’ve heard were praises about its headphone output.
And i want to buy Hifiman HE400SE planar headphones, which I recently learned more about.


Here’s where my confusion starts and what I’ve read online:

• "HE400SE is planar, and even with its low impedance, it’s really hard to drive to its full potential."
• "Audient is strong and can drive headphones up to 600 Ω."
• "Audient ID4 MKII has a 22 Ω headphone output; it’s very bad for low-impedance headphones."
• "Planar headphones, especially Hifiman HE400SE, have an almost flat impedance frequency response, so high-impedance headphone outputs are not that bad."
• "Planar headphones still won’t reach their full potential; they are REALLY hard to drive because they are planars with low sensitivity. Buy 150+ Ω headphones."
• "Their sensitivity isn’t THAT bad, and Audient is strong, so no problem—just look how good it sounds in Julian Krause’s video."
• "Yeah, but with such a low impedance difference, bass damping will still be high, and planars will never sound full even if they’re loud. Impedance always matters; buy an external amp."

After reading all of that, I feel lost. Of course, these are probably just opinions—some right, some wrong—but I’ve never had experience with anything like this, so I can’t tell for sure, is the Audient ID4 MKII without an external amp is at least enough good for any planar headphones like Hifiman HE400SE?


Some specs:
Hifiman HE400SE (and review):
- Impedance: 25Ω (or 32Ω?),
- Sensitivity: 91dB


Audient ID4 MKII (and review):

LINEUP:	18dBu = 0dBFS
THD+N @ -1dBFS:	0.0009%
DYNAMIC RANGE:	125.5dB A-Weighted
CROSSTALK:	>116dB
FREQUENCY RESPONSE:	±0.1dB 10Hz to 40kHz
MAXIMUM LEVEL @ 30R:	2.59V Peak, 1.827V RMS, 223mW
MAXIMUM LEVEL @ 62R:	4.18V Peak, 2.95V RMS, 280mW
MAXIMUM LEVEL @ 600R:	7.72V Peak, 5.46V RMS, 100mW
1/4” TRS JACK:	Tip (Left), Ring (Right) & Sleeve (Shield)
Impedance	22Ohms

 

[AnalogSteph]

So, since you say you have both, do the cans go plenty loud enough in this combination without any obvious distortion? Should be fine then.

I mean, it's not an ideal combo... I can't imagine that those 22 ohm series resistors are all that large. Maybe 1/4 W tops, if that. In practice, the crest factor of actual music is going to keep average power down and thus likely make this a non-issue anyway.

 

[declider]

So, since you say you have both

No, i don't have those headphones right now, and want to buy it. Didn't mention it in original post, my bad, gonna edit it.

In practice, the crest factor of actual music is going to keep average power down

Could this affect the sound quality, not just the volume?