I'm not sure I'm an audio beginner, but I have a question for the more expert members of the forum: what is the different between current-mode and voltage-mode amplification, and what are the advantages of each for driving transducers (particularly headphones) and line-level signals?
I've read the Wikipedia article and some marketing literature on the subject, and none of it has advanced my understanding very far.
Current-mode amplification seems to be used only in certain line-level devices (for instance, the Krell CAST technology and the similar Audio-gd technology) and headphone amplifiers (for instance, the Questyle headphone amps). I understand the desirability of low output impedance in amplification devices, and this is one of the reasons I use a Devialet amp, which has very low output impedance, in my second system to drive passive speakers.
I'm interested in this question in the context of headphones, as I have a pair of HifiMan HE-560s, for which the Mytek 192-DSD seems not to have enough juice.
Thank you to ASR's technical experts in advance.
I've read the Wikipedia article and some marketing literature on the subject, and none of it has advanced my understanding very far.
Current-mode amplification seems to be used only in certain line-level devices (for instance, the Krell CAST technology and the similar Audio-gd technology) and headphone amplifiers (for instance, the Questyle headphone amps). I understand the desirability of low output impedance in amplification devices, and this is one of the reasons I use a Devialet amp, which has very low output impedance, in my second system to drive passive speakers.
I'm interested in this question in the context of headphones, as I have a pair of HifiMan HE-560s, for which the Mytek 192-DSD seems not to have enough juice.
Thank you to ASR's technical experts in advance.