Dac/amp for very low impedance planar (verum 1)

[ace52387]

I'm considering getting a Verum 1 soon. It seems like it has a very neutral sound signature, and I'm really into the big drivers. I currently have an ATH A900 from decades ago, and I'm using the apple USB-C dongle hooked up to a usb 3.0 adapter, plugged into my PC.

I see that the verum 1 has really low impedance and good sensitivity, am I better off sticking with the USB-C dongle? I'm not looking to spend a ton on both a DAC and amp, if there is a marginal or substantial benefit from using an amp like the JDS atom, magni heresy, magni 3+ or one of the THX AAA amps, what would I be losing out on if I just used the apple dongle as a DAC and hooked the amp to it? Only volume? Suppose I found myself with plenty of volume headroom (like windows volume at 50%) when listening comfortably, are there other notable benefits one of those amps would have over directly connecting the headphone to the apple dongle?

The thing that scares me is the 8 ohm impedance, and I'm worried this might cause some problems with the amps. Which one might be the most suitable to drive a headphone like the verum 1? Would the magni's be the obvious choice since they put more power into lower impedances?

And finally, because the 8 ohm thing is scaring me a bit, are there other clear recommendations at that price besides the verum 1? I'm a little iffy about the Sundaras since they seem quite bright out of the box, and I seem to see a lot of people note the natural sounding timbre on the verum, which seems appealing to me. Are the Sundaras just as good or better than the Verum w/ some EQ?

 

[poimandres]

I too have been reading up on the Verum’s. I believe I read somewhere that Garuspik pairs them with his iPhone 6 or 6s. I have also read that a lot of people pair them with the magni and modi stack. They are a very intriguing headphone for sure.

There is a thread on ASR (room acoustics and general speaker discussions) on the verums.

 

[JohnYang1997]

I don't recommend the magni route. The lower impedance can lead to more severe thermal issue where magni series seems to suffer. It may even slip into thermal runaway and cause catastrophic result.
Heresy is good enough. So is Atom. I have personally measured 8 ohm load on Atom. It's not extremely low distortion but very usable.
THX amps have much more power so they handles low impedance much better.
Don't buy sundara. The new sundara is not the same as when it's firstly released. The 5k peak is worse making it a deal breaker for many.

 

[Frank Dernie]

I have Verum 1 headphones.
I have used them with my laptop and iPad pro and they are fine.
I haven't tried them with a phone, dongle or iPod. If I am using a phone I am more interested in less bulk and inconvenience so use wireless 'phones.
Love the sound, probably the best instrumental timbre I have heard from headphones.
I have also tried them briefly on my RME ADI-2 pro which obviously has no trouble driving them at all.

 

[ace52387]

I don't recommend the magni route. The lower impedance can lead to more severe thermal issue where magni series seems to suffer.

so the heresy would be a bad idea also or just magni 3?

I have also tried them briefly on my RME ADI-2 pro which obviously has no trouble driving them at all.

would you say there is much of a difference off of a high end amp vs the ipad pro?

 

[Frank Dernie]

would you say there is much of a difference off of a high end amp vs the ipad pro?

Not noticeably though I haven't done a level matched blind comparison so only speculation.
There is nothing about the spec which would cause a difference on actual music recordings except maximum loudness.
The iPad doesn't have audible levels of noise and I hear no distortion from it.

 

[sherm137]

I'm using an Atom to drive mine. No issues at all. The headphones can get EXTREMELY loud in low gain.

 

[XeNoNF50]

I have Verum One. It's the set I use when not using either of my Focal Utopia and Focal Stellia. Verum One works great with the SMSL SP200. Drives it with power and clarity.

 

[DilbertPugh]

I don't recommend the magni route. The lower impedance can lead to more severe thermal issue where magni series seems to suffer. It may even slip into thermal runaway and cause catastrophic result.
Heresy is good enough. So is Atom. I have personally measured 8 ohm load on Atom. It's not extremely low distortion but very usable.
THX amps have much more power so they handles low impedance much better.
Don't buy sundara. The new sundara is not the same as when it's firstly released. The 5k peak is worse making it a deal breaker for many.

Hi John,
Don't know if you will see this (clueless new member)! I have a much loved L30/E30 combo - so thank for your valued contribution to my life!
I have bought a Verum 1 headphone, I don't understand the amp issues re. it's 8 ohm/high sensitivity, is my L30 suitable? I've read that the headphone 'scales' very well, will I hear a better result by getting an L50, A30Pro, A90 or should I be looking in a different direction?

 

[DVDdoug]

L30 suitable

Do you have the specs? The specs for the L30 II say >8 Ohms so it's probably OK to interpret that as greater than or equal to 8 Ohms. Plus, it does have very-low source impedance. Which is good... Source impedance should be much less than the load impedance.

The "high sensitivity" is probably related to the low impedance. Resistance and impedance are "the resistance to current". Power (Watts or milliwatts) is a combination of voltage and current, so with the same voltage and lower impedance you get more current and thus power. So as a rule, lower impedance headphones are "louder". But what I don't know is how efficient planars are at converting electrical energy to acoustic energy, compared with regular dynamic headphones.

 

[DilbertPugh]

I don't recommend the magni route. The lower impedance can lead to more severe thermal issue where magni series seems to suffer. It may even slip into thermal runaway and cause catastrophic result.
Heresy is good enough. So is Atom. I have personally measured 8 ohm load on Atom. It's not extremely low distortion but very usable.
THX amps have much more power so they handles low impedance much better.
Don't buy sundara. The new sundara is not the same as when it's firstly released. The 5k peak is worse making it a deal breaker for many.

Hi John,
Don't know if you will see this (clueless new member)! I have a much loved L30/E30 combo - so thank for your valued contribution to my life!
I have bought a Verum 1 headphone, I don't understand the amp issues re. it's 8 ohm/high sensitivity, is my L30 suitable? I've read that the headphone 'scales' very well, will I hear a better result by getting an L50, A30Pro, A90 or should I be looking in a different direction?

 

[DilbertPugh]

Do you have the specs? The specs for the L30 II say >8 Ohms so it's probably OK to interpret that as greater than or equal to 8 Ohms. Plus, it does have very-low source impedance. Which is good... Source impedance should be much less than the load impedance.

The "high sensitivity" is probably related to the low impedance. Resistance and impedance are "the resistance to current". Power (Watts or milliwatts) is a combination of voltage and current, so with the same voltage and lower impedance you get more current and thus power. So as a rule, lower impedance headphones are "louder". But what I don't know is how efficient planars are at converting electrical energy to acoustic energy, compared with regular dynamic headphones.hank you for your advice, When it on the L30 and it worked fine but

Do you have the specs? The specs for the L30 II say >8 Ohms so it's probably OK to interpret that as greater than or equal to 8 Ohms. Plus, it does have very-low source impedance. Which is good... Source impedance should be much less than the load impedance.

The "high sensitivity" is probably related to the low impedance. Resistance and impedance are "the resistance to current". Power (Watts or milliwatts) is a combination of voltage and current, so with the same voltage and lower impedance you get more current and thus power. So as a rule, lower impedance headphones are "louder". But what I don't know is how efficient planars are at converting electrical energy to acoustic energy, compared with regular dynamic headphones.

Thank you for your advice and clarification, I'm reassured that the L30 is not doing them a disservice.
They do work fine with the L30 but they also work with the Dragonfly Red which makes me think I still have a long way to go.
My audio journey thus far has been similar to chasing the end of a rainbow but it's easy to get lost on an expensive treasure hunt whilst resolving to stop once you've seen what's around just one more corner.

By the way, I thought I'd posted my reply in the wrong place which is why I posted it again under JohnYang's reply.
In such a vast site I didn't expect it would be so visible as to get a response, so thank you again.