Questions

[zag55]

Good morning. I currently have my HIFIMAN 400se driven, with 25 ohm impedance, by a Topping L30. The power doesn't seem sufficient to me, and therefore I wanted to know which amp to go for these headphones, considering that the HIFIMAN amps themselves have a ' 4.5 Watt output?

 

[staticV3]

The power doesn't seem sufficient to me

Could you elaborate on that please? Does the L30 not get loud enough, even on max volume?

 

[olieb]

Good morning. I currently have my HIFIMAN 400se driven, with 25 ohm impedance, by a Topping L30. The power doesn't seem sufficient to me, and therefore I wanted to know which amp to go for these headphones, considering that the HIFIMAN amps themselves have a ' 4.5 Watt output?

According to the measurements the HE400se needs 328mV for 94dBspl.
The L30 can produce at least 5.5V with 25Ω (HE400se) before clipping starts (1.04W at 33Ω and <0.5Ω output impedance).
That is corresponds to 118dBspl.
For me that is plenty loud, but you need a signal that can drive the L30 to that level.
Probably you do not have enough gain. What is your source?

Hifiman HE400SE Review (Headphone)

This is a review and detailed measurements of the Hifiman HE400SE open back planar magnetic headphone. It was sent to me by online seller, Linsoul and costs US $149. The HE400Se doesn't look fancy: It is however quite comfortable given its thick and large pads. Weight is a bit on the high...

www.audiosciencereview.com

Topping L30 Headphone Amplifier Review

This is a review and detailed measurements of the new Topping L30 headphone amplifier. It is a companion to their E30 DAC. I don't have official pricing on it but see it on some sites for US $130. EDIT: I have learned that a few members have had their headphones damaged due to failure of the...

www.audiosciencereview.com

 

[zag55]

L30 works in tandem with E30 dac

 

[staticV3]

L30 works in tandem with E30 dac

E30+L30 can drive the 400se to 120dB SPL. It is limited by gain at that point, so nowhere near clipping.

If you cannot get enough volume with your current setup, then you must have a digital volume limit in place.
Perhaps your files have built-in headroom, or perhaps there's a software volume control not set to 100% somewhere.

If you can get enough volume with your current setup, then a more powerful Amp won't do anything for you.

You will not get more "punch", "slam", "control", or any of that stuff.

Power = Volume. If you have enough volume, then you have enough power.