This is a review and measurements of iFi Ear Buddy which is the cheaper, non-configurable version of iEMatch. I purchased it for USD $20 from Amazon. The purpose of both devices is to reduce the output power of a headphone amplifier. This is needed often when the headphones are too sensitive relative to the amplifier power (or volume control range), not allowing precise control of volume. In addition, many headphone amplifiers have channel imbalances at very low volumes or hiss, both of which are annoying. The idea of Ear Buddy and iEMatch is to reduce the output of the amplifier and with it, eliminate these issues.
The Ear Buddy comes in consumer packaging, hoping to embellish what is ultimately a little cable/dongle:
Strangely, it has a pair of ear plugs in there. For a moment I thought that was their solution to reducing gain. You stick the ear plugs in your ear and then wear your headphones over that!
Even more strange is the inclusion of a dual jack headphone adapter. I thought airlines eliminated those years ago.
There is also a case to put the little cable in there and presumably your IEMs. Pretty excessive packaging effort but likely demanded by retailers to stop shoplifters and make it more substantial.
Anyway, let's measure the thing and see how it does.
Measurements
The design here is simple and that of a voltage divider using two resistors. Stealing the graphics from this nice site, it looks like this:
I measured the male jack that connects to the headphone output of the amplifier (Vs above). It has a resistance of 18.7 ohms. The female socket where you connect your headphones measures at 3.4 ohms (Vout above). This means R1 is 18.7-3.4 = 15.3 ohms. That gives us a ratio of 15/3 or about 5:1 reduction of amplifier output voltage.
The iEMatch versions have selectable switches with different resistor and hence gain reduction.
I ran a test with Topping NX4 DSD DAC and headphone amp with and without Ear Buddy and at low gain:
The device functions as expected. It reduces the gain and as such, the amplifier clips much earlier as it is still running at full power. The amp actuallys sees a much more severe load because the source impedance of ear buddy is just 18 ohms.
Listening tests
Running the Sennheiser HD-650 or HiFIman HE-400i through Ear Buddy was quite disappointing. Sound went from anemic to hugely distorted while still not getting loud enough. I then switched to Arcam rHead headphone amplifier. Same results greeted us as with Topping NX4 DSD.
Searching through my stash of headphones, I pulled out the Sony MDRV6 which has much higher sensitivity than the above two. Finally the unit did what it was supposed to: no distortion and very nice range in the volume control.
For definitive test, I gave the Ear Buddy to my son Kamran, who has an Oppo HA-1 powering Audeze LCD-X headphones which he says are very efficient. Combined with his sensitive hearing, he was really suffering from problems I mentioned earlier, namely background hiss and poor channel balanced (aided by a volume control that has gone bad). This was happening in the low gain setting of HA-1. This is his setup:
The ifi Ear Buddy nailed his problem and made him a very happy camper! Prior to this, I was going to open the unit and modify the design to lower the gain. But he is so happy that there is no need to do that anymore.
Conclusions
The iFi Ear Buddy and iEMatch seem to do what they say and solve a real problem. They reduce the gain so that you are able to use more sensitive headphones with your headphone amplifier and thusly, reduce noise and improve channel balance. They need to be matched to the amplifier though so I suggest getting the iEMatch versions even though they are more expensive.
The only thing I am unhappy with is the very low source impedance that may load down amplifiers too much. For this reason, you want to use the setting/version that lets you use the amplifier well below its max level. Otherwise you may get more distortion.
Overall, given the low cost of Ear Buddy, and real problems it solves, I am happy to put it on my recommended list.
Of course if you can get an amplifier with flexible enough gain settings, that would be more ideal but that is not always possible.
-----
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The Ear Buddy comes in consumer packaging, hoping to embellish what is ultimately a little cable/dongle:
Strangely, it has a pair of ear plugs in there. For a moment I thought that was their solution to reducing gain. You stick the ear plugs in your ear and then wear your headphones over that!
Even more strange is the inclusion of a dual jack headphone adapter. I thought airlines eliminated those years ago.
There is also a case to put the little cable in there and presumably your IEMs. Pretty excessive packaging effort but likely demanded by retailers to stop shoplifters and make it more substantial.
Anyway, let's measure the thing and see how it does.
Measurements
The design here is simple and that of a voltage divider using two resistors. Stealing the graphics from this nice site, it looks like this:
I measured the male jack that connects to the headphone output of the amplifier (Vs above). It has a resistance of 18.7 ohms. The female socket where you connect your headphones measures at 3.4 ohms (Vout above). This means R1 is 18.7-3.4 = 15.3 ohms. That gives us a ratio of 15/3 or about 5:1 reduction of amplifier output voltage.
The iEMatch versions have selectable switches with different resistor and hence gain reduction.
I ran a test with Topping NX4 DSD DAC and headphone amp with and without Ear Buddy and at low gain:
The device functions as expected. It reduces the gain and as such, the amplifier clips much earlier as it is still running at full power. The amp actuallys sees a much more severe load because the source impedance of ear buddy is just 18 ohms.
Listening tests
Running the Sennheiser HD-650 or HiFIman HE-400i through Ear Buddy was quite disappointing. Sound went from anemic to hugely distorted while still not getting loud enough. I then switched to Arcam rHead headphone amplifier. Same results greeted us as with Topping NX4 DSD.
Searching through my stash of headphones, I pulled out the Sony MDRV6 which has much higher sensitivity than the above two. Finally the unit did what it was supposed to: no distortion and very nice range in the volume control.
For definitive test, I gave the Ear Buddy to my son Kamran, who has an Oppo HA-1 powering Audeze LCD-X headphones which he says are very efficient. Combined with his sensitive hearing, he was really suffering from problems I mentioned earlier, namely background hiss and poor channel balanced (aided by a volume control that has gone bad). This was happening in the low gain setting of HA-1. This is his setup:
The ifi Ear Buddy nailed his problem and made him a very happy camper! Prior to this, I was going to open the unit and modify the design to lower the gain. But he is so happy that there is no need to do that anymore.
Conclusions
The iFi Ear Buddy and iEMatch seem to do what they say and solve a real problem. They reduce the gain so that you are able to use more sensitive headphones with your headphone amplifier and thusly, reduce noise and improve channel balance. They need to be matched to the amplifier though so I suggest getting the iEMatch versions even though they are more expensive.
The only thing I am unhappy with is the very low source impedance that may load down amplifiers too much. For this reason, you want to use the setting/version that lets you use the amplifier well below its max level. Otherwise you may get more distortion.
Overall, given the low cost of Ear Buddy, and real problems it solves, I am happy to put it on my recommended list.
Of course if you can get an amplifier with flexible enough gain settings, that would be more ideal but that is not always possible.
-----
If you like this review, please consider donating funds for these types of hardware purchases and reviews using Patreon (https://www.patreon.com/audiosciencereview), or upgrading your membership here though Paypal (https://audiosciencereview.com/foru...eview-and-measurements.2164/page-3#post-59054).