solderdude
Grand Contributor
With headphones there is as good as no electrical damping though. It is all acoustical/mechanical damping.
The effects one can hear with high output impedance amps and certain low impedance headphones is caused by voltage division due to the varying impedance of the headphones in question (when they do vary, not all do).
So best forget about DF for headphones. There is a simple rule (more like a guideline) though that when one follows this there is not much chance of a change in tonality.
When the output resistance is at least 10x lower than the headphone impedance (so DF > 10) then you'll be O.K.
This means you can drive a 300ohm headphone perfectly using an amplifier having an output impedance <30ohm, A 16ohm headphone should be used with an output resistance of at least 1.6ohm will always be fine.
The effects one can hear with high output impedance amps and certain low impedance headphones is caused by voltage division due to the varying impedance of the headphones in question (when they do vary, not all do).
So best forget about DF for headphones. There is a simple rule (more like a guideline) though that when one follows this there is not much chance of a change in tonality.
When the output resistance is at least 10x lower than the headphone impedance (so DF > 10) then you'll be O.K.
This means you can drive a 300ohm headphone perfectly using an amplifier having an output impedance <30ohm, A 16ohm headphone should be used with an output resistance of at least 1.6ohm will always be fine.