solderdude
Grand Contributor
I have a bit of a question regarding some electronic matching: I have a DT880@600 and I've saw your comment earlier in the thread that the A30Pro power specs were designed to match that Headphone.
Thing is, I've been researching a bit over the DT880 recent fame (I've owned mine for 10+years) and I stumbled upon an argument that states that in fact they wouldn't need much power, but more (in this case less) damping factor coming from amps with high Output Impedance.
That argument is false. The DT880-600 is not output resistance dependent. In fact that is one of the benefits of high impedance headphones. It can also be used on OTL tube amps with unusual high output resistances and integrated amps with unusual high output resistances on their headphone out sockets. Often these amps just feed the speaker out signal via a very high value resistor. The idea is that this all doesn't matter.
They also do not need a lot of power. The amplifier needs to reach a high voltage and have high gain.
they say that the same result could be accomplished with high current/power, but that that would be brute forcing a more nuanced problem. What's your take on that?
high current/power speaker amplifiers can provide a high voltage and have high gain. That's what you need.
The power the amplifier can deliver in speakers will not be there. The output voltage will be as the DT880-600 will be no load to that amplifier.
Also speaker amps have very, very low output resistances but when you use the headphone out some of those amps have then the output resistance of that amp will be high. But again... the output resistance thing is not an issue with these headphones.
I don't mean to affront you with this info, it is a legitimate question. This argument of higher OI for high Z headphones like the Senns 6x0 and 8x0s and the beyers does pop up a lot, but it is often made by the same persons that spend more money on cables and tube rolling than on headphones and amps themselves.
For Senns 6x0 and 8x0s an unusual high output R does have a measurable and just audible sonic effect. Not so for the Beyer 250 and 600 as their impedance peak at low frequencies is not as high.
I myself own a L30 and I wonder if I'd benefit from the upgrade, as both measure great and the difference then boils down to power output differences (or doesn't it?).
Only when you feel you cannot not play as loud as you want and are often faced with the volume control being maxed out and wanting to go louder.