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Two sets of headphones on the go?

Oski1928

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Mar 23, 2022
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Looking for recommendations of how use two sets of headphones on the go. Not a headphone user and currently only have Airpod Pro 2’s. I’m a speaker guy, but the only way I can get my girlfriend to sit down and listen to an album is if we’re out in nature. Besides I am probably moving to an apartment soon and could go for a good headphone setup.

Looking for a decent portable setup that could power two decent sets of headphones. I’ve looked and don’t really see anything dedicated to powering two different sets of headphones, especially in a portable setting. Don’t need perfection, just hoping for something that won’t audibly compromise the integrity of the music. Thanks!
 
I think a Chord Mojo could get the job done for you:

 
I think a Chord Mojo could get the job done for you:

Thanks for the recommendation. Just looked at the ASR reviews for the second variation of this unit, sadly no testing was done in regards to power output for two sets of headphones being used at once. I’ll restate that I’m not looking for perfection in the scenario of two sets being used at once, but I would like to get a better idea of what kind of headphones a unit like this can drive when powering two sets at once.
 
Two sets at once make no sense, because the headphones have different sensivity. So, I will play louder as the other etc.
On the other, usually, one output will be muted, if you plug two headphone at once in one device.
So it is even with the professional SPL Phonitor XE DAC768. The last headphone you plug will mute the others.
For mobile use the Moho (2) is a little too big. Better is e.g. Cayin RU7, Questyle M15, ifi Go Bar ....
By the Mojo 2 has a lot of power even to drive the SUSVARA!
 
If you use identical headphones there is a simple solution:


As long as you use 30 ohm+ headphones, this will be fine.
 
Why should someone use two identical headphones on same device?
I think, it doesn't make
Getting two sets of the same headphones is exactly what I was planning to do.
 
If you use identical headphones there is a simple solution:


As long as you use 30 ohm+ headphones, this will be fine.
Thanks, I need to better understand how impedance and sensitivity function in the headphone world, and what a sufficient amount of power is relative to these values.
 
Why should someone use two identical headphones on same device?
I think, it doesn't make sense?
He is trying to share music with a second person. A splitter similar to the one I posted is in my vacation suitcase for when my wife and I have listened together on planes and busses.
 
Thanks, I need to better understand how impedance and sensitivity function in the headphone world, and what a sufficient amount of power is relative to these values.
The lower the impedance the more current your amplifier needs to deliver to power the headphones. If you plug two headphones into one device it halves the impedance. So if you plug in two 16 ohm headphones it is problematic because the amp will see 8 ohms, which is harder to drive than 99% of headphones. But suppose you plug in 2x Koss Portapros which are 60 ohms each. Then the amp will see 30 ohms, which is absolutely fine.
 
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Thanks, I need to better understand how impedance and sensitivity function in the headphone world, and what a sufficient amount of power is relative to these values.
So here is my understanding as a non-electrical engineer: Basically speakers and headphones are driven by voltage. The voltage controls the motion of the cone. Any given amp can only put out so much voltage or current at once. Every speaker and headphone has an impedance curve, which corresponds to a resistance at each frequency.

Voltage, current, and impedance (resistance) are related according to Ohm's Law, V=IR.

When the impedance gets too low, the amp can't keep up with the demand on current. So you need to make sure the headphones don't have a very low impedance for something like this.

For two sets of headphones at once, maybe just get a powerful dongle or portable amp, and a Y-cable...
 
The lower the impedance the mote current your amplifier needs to deliver to power the headphones. If you plug two headphones into one device it halves the impedance. So if you plug in two 16 ohm headphones it is problematic because the amp will see 8 ohms, which is harder to drive than 99% of headphones. But suppose you plug in 2x Koss Portapros which are 60 ohms each. Then the amp will see 30 ohms, which is absolutely fine.
I see, I get impedance in regards to speakers and I understand it’s the same principle, but for some reason translating it to headphones has got me all mixed up
 
So here is my understanding as a non-electrical engineer: Basically speakers and headphones are driven by voltage. The voltage controls the motion of the cone. Any given amp can only put out so much voltage or current at once. Every speaker and headphone has an impedance curve, which corresponds to a resistance at each frequency.

Voltage, current, and impedance (resistance) are related according to Ohm's Law, V=IR.

When the impedance gets too low, the amp can't keep up with the demand on current. So you need to make sure the headphones don't have a very low impedance for something like this.

For two sets of headphones at once, maybe just get a powerful dongle or portable amp, and a Y-cable...
I was looking at maybe getting the Topping Hane IEM’s. It seems their nominal impedance when using a splitter like posted above would work out to about 30 ohms, but they are listed to have not very high sensitivity.

Once again in the speaker world I could figure this all out but what kind of power would be needed to drive two sets of these simultaneously.
 
Being careful to not over generalize, but it seems like many women, your partner isn't really anywhere near as into your music as you seem to want her to be.

Why do you need her to listen to music with you? We don't have to share all of our passions with our partners. Is she just not into music listening to the extent you are and you're hoping that you can win her over?

I'm not saying it is the case here, but man if I had a dollar for every music fan who feels compelled to convince others of what they are missing.

I could be way off here OP and if so my apologies. Sometimes we just need to let people be what they are and many people just don't want the whole musical show and tell. Younger guys, they are more typically so excited and passionate that they just can't bare not sharing.
 
I'm speaking as a reformed super enthusiastic (and annoying) guy who was always trying to instill my passion for how I consumed music into other people. Most of the time I was tolerated, but rarely truly welcomed to do so. In time I just stopped trying.
 
If you are listening at normal volumes, even a 1V dongle like the apple dongle should be fine, but you will need to turn the volume up pretty high.

If you want 100 dB rock concert levels then you should look for a 2V dongle.
 
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Perhaps use a splitter? Hopefully enough power to drive the 2 headphones which are efficient to drive.
 
Being careful to not over generalize, but it seems like many women, your partner isn't really anywhere near as into your music as you seem to want her to be.

Why do you need her to listen to music with you? We don't have to share all of our passions with our partners. Is she just not into music listening to the extent you are and you're hoping that you can win her over?

I'm not saying it is the case here, but man if I had a dollar for every music fan who feels compelled to convince others of what they are missing.

I could be way off here OP and if so my apologies. Sometimes we just need to let people be what they are and many people just don't want the whole musical show and tell. Younger guys, they are more typically so excited and passionate that they just can't bare not sharing.
Hey no problem, I understand your point and there may actually be some validity to your statement but it’s not exactly accurate to my situation.

Me and my girlfriend have been together for 5 years and we are actively trying to show more interest in each others interests. We do have a good amount of overlapping music taste, but I listen to a much wider variety of music than her. She enjoys music more than most. I like to listen to albums and she finds it difficult to pay attention being inside on a nice day, so we thought a good middle ground would be finding a nice spot in nature (she likes to hike) and being able to listen to music in an environment like that.

Regardless of whether or not that pans out. I have a buddy who comes over once a week on average and we usually listen to an album and or watch a movie. I live in a Condo now and some genres of music really don’t have the same effect when listened to at an apartment “appropriate” volume so I can probably get some good use out of this headphone setup with him as well.
 
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