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Good Headphones without an amp?

M

MetalSluggX

Limp Gawd
Joined
Jan 30, 2003
Messages
245
Hey I'm looking at getting a pair of headphones for around 100-300 bucks, but everytime I check them out they say they need an amp, which costs like 150+ for even the most basic one.
Are there any good headphones that work great for their price without an amp, or is there a cheaper amp I can buy? What kind of loss would I get on say Senn 580s without an amp?
 
just look at the sensitivity and power specs, those will tell you.

They arent headphones per se, but the Shure E2 and E3 both run fine without an amp. I would say the E3 runs better without one myself.
 
Ohm load means diddly for telling you how easy or not easy a pair of cans are driven.

580s need an amp most definitely. From what I know, there are no cans for 300 bucks that don't need an amp. I'm excluding canal phones...he said headphones.

For the record you can get a Meta42 amp for cheap.

The only pair of cans that are okay without an amp would be the Audiotechnica ATH900.

The good headphones almost always require an amp....

EDIT: Here's a Mint amp for sale. http://hardforum.com/showthread.php?t=839066

It's 110 bucks.
 
Beyerdynamic DT440s, Audio Technica AT500s, AT700s, or AT900s. All easily driven and within your price range.
 
Harkamus said:
Ohm load means diddly for telling you how easy or not easy a pair of cans are driven.
.
Click to expand...

Never said ohm load (impedance)

I said sensitivity. Given the rating can be skewed, but in general it is a measurement of how well it can be driven at a specific power level (it's measured in Db/W or in this case Db/mW)

Power handling is just how many W or mW the unit can drive.

Basically headphones are speakers, figuring out how to drive them is a similar process.
 
mustang_steve said:
Never said ohm load (impedance)

I said sensitivity. Given the rating can be skewed, but in general it is a measurement of how well it can be driven at a specific power level (it's measured in Db/W or in this case Db/mW)

Power handling is just how many W or mW the unit can drive.

Basically headphones are speakers, figuring out how to drive them is a similar process.
Click to expand...

Too much eggnog. :D
I did know what sensetivity meant. Somehow when I read your statement I was just thinking of the impedence. As far as how it's listed, I have not seen it written in the per watt or per milliwatt standard...just with regular dB.
 
Understanding Headphone Power Requirements by Dennis Bohn said:
the standard is to apply 1 milliwatt (1 mW = 1/1000 of a watt) and then measure the sound pressure level at the earpiece (using a dummy head with built-in microphones). Sensitivity is then stated as the number of dB of actual sound level (SPL) produced by the headphones with 1 mW of input; headphone specifications commonly refer to this by the misleading term dB/mW. What they really mean is dB SPL for 1 mW input.
Click to expand...
... ;)
 
Understanding Headphone Power Requirements by Dennis Bohn said:
the standard is to apply 1 milliwatt (1 mW = 1/1000 of a watt) and then measure the sound pressure level at the earpiece (using a dummy head with built-in microphones). Sensitivity is then stated as the number of dB of actual sound level (SPL) produced by the headphones with 1 mW of input; headphone specifications commonly refer to this by the misleading term dB/mW. What they really mean is dB SPL for 1 mW input.
Click to expand...
That almost universal usage of "sensitivity" is correctly called power sensitivity, or efficiency. Sennheiser and a few other manufacturers, however, use a different measure of sensitivity called voltage sensitivity. In that latter method, a voltage level of 1 volt RMS (1 Vrms) is applied to the headphones, and then the sound pressure level is then measured at the earpiece. For most solid-state headphone amps and headphone outs with a near-zero-ohm output impedance, the voltage sensitivity is a much more meaningful measure - the higher the number, the louder the sound at any given volume control setting. (No wonder why one pair of headphones with a given power sensitivity rating sounds much quieter than another pair of headphones with an equal power sensitivity rating when both pairs of headphones are driven at a given volume control setting from most amps.) However, for most tube amps and some solid-state amps with a relatively high output impedance, it's the efficiency (power sensitivity) rating that matters more.
 
Oh Lord. Just enjoy the freaking cans. We're waaaaaaaaaaaaaaay too nerdy. :p
 
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