• muha
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  • Registered: 2013-02-17
  • Posts: 8

Topic: Babyface and device output impedance for headphones

Hi everybody,
I somewhere read something about 30 ohm and babyface but I can not find the thread anymore.
Now I am not sure if the 30 ohm was mentioned for the headphones impedance or the internal impedance from the babyface (which would mean approx 240 ohm needed for the headphones).
Can someone tell me what the optimal impedance for the headphones is and what the internal device impedance from the babyface is?
At the moment I am looking at the Bayer DT770 but I woult prefer the 250 ohm version over the 32 ohm version.
Also the Shure SRH940 is nice but it "only" has 42 ohms.
Any help appreciated smile

  • muha
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  • Registered: 2013-02-17
  • Posts: 8

Re: Babyface and device output impedance for headphones

OK I found out that 30 Ohm is the device output impedance.
Regarding this article the optimal headphone impedance would be 240 Ohms.
http://nwavguy.blogspot.de/2011/02/head … ained.html

The problem is, that there are a lot of reports that the babyface's output (volume) is too low for this high impedance.
Does anybody here use 240 Ohm headphones? How is the volume? Shall I go for 80 Ohms maybe as something inbetween or can I use 30 Ohms headphones and still have good sound quality?

Any help is much appreciated.

  • From: Melbourne, Australia
  • Registered: 2007-05-16
  • Posts: 495

Re: Babyface and device output impedance for headphones

The BabyFace is a low voltage device.  The headphone out is a voltage source, and the impedance determines how much current it can deliver.   So it can provide more power to low impedance phones than to higher impedance. 

The word has it that higher impedance phones produce better sound, but being higher impedance they need higher voltage swings to drive them.  So higher voltage devices (like mains powered) will match them better.

I have the 80-ohm beyer DT250, the Sennheiser HD25-II, and the new beyer DT1350 - the BabyFace drives them all adequately.  Higher impedance phones like the Sennheiser 600s need more voltage swing from something like my Benchmark DAC1 to adequately drive them at reasonable levels.

De gustibus - et sonus - non est disputandum
  • muha
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  • Registered: 2013-02-17
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Re: Babyface and device output impedance for headphones

Hi Panatrope,
thank you for your answer. This is exactly the kind of information I need. I think I will go for headphones with somewhere between 50 and 80 Ohms.