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YackamoJack
21
Aug 3, 2017
Do these need an amp to be driven properly?
Je_Saist
162
Aug 4, 2017
YackamoJackNot an employee of Massdrop or HifiMan; but I think I can answer your question. Based on the listed Impedance of 35 ohms; you should be able to drive these headphones without an amp.
That being said the plug is designed as a ¼ in (6.35 mm) connector; so this is NOT going to be the same jack as you'll have on your phone, tablet, or existing sound card... well... unless you have something like a Hercules Game Theater Xp or one of the Creative Sound Blaster's with a Breakout Box...
While you can easily use an adapter... and one is listed in the shipping components... to use these headphones on your phone, tablet, existing sound card... you'll very much probably want to invest in an amplifier of some kind with a 1/4 jack to make sure you can drive these.
YackamoJack
21
Aug 4, 2017
Je_Saistyeah, i actually use an audio interface with a 1/4 inch connector, just wanted to check and see how big of a difference it would make to drive these headphones with a dedicated amp.
Vigrith
4081
Aug 4, 2017
YackamoJackBig difference.
Tom.M.2
15
Aug 4, 2017
YackamoJackNo you do not need an amp (as mentioned by others). However, an amp can certainly adjust the sound in a variety of ways (I like a tube amp with the 400i's). To be more "technical" here for you, an iPhone 6S works with my 400i's (assuming these are same impedance) plugged straight in. It is barely audible at 2 bars of volume (using Spotify - obviously the song will make things differ too). I'm sure in a SUPER quiet room you could hear with volume at 1 bar? I don't know. I have an air conditioner running right now. Cranking it up to max won't make it uncomfortable. A more comfortable volume, for me at least, is 3 bars less than max volume. Volume at 50% is quiet, but you can hear it still.
I would and do use an amp with these from my computer; however, on a Macbook Pro it's significantly louder. You get way more power from a laptop than a cell phone obviously. 50% volume on the laptop is louder than 75% on the iPhone. That's probably where I'd keep it...If not lower.
So do you need an amp? No. Do you want an amp? Yes, probably. All that said, I'd reach for my, sibilant by comparison, AT MSR-7s on the go. They drive more easily, but more importantly - they are smaller and they aren't open. So I'm not going to bother anyone else with noise and I can throw them in my bag more easily (and without worry). These aren't the best headphones on the go and it's not because the ability or inability to drive them...But boy do I want to take my Hifiman's with me everywhere I go.
lshriver
152
Aug 4, 2017
YackamoJackYes. It has only 35 ohms impedance, but it's 93 db sensitivity is quite low for headphones. Using an amp meant for low impedance, high current headphones would be ideal, doesn't have to be anything expensive, it would sound better with a better amp, however to drive them to proper volume and still excellent sound quality you will want a $50 to $90 amp
Jackula
1743
Aug 4, 2017
YackamoJackYes, these are 35 ohms orthos and so you don't need much voltage for them to go loud, but would require a lot of current to shine. Thankfully power is pretty easy to get these days.
YackamoJack
21
Aug 4, 2017
lshriveryeah i have a micca origen + i can use
YackamoJackWe went through the same discussion over many places including the last Fostex planner, I did a crash course on Electrical 101 there if you are interested. In summary, voltage amplification is needed for high impedance and current amplification is needed to compensate driver inefficient. The impedance of 35 ohm is pretty safe as many portable device are design for 16-32 ohm. From what I can tell from the promotion picture, the plug actually terminated in a native 3.5mm (1/8 in, the right angle black bit) with an gold 6.3mm (1/4 in) adapter. Except where a certain brand of smartphone which doesn't have a 3.5mm connector at all. However, as for the 93 dB driver efficiency is the gotcha part, as most headphones (w/ dynamic drivers) has over 100 dB efficiency and most planners having the low to mid 90 dB and that's when an amp comes in. In real world example, the T50rp MK III requires more than a few clicks on the amplification to be driven properly in comparison to my other collections. (PM2, PM3, HD6XX, Z7, MSR-7... the list goes on) With the shipping date of December (which is more then 4 mths away), my best guess is only time can tell. Good luck.
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