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genericaudioperson genericaudioperson is offline
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Default Ohms specs for headphones...do they matter?

Hello,

I've been researching headphones. I noticed a lot of them are rated
at 32 ohms. Then many of the expensive ones are rated at 100+ ohms.

Does that mean a high-ohm rating has a correlation to sound quality?

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Eeyore Eeyore is offline
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Default Ohms specs for headphones...do they matter?



genericaudioperson wrote:

Hello,

I've been researching headphones. I noticed a lot of them are rated
at 32 ohms. Then many of the expensive ones are rated at 100+ ohms.

Does that mean a high-ohm rating has a correlation to sound quality?


No.

Graham


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Richard Crowley Richard Crowley is offline
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Default Ohms specs for headphones...do they matter?

"genericaudioperson" wrote ...
I've been researching headphones. I noticed a lot of them are rated
at 32 ohms. Then many of the expensive ones are rated at 100+ ohms.


The higher impedance ones are more likely the ones designed
for the more "conventional" market. The lower-impedance ones
(32 ohms, etc.) sound more like they were designed for the iPod
crowd.

(Lower impedance for iPod, because portable players like iPod,
et.al. run on a lower voltage and it takes a lower impedance to get
equivalent power (=sound levels).

Does that mean a high-ohm rating has a correlation to sound quality?


No. There is no real correlation between impedance and "sound quality".


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Dec [Cluskey] Dec [Cluskey] is offline
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Default Ohms specs for headphones...do they matter?

Hi Richard

Depending on where and when you want to use the headphones, it is good
to remember that the all time Industry Standard earphones are and
always were the Beyer Dynamic DT 100.

No matter what studio you visit in the world they will always have
those earphones....TV... Radio .... whatever.

There will always be individual DJ's and home Hi-Fi buffs who will
swear by differing makes and models but the standard has, and it
seems, will always be DT100.

They can be purchased in various Impedance values. Basically,
impedance has nothing to do with quality, only to do with loudness.
So, the higher the impedance the lower the loudness....Okay? In
simple terms. I am sure that a lot of contributors will have a lot to
say about that statement? I base my theory on the fact that a 4 OHM
speaker will be much louder than an 8 OHM speaker when driven by the
same amp.?

This stuff has always been 'black magic'.

Dec [Cluskey]

On Jun 29, 1:33 am, "Richard Crowley" wrote:
"genericaudioperson" wrote ...

I've been researching headphones. I noticed a lot of them are rated
at 32 ohms. Then many of the expensive ones are rated at 100+ ohms.


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William Sommerwerck William Sommerwerck is offline
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Default Ohms specs for headphones...do they matter?

I base my theory on the fact that a 4 ohm speaker will be
much louder than an 8 ohm speaker when driven by the
same amp?


Much?

Given an amp that's a constant voltage source, a 4-ohm (not OHM) speaker
will pull twice the power that an 8-ohm speaker does. That's 3dB -- only a
_slight_ difference in loudness. And that assumes both speakers have the
same efficiency -- which they probably don't. The 4-ohm speaker could very
likely play at a lower level.




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Agent 86[_2_] Agent 86[_2_] is offline
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Default Ohms specs for headphones...do they matter?

Dec [Cluskey] wrote:

I base my theory on the fact that a 4 OHM
speaker will be much louder than an 8 OHM speaker when driven by the
same amp.?


All other things being equal, it will be about 3dB louder.

In which universe does 3dB qualify as "much louder"?

Might want to re-examine that theory.

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Bill Ruys Bill Ruys is offline
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Default Ohms specs for headphones...do they matter?

"Dec [Cluskey]" wrote in message
ps.com...
Hi Richard

Depending on where and when you want to use the headphones, it is good
to remember that the all time Industry Standard earphones are and
always were the Beyer Dynamic DT 100.

No matter what studio you visit in the world they will always have
those earphones....TV... Radio .... whatever.

There will always be individual DJ's and home Hi-Fi buffs who will
swear by differing makes and models but the standard has, and it
seems, will always be DT100.

They can be purchased in various Impedance values. Basically,
impedance has nothing to do with quality, only to do with loudness.
So, the higher the impedance the lower the loudness....Okay? In
simple terms. I am sure that a lot of contributors will have a lot to
say about that statement? I base my theory on the fact that a 4 OHM
speaker will be much louder than an 8 OHM speaker when driven by the
same amp.?

This stuff has always been 'black magic'.

Dec [Cluskey]


I don't think I'd call Ohm's Law "black magic" ;o)



--
Posted via a free Usenet account from http://www.teranews.com

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Default Ohms specs for headphones...do they matter?



"Dec [Cluskey]" wrote:

Hi Richard

Depending on where and when you want to use the headphones, it is good
to remember that the all time Industry Standard earphones are and
always were the Beyer Dynamic DT 100.


They sound rubbish though.

Graham

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exalted wombat exalted wombat is offline
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Default Ohms specs for headphones...do they matter?

On Fri, 29 Jun 2007 02:53:56 GMT, Eeyore
wrote:



"Dec [Cluskey]" wrote:

Hi Richard

Depending on where and when you want to use the headphones, it is good
to remember that the all time Industry Standard earphones are and
always were the Beyer Dynamic DT 100.


They sound rubbish though.


Dec's been around recording studios for a long time. He's picked up a
lot of knowledge, but he isn't very technical. He often thinks he
knows the One True Answer :-)
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Default Ohms specs for headphones...do they matter?



exalted wombat wrote:

Eeyore wrote:
"Dec [Cluskey]" wrote:

Hi Richard

Depending on where and when you want to use the headphones, it is good
to remember that the all time Industry Standard earphones are and
always were the Beyer Dynamic DT 100.


They sound rubbish though.


Dec's been around recording studios for a long time. He's picked up a
lot of knowledge, but he isn't very technical. He often thinks he
knows the One True Answer :-)


Well, it's true they are a standard of sorts but they still don't sound that
good !

Graham




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Default Ohms specs for headphones...do they matter?

exalted wombat wrote:
On Fri, 29 Jun 2007 02:53:56 GMT, Eeyore
wrote:
"Dec [Cluskey]" wrote:

Hi Richard

Depending on where and when you want to use the headphones, it is good
to remember that the all time Industry Standard earphones are and
always were the Beyer Dynamic DT 100.


They sound rubbish though.


Dec's been around recording studios for a long time. He's picked up a
lot of knowledge, but he isn't very technical. He often thinks he
knows the One True Answer :-)


Well, he's got a point. It's hard to beat the DT100 for tracking work,
even though they do sound like rubbish.
--scott

--
"C'est un Nagra. C'est suisse, et tres, tres precis."
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Default Ohms specs for headphones...do they matter?

On Jun 29, 3:53 am, Eeyore
wrote:
"Dec [Cluskey]" wrote:
Hi Richard


Depending on where and when you want to use the headphones, it is good
to remember that the all time Industry Standard earphones are and
always were the Beyer Dynamic DT 100.


They sound rubbish though.

Graham


Hmmmmmmmm?

As used on the greatest records of all time?

And in the top studios world wide [and mine!]

Dec [Cluskey]

... http://www.makehits.com

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Default Ohms specs for headphones...do they matter?



"Dec [Cluskey]" wrote:

Eeyore wrote:
"Dec [Cluskey]" wrote:
Hi Richard


Depending on where and when you want to use the headphones, it is good
to remember that the all time Industry Standard earphones are and
always were the Beyer Dynamic DT 100.


They sound rubbish though.


Hmmmmmmmm?

As used on the greatest records of all time?


How do you use headphones 'on a record' ?


And in the top studios world wide [and mine!]


Not for critical monitoring or mixing I hope !

Graham

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Scott Dorsey Scott Dorsey is offline
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Default Ohms specs for headphones...do they matter?

Dec [Cluskey] wrote:
On Jun 29, 3:53 am, Eeyore
wrote:
"Dec [Cluskey]" wrote:
Hi Richard


Depending on where and when you want to use the headphones, it is good
to remember that the all time Industry Standard earphones are and
always were the Beyer Dynamic DT 100.


They sound rubbish though.


Hmmmmmmmm?

As used on the greatest records of all time?

And in the top studios world wide [and mine!]


Sure. There's a lot of gear used in the top studios worldwide (and mine)
that sounds like rubbish. For a lot of applications, that's just fine.
Tracking phones aren't supposed to sound good, they're supposed to have
low leakage.
--scott
--
"C'est un Nagra. C'est suisse, et tres, tres precis."
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Default Ohms specs for headphones...do they matter?

On Mon, 02 Jul 2007 17:22:31 -0700, "Dec [Cluskey]"
wrote:

Depending on where and when you want to use the headphones, it is good
to remember that the all time Industry Standard earphones are and
always were the Beyer Dynamic DT 100.


They sound rubbish though.

Graham


Hmmmmmmmm?

As used on the greatest records of all time?

And in the top studios world wide [and mine!]

Dec [Cluskey]

... http://www.makehits.com



So maybe they have other attributes that make them efficient for
tracking. That's different requirements than for mixing or for
listening.


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"Dec [Cluskey]" wrote:

I base my theory on the fact that a 4 OHM speaker will be much louder than an
8 OHM speaker when driven by the same amp.?


Only if you think 3dB is 'much louder' !

Most ppl wouldn't.

Graham

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Scott Dorsey Scott Dorsey is offline
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Default Ohms specs for headphones...do they matter?

Dec [Cluskey] wrote:

Depending on where and when you want to use the headphones, it is good
to remember that the all time Industry Standard earphones are and
always were the Beyer Dynamic DT 100.

No matter what studio you visit in the world they will always have
those earphones....TV... Radio .... whatever.


Not so much any more. I still have a pair in the truck... they aren't
all that great-sounding, but they always work and they don't leak much.
You used to see the DT100 and the AKG K240M in every studio, although
these days they are pretty well displaced by newer designes.

They can be purchased in various Impedance values. Basically,
impedance has nothing to do with quality, only to do with loudness.
So, the higher the impedance the lower the loudness....Okay? In
simple terms. I am sure that a lot of contributors will have a lot to
say about that statement? I base my theory on the fact that a 4 OHM
speaker will be much louder than an 8 OHM speaker when driven by the
same amp.?


Until the amp clips, sure. That's the thing... a lower-Z headphone will
require more current from the amp, but less voltage. You get whichever
one is appropriate for the amp you have, or vice-versa.

This stuff has always been 'black magic'.


Not really. The only thing that becomes worrisome is the difference between
ear canal volumes, which results in the bass response being different from
person to person, even if measured directly with a microphone in the ear.
--scott
--
"C'est un Nagra. C'est suisse, et tres, tres precis."
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drichard drichard is offline
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Default Ohms specs for headphones...do they matter?

Hi Scott and all,

Not trying to hijack the thread or anything, but what do you consider
some of the "newer designs" that are beginning to displace the AKG
phones? I have a pair of K240's that I like, but I'm considering new
headphones and will want to check out other options if they are truly
better.

Dean

On Jun 28, 9:59 pm, (Scott Dorsey) wrote:
Dec [Cluskey] wrote:

Depending on where and when you want to use the headphones, it is good
to remember that the all time Industry Standard earphones are and
always were the Beyer Dynamic DT 100.


No matter what studio you visit in the world they will always have
those earphones....TV... Radio .... whatever.


Not so much any more. I still have a pair in the truck... they aren't
all that great-sounding, but they always work and they don't leak much.
You used to see the DT100 and the AKG K240M in every studio, although
these days they are pretty well displaced by newer designes.

They can be purchased in various Impedance values. Basically,
impedance has nothing to do with quality, only to do with loudness.
So, the higher the impedance the lower the loudness....Okay? In
simple terms. I am sure that a lot of contributors will have a lot to
say about that statement? I base my theory on the fact that a 4 OHM
speaker will be much louder than an 8 OHM speaker when driven by the
same amp.?


Until the amp clips, sure. That's the thing... a lower-Z headphone will
require more current from the amp, but less voltage. You get whichever
one is appropriate for the amp you have, or vice-versa.

This stuff has always been 'black magic'.


Not really. The only thing that becomes worrisome is the difference between
ear canal volumes, which results in the bass response being different from
person to person, even if measured directly with a microphone in the ear.
--scott
--
"C'est un Nagra. C'est suisse, et tres, tres precis."



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Scott Dorsey Scott Dorsey is offline
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Default Ohms specs for headphones...do they matter?

drichard wrote:

Not trying to hijack the thread or anything, but what do you consider
some of the "newer designs" that are beginning to displace the AKG
phones? I have a pair of K240's that I like, but I'm considering new
headphones and will want to check out other options if they are truly
better.


What is better? For what?

I mean, the headphones I'd want for casual listening, for tracking, and
for editing are all very different.
--scott

--
"C'est un Nagra. C'est suisse, et tres, tres precis."
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"Dec [Cluskey]" wrote:
Hi Richard

[snip]
They can be purchased in various Impedance values. Basically,
impedance has nothing to do with quality, only to do with loudness.
So, the higher the impedance the lower the loudness....Okay? In
simple terms. I am sure that a lot of contributors will have a lot to
say about that statement? I base my theory on the fact that a 4 OHM
speaker will be much louder than an 8 OHM speaker when driven by the
same amp.?

This stuff has always been 'black magic'.

Dec [Cluskey]


The 'black magic' is less puzzling when you consider that most solid state
amp outputs are very nearly zero ohms impedance. Thus, speakers and
'phones "bridge" the source and the design of the load determines how much
power is drawn. An inefficient design will not be as loud as an efficient
one. No magic there! ;-)


On Jun 29, 1:33 am, "Richard Crowley" wrote:
"genericaudioperson" wrote ...

I've been researching headphones. I noticed a lot of them are rated
at 32 ohms. Then many of the expensive ones are rated at 100+ ohms.


--
~ Roy
"If you notice the sound, it's wrong!"


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Richard Crowley Richard Crowley is offline
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"Dec [Cluskey]" wrote ...
Hi Richard

Depending on where and when you want to use the headphones,


Perhaps you meant to address the original poster,
"genericaudioperson". I have plenty of headphones,
thanks. (Mostly Sony MDR-7506)

it is good
to remember that the all time Industry Standard earphones are and
always were the Beyer Dynamic DT 100.
No matter what studio you visit in the world they will always have
those earphones....TV... Radio .... whatever.


I've never seen/heard them.

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Dec [Cluskey] Dec [Cluskey] is offline
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Default Ohms specs for headphones...do they matter?

I've never seen/heard them.

And which planet of the Universe did you arrive from, yesterday? [huge
grin!]

Every studio in the world uses them [well almost!]

I would be astonished to walk into any studio/TV situation/Radio where
there weren't Beyer Dynamic DT 100 earphones... am I wrong?

Dec [Cluskey]
http://www.makehits.com


On Jun 29, 12:46 pm, "Richard Crowley" wrote:
"Dec [Cluskey]" wrote ...

Hi Richard


Depending on where and when you want to use the headphones,


Perhaps you meant to address the original poster,
"genericaudioperson". I have plenty of headphones,


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Dec [Cluskey] wrote:

I would be astonished to walk into any studio/TV situation/Radio where
there weren't Beyer Dynamic DT 100 earphones... am I wrong?


You are, sadly, wrong. Fifteen years ago that was absolutely the case,
though.
--scott
--
"C'est un Nagra. C'est suisse, et tres, tres precis."
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Default Ohms specs for headphones...do they matter?

genericaudioperson wrote:

I've been researching headphones. I noticed a lot of them are rated
at 32 ohms. Then many of the expensive ones are rated at 100+ ohms.

Does that mean a high-ohm rating has a correlation to sound quality?


No, not at all. But the cheaper ones tend to be lower impedance so they
will be louder with portable gear that has limited voltage drive (due
to running on batteries).

You'll still find a few 600 ohm ones too. That used to be the industry
standard for years and years. They sound great plugged into an Ampex,
not so good plugged into an iPod.
--scott


--
"C'est un Nagra. C'est suisse, et tres, tres precis."
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Geoff Geoff is offline
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Default Ohms specs for headphones...do they matter?

genericaudioperson wrote:
Hello,

I've been researching headphones. I noticed a lot of them are rated
at 32 ohms. Then many of the expensive ones are rated at 100+ ohms.

Does that mean a high-ohm rating has a correlation to sound quality?


No. And lower impedence phones may cause players such as Discmans (Discmen
?) , MP3 players, (LoF)iPods etc, to give distorted playback.

geoff




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Peter Fiveland Peter Fiveland is offline
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Default Ohms specs for headphones...do they matter?

Not really. I'm sure there are junk headphones with low impedence and junk
headphones with high impedence.

It DOES make a difference in what type of level you need for headphone amps.
For example- most classic AKG studio headphones had a higher impedence so to
get the same volume, you'd have to crank the level up on the headphone amp
so the headphone amp would have to be able to deliver the audio volume
needed. If you compare it to a equally professional set of headphones like
a Sony 7506 - the Sony would need less volume from the headphone amp but its
lower impedence would be more of a strain on the amp itself (not that it
matters too much).

-Peter

"genericaudioperson" wrote in message
ups.com...
Hello,

I've been researching headphones. I noticed a lot of them are rated
at 32 ohms. Then many of the expensive ones are rated at 100+ ohms.

Does that mean a high-ohm rating has a correlation to sound quality?



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