Headphones thread 134: portable amp edition

[Non Stop Dancer]

Very simple request: recommendation for an amp that I can use with my phone to drive a pair of Seinnheiser HD600s, which are 300ohms and apparently need a bit of oomph to drive properly? Occasional use only so certainly looking at under £100 and preferably half that. Any suggestions? Ta.

[NoSleep]

Apparently your headphones' impedance needs to be x8 that of the output from the amp, so you should be looking at something in the region of 37.5 ohms. I'm sure there's a bit of play (30-45 ohms) with this so I think you should find you have a wide choice within your price range.

[NoSleep]

The headphones are probably a bit too much for a phone, though, at that impedance. That's why low impedance headphones (under 30 ohms) were introduced (to minimise battery drain). Are you thinking of using these out and about or in the home and sitting down?

[Non Stop Dancer]

It's a bit of a unique use-case really, hence not wanting to spend a fortune. I bought them for music making/mixing as (I'm sure you'll know) they're a popular choice for such activities. I've already got a pair of perfectly good headphones (Sony WH-1000XM3) for everyday listening, but I was so taken aback by the difference between the two sets when listening back to some music I made on the Sonys (the HD600s basically did exactly as they should and showed up all the flaws in my mix), that I'm keen to use them for general listening as well - kind of a Sunday-best when I've got time to sit down and properly listen, as oppsed to while I'm doing the dishes etc!

A friend has a spare Astell&Kern XB10 knocking about so I'll give that a try and hope it's ok. The given output spec is 0.9Vrms - do you know how that translated to your estimate of a required 37.5 ohms?

Thanks for your help.

[Non Stop Dancer]

DOUBLE POST.

[NoSleep]

From their website:

Rather than simply amplifying the audio signal, the amplifier was designed with a "driving" concept to amplify weak signals and power difficult to drive high impedance headphones. A strong signal is required to drive headphones with a high impedance. The AK XB10's analog amplifier is more than capable of handling the task.

[Non Stop Dancer]

Well spotted! Looks like problem solved for £0 then!