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Headphones and ohms and stuff

O

Oldscoolfool

Jun 6, 2023
28
20
#1
I understand that two 8 ohm cabs makes 4 ohms and that kind of thing. But I've noticed headphones have pretty drastically different ohms. I've seen some that are very high priced that have a great deal more ohms than some cheaper ones. I want to say is 128 ohms vs like 32 or even 16 ohms. How does this work with amps, like does it directly translate to how loud your headphones are, or how much headroom, or both,?
I have some senheizer headphones. I don't know the ohms, but they really can't handle much without clipping. I have this origin effects pedal, two of them actually. One is the bass rig pedal, one is he Dx bass boost or whatever. To get the right sound out of them they have to be cranked up, and I already have my amp almost as low as it can go. So I'm trying to get new headphones to get more headroom. Will I be able to tell how much headroom they'll have by the ohms? And will open back headphones handle more power than closed back headphones? How else can I tell, like there are various specs, there's the dB range, the size of the driver, the ohms, open/closed, type of driver such as neodymium or planar headphones, etc. I am trying to upgrade from senheizer BT450 headphones.

Any advice would be appreciated.
 
#2
From Headphone Impedance Explained [2023 Guide] - Earbuds Zone
"Devices with an impedance score between 8 and 32 ohms are considered low-impedance devices, and you can comfortably use them with any battery-powered audio source.
Devices with impedance higher than 100 ohms are considered high-impedance devices. They require the use of an amplifier and are mostly used in studios."

You don't see that much variation with cabinets.

Open vs closed back
Open back vs closed back headphones: Which is right for you?

Amps have headroom: speakers and headphones don't.

I have no idea how your pedals fit into this query.
 
#4
Part of the challenge is that sensitivity will also vary widely so it becomes a voltage versus current versus power tradeoff deal. It’s that complicated it reality, we have to address all of this when designing headphone outputs on products.
 
#7
agedhorse said:
Part of the challenge is that sensitivity will also vary widely so it becomes a voltage versus current versus power tradeoff deal. It’s that complicated it reality, we have to address all of this when designing headphone outputs on products.
Click to expand...
Complicated indeed. And these days shopping is online so you don't get to try them out and all that, so the consumer is trying to judge by stats, and if course, it's not that simple.
 
#10
A really basic rule of thumb is that the lower the headphone impedance, the louder they will be with a given source. Also, most consumer gear (say, the headphone out on your phone) will only drive those low-ohm rating earbuds or phones.

Typically, phones in that range are consumer gear, and not for any critical listening, nor will they make much bass. Really good headphones can have higher ohm ratings, and you often have to audition them with what you're going to use them with to see if it's a good fit.

That's why these little battery powered 'bass practice' rigs made me crazy, eventually resulting me using a Mackie 1202VLZ mixer for my practice needs. 1-watt output, and will drive any pro headphone (AT's for me) that make good bass.
 

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