Headphone amp how does it work

The headphone itself is the most important part of a personal audio system. The headphone amp is second on the list. So if you're deciding whether to buy a top-shelf headphone or a headphone amp first - the headphone is the most important part of the equation! We recommend distributing your spending so the headphones come first, followed by a headphone amp and then a high-resolution music player.

Now that's out of the way. When deciding whether to acquire a good headphone amp, it's important to consider how much a pair of headphones can benefit from an amp. In other words, their "performance ceiling". See our selection of premium headphone amplifiers. If you want to move up a notch in musical performance, see our full line of headphone amps to find the best one for your needs. Of course, an audio system is only as good as its weakest link.

If you have well-recorded music and great audiophile headphones, but are relying on the power-limited headphone amp inside your smartphone, laptop or tablet to make the headphones sing, you likely won't be driving your headphones to their full potential.

Adding an amp between the player and your audiophile headphones can provide a significant, audible improvement in clarity, detail and dynamics.

You may know about a headphone "impedance rating ". Impedance is the combined resistance and reactivity the headphones present to the amp as an electrical load.

High-impedance cans usually need more voltage to get up to a solid listening level, so they can benefit from a headphone amp especially with portable players that have limited voltage available from their internal batteries.

If you are unsure of whether you need a headphone amp for a pair of headphones that you intend to buy, you can check out the specifications of the headphones. Headphone manufacturers can list a lot of specifications about their products but generally, you only need to check these 3 specifications listed below to make your choice —.

Impedance — Impedance is a measure of the resistance produced by an object or device to the flow of electrical current applied to it. Thus, if you apply the same amount of voltage to two devices with different impedance levels, more current will flow in the device with less impedance level than the one with a higher impedance. Most normal headphones have an impedance of ohms but high-quality headphones can have an impedance starting from ohms to all the way up to ohms. Typically, smartphones, mp3 players, and laptops will be able to run headphones with an impedance level of up to 35 ohms very well.

Between the levels of ohms, you may be able to get away with it but if you use a headphone amp it will breathe new life into the sound. For anything above ohms, you must use a dedicated amplifier. Sensitivity — Headphone sensitivity is related to the impedance of the headphone but it also depends on a lot of other factors.

Essentially, sensitivity is the measure of loudness produced by a pair of headphones when a current is applied to it. A more sensitive pair of headphones will produce higher sound levels compared to a pair of headphones with lower sensitivity if you apply the same amount of power. Headphones which have lower sensitivity rating will require more power to achieve higher quality sound and the appropriate volume.

However, headphones with a high sensitivity rating will pick up unwanted sound signals like electronic hissing noise, etc. A sensitivity rating of anything below 90dB can be considered low while anything above db is considered high.

Frequency response -The frequency response of a pair of headphones is the measure of the range in which it can produce sound. It is measured in Hertz Hz. The frequency range typically covers 3 sound spectrums: Low-frequency base, the mid-range, and high-frequency treble. Most headphones have a frequency range of ,Hz as typically, the human ear is unable to detect any sound below or above this range.

However, high-quality headphones can have a frequency response range that can reach as high as 40,Hz and go as low as 5Hz.

Of course, these types of headphones with a wider range are costlier but these are worth it for those audiophiles who can detect sounds in these extreme ranges. Sennheiser HD — These popular headphones have an impedance of ohms and a frequency response of , HZ dB.

Beyerdynamic DT — This is another classic product and very popular among audiophiles. It has an impedance of ohms and a frequency response of , Hz. Now, you may wonder why you should buy headphones with higher impedance when you can get away with using ones that have lower impedance. That is perfectly understandable. Modern technology has made it possible to manufacture headphones that can produce high-quality sound even with low impedance.

These types of headphones are generally cheaper and you will also save the cost of buying a headphone amplifier. If all you want to do is listen to music and you also want to enjoy music on the go, a pair of normal headphones will suit you the best.

However, if you want to experience the best quality music possible, you have to buy a pair of good quality headphones that have a high impedance and pair it up with a good headphone amplifier as well.

If you are an audio engineer, sound designer, and composer, or a professional who uses studio-grade audio equipment to record music, you can benefit greatly by using high-quality headphones.

Let me give you an analogy to help you understand better. If you want to play the most demanding PC games listen to high-quality music in the best graphical settings best sound quality , and achieve the smoothest frame rate distortion-free experience , you need to purchase the best hardware high-quality headphones like an i7 and a GTX ti.

However, to run such a setup properly you need a better power supply unit headphone amp. Otherwise, the hardware will not run properly. Of course, you can try to play the most demanding games using budget hardware normal headphones but you will not be able to achieve the highest graphics quality or play it smoothly. Easy enough, but what about the voltage? While it only needs 1mW at 0.

This set will only need 0. Who will win, the coathanger, or the well-engineered consumer cables? However, the vast majority of all cables available to you will be more than sufficient to support what you need.

This is especially true for headphones, which typically have much lower power requirements, and also shorter cables, than speakers do.

Go ahead: cheap out on cables. Read next: Best headphone amps. Check Price. Name: Subject: Message:. SoundGuys is reader supported. When you buy through links on our site we may earn an affiliate commission. Learn More. Do you need an amp?