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My Experience With Headphones Impedance On A Hd500


Cure4Optimism
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Hello,

 

         There has been discussion about headphones and the required impedance. I recently acquired an hd500 and was a bit skeptical about the requirement of high >300ohm impedance headphones.

I had a Sennheiser Amperior hedaphones, these are quite neutral, closed back, easy to drive low impedance headphones (18ohm). They cost about 150-200 euro. When paired with the hd500 I thought the sound was not bad, but the limited soundstage of closed back headphones made the sound quite congested. The worst was that I got random disgusting noises that I thought were caused by ground loops when connecting the pod to the computer.

Then I bought a Sennheiser Hd600, these are quite neutral too, but are 300 ohm and quite difficult to drive and open back. The sound now is really open, like if you were listening to an amp in a room, and best of all, there was no trace of the disgusting digital noises I had with the Amperiors. I bought them on amazon for 220 euros-

I tested with my IEMs, vsonic gr04, that are quite neutral-middle centric with low impedance, and I got the noises back. Although they have greater soundstage than the Amperiors, they sounded fatiguing and congested too.

So, IMHO, if you have to choose headphones to use with the POD’s HD:

·        Try to get high impedance headphones as Line6 recommends.

·        Open Back headphones will give you more open sound and a feel closer to playing through an amp.

I hope it helps someone

Nestor

PS: excuse my English, it’s not my native language…

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Nice post, It's nice to have the oppertunity to try differenent headphones to actually hear the difference between them. I just went though a long process of trying to figure out which headphones would be good for me and it wasn't easy, lol. After some discussion "hear" about the subject and much searching online and in stores I chose the Beyerdynamic DT990 600 Ohm Open Backed. Think I made a good diecision here. When I develop a patch for dgital recording it's so close to the recording, they feel great on my head and the sound doesn't hurt my ears or head so I can play around for quite a while. I think manufacturer is right about it's range in that it reads the lows and highs and cuts some of the mids, but in a good way IMO. Oh when I get that nasty digital clipping when building a patch, 'cause you know it's gonna happen, it doesn't hurt my ears like the lower impedance headphones.

 

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  • 6 months later...

I'm also skeptical about the > 300ohm requirement. I just tried to find the spec with no luck.

 

Can someone, give a link to an official specification listed?     I looked at some of the threads at Line 6, but it's second hand.

 

You should be able to get results things like skull candy ear plugs, which I do use, or any low impedance headhpones. I've been using some inexpensive Coby low impedance headphones lately with good results. I'm convinced I do not need high impedance earphones to get good sound to my ears. I have a pair of Beyerdynamic open backed 990's (600 Ohm) I like them very much but I don't need them to be able to dial in a patch.

 

Added:

The Line 6 FAQ on Headphones has this...

 

Q: What is the recommended headphone ohm rating for use with Line 6 products?

A: For devices with a 1/4" output, we recommend headphones rated between 150-600 ohm (pro or semi-pro level) studio headphones for best results. For those with an 1/8" output, headphones designed for MP3 player usage are usually a good match. Results may vary between headphone models and manufacturers.

 

The Thread >>>

Which Headphones Does Line 6 Recommend For The Hd Series?
Edited by Brazzy
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I use 64ohm headphones (sony mdr-v6) on a daily basis without any problems. However, they are connected to my computer's internal soundcard. But I also recall trying them directly from the pod without problems. Both ways sound identical to me. I suspect any tonal differences because of impedance would be very minor. It's probably one of these things that people like to obsess over for whatever reason. On the other hand, they must make higher impedance phones for a reason.

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I regret to say that I keep checking sharp differences in the sound. Try more noticeable in loud sounds (metal / crunch / heavy 80) 

Using the phones out of my HD500, it becomes very easy for me to listen as the sound distorts. However if you use outputs 1/4 is not the same. For example, probe also with a pair of home monitors that have two RCA inputs. When I connect to the phones output is seen higher saturation (or compression?) ... Something like louder. 

 

And surely a musician can become obsessed with their sound, but I assure you this is real, at least for me. 

Connect to a sound card changes things, because you would not be using the phones output. For example, when testing with my band, we played through a mixer (xlr out pod> xlr in mixer) and the headset is connected to the phones output of the mixer, and is not the same! 

 

Greetings!  :D

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I regret to say that I keep checking sharp differences in the sound. Try more noticeable in loud sounds (metal / crunch / heavy 80) 
Using the phones out of my HD500, it becomes very easy for me to listen as the sound distorts. However if you use outputs 1/4 is not the same. For example, probe also with a pair of home monitors that have two RCA inputs. When I connect to the phones output is seen higher saturation (or compression?) ... Something like louder. 
 
And surely a musician can become obsessed with their sound, but I assure you this is real, at least for me. 
Connect to a sound card changes things, because you would not be using the phones output. For example, when testing with my band, we played through a mixer (xlr out pod> xlr in mixer) and the headset is connected to the phones output of the mixer, and is not the same! 
 
Greetings!  :D

 

 

Absolutely. I have no doubt that any differences because of impedance are real. For me, though, it's not enough of a difference (in fact, I don't hear any difference with my equipment) to matter. So I don't worry about it. Would a casual, non-musician listener notice a difference? But I definitely know about becoming obsessed with guitar tone. I've lost count of the number of sessions where I sit down with the purpose of writing music but end up tweaking the guitar tone, and most times with results I'm not happy with (a terrible feeling!). I guess that would be one definition of obsessed. Also, differences in loudness can be interpreted by the human ear/brain processor to carry other sound characteristics besides just being louder, even though a sound in reality is only louder. Your brain can play some pretty nasty tricks on you.

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Mine is a AKG K44 Perception (32 Ohm). To me it sounds ok connected to POD HD500X. What difference will I hear if I get a High Impedance Headphone? 

 

For the most part the mids will be a bit more mellow, other than that I have my 600 ohm DT990 open backs vibrating my coconut sometimes, lol. I think it's due to the larger driver.

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Added:

Dunkin_Dal, on 30 Sept 2013 - 10:38 PM, said:snapback.png

The Line 6 FAQ on Headphones has this...

 

Q: What is the recommended headphone ohm rating for use with Line 6 products?

A: For devices with a 1/4" output, we recommend headphones rated between 150-600 ohm (pro or semi-pro level) studio headphones for best results. For those with an 1/8" output, headphones designed for MP3 player usage are usually a good match. Results may vary between headphone models and manufacturers.

 

The Thread >>>

Which Headphones Does Line 6 Recommend For The Hd Series?

 

So why Line6 specifies 150-600ohm to get better results? 
In any aspect of output/input, power/speaker, a higher level of output impedance, surpassing the speaker (headphones) generates problems, noise. 
I have my hd500 and now hd pro, my headphones are sennheiser hd-202 (32ohm), I have "bad" results, I hear more saturation compared to other systems. 
While I'm not saying it's impossible to use headphones, less than 150ohm.
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So why Line6 specifies 150-600ohm to get better results? 
In any aspect of output/input, power/speaker, a higher level of output impedance, surpassing the speaker (headphones) generates problems, noise. 
I have my hd500 and now hd pro, my headphones are sennheiser hd-202 (32ohm), I have "bad" results, I hear more saturation compared to other systems. 
While I'm not saying it's impossible to use headphones, less than 150ohm.

 

 

 

If Line 6 recommends a certain value rated phone they must know what the input impedance of their devices are, therefore the specification. All the different ohm rated headphones are out there for an unlimited variety of applications, IMO. If your getting too much saturation with lower impedance phones you should just turn your monitoring level down to reduce the saturation in them, this is what I do when I use phones that do that. It's really all you can do, at least as far as I know.

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On an old TGP thread I found the suggestion of using a headphone amp such as the Fiio E6 between HD and headphones.  So after a bit of digging I discover that it is relatively highly recommended in Audiophile boards and that Westone are bundling their in-ears with them now, so I got one of these: http://www.amazon.co.uk/FiiO-E06-Portable-Headphone-Amplifier/dp/B005HJWWW8 

 

With the iPod and Laptop into Westone UM1 there is a very noticeable difference especially with low-end, high-end smoothness and general separation. I haven't had a chance to test them on the HD yet, but because they are a very high impedance device and are designed to drive lower impedance headphones they should have a similar effect with an HD500

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Just thought I should mention another real benefit of using an amp like the E6 (which is tiny and easily fits into the case with the IEM) and that is you have independent volume control. The HD500 can therefore be set to full volume and send full level signals out of the other outputs (1/4, XLR) such as PA or a Recorder while the volume in the headphones is controlled by the amp which will typically be in your pocket.

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I just discovered a solution to this whole thing which will allow you to use any low impedance (normal headphones you would use with your ipod, iphone, smartphone, stereo) headphones.

 

I actually bought a new pair of Beyerdynamic 250 ohm before my discovery and to me they still sounded like crap plugged directly into my HD500.

 

So I after I sent them back, in frustration, I happened to plug my stereo speaker powered studio monitors into the headphone jack of the HD500. Hey, that sounds pretty good. Next, I plugged my old headphones into the headphone jack in the front of my studio monitor speaker. Eureka! And to think I've been pondering how to get a decent sound for over a year. If you have powered monitors with a headphone jack, try it! You'll like it.

 

Cheers

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In other words a headphone amp after the HD500 and before the headphones. The E6 I referred to is only £20.99.

 

The difference when attached to HD500 is really significant especially on overall smoothness and clarity at the lower end.  Did I mention how useful it is to use a headphone extension cable and to have the headphone amp with its own volume control in your back pocket?

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