[parityboy]

versus low-impedance headphones? Obviously high-impedance requires less current from the amplifier, but does that mean it needs a higher voltage? What's the advantage, or is it just a case of compatibility?

 

[liskawc]

this is a link, where someone asked a similar question and got some other links as a response. he does a summary in this link tho, so basically it should be enough
http://www.head-fi.org/forum/thread/...nce-headphones

 

[parityboy]

OK thanks for that - looks like I was on the right track, and it seems that high-impedance cans deliver a smoother signal with less distortion, but require higher voltages.

Question: would you recommend for a PC output, high impedance or low? Looking here, I see that the audio chip on my motherboard is capable of outputting up to 1.5V (actually my chip is a Realtek ALC887, not an ALC880 in the article, but I assume the output will be similar).

Currently I'm using Sennheiser HD200s which have a 64Ohm impedance. How high do you think I could go without losing volume? Is 1.5V enough to drive a 250Ohm headphone?

 

[RallyMaster]

Low impedance is what you should go for in a PC setting in most cases. If you have an amplifier built onto your sound card, then you can go further up in impedance. As a rule of thumb, I try to keep the headphones that I plug into my sound card (not amplified) below 100 ohms.

 

[parityboy]

Thank you for that, sounds like good rule of thumb.