Sennheiser 580 and Audigy

[Quadophile]

I just got the Audigy last week not realising that it can take the load of 32 ohms only. I wanted to connect the Sennheiser 580's to it but I am afraid it might fry the Audigy putting a load of 300 ohms. I can use the alternative of an amp in between but.....

Has anyone tried to connect a headphone with 300 ohms into the Audigy? Any feedback would be appreciated.

An audiophile without an attitude.

 

[FatBurger]

Why would plugging in headphones with greater resistance kill a sound card? Or am I not understanding what you're saying?

<font color=blue>If you don't buy Windows, then the terrorists have already won!</font color=blue> - Microsoft

 

[wapaaga]

i only have the hd 500 which have an impedence of 32.

but i don't have an audigy right now. i would say use the amp snice you have it and becuase they are going to be very quite when you plug them in becuase it takes alot more power to drive them,

what is better then a 7000 rpm, a 8000 rpm delta. to cause more noise to kill your ears

 

[Quadophile]

What I meant was that 300 ohms is a very heavy load on a card which is specified for 32 ohms load. I lost SB Live couple of months back and I am a little skepticle about experimenting with this one. Once bitten twice shy as they say.

An audiophile without an attitude.

 

[Quadophile]

I guess what you suggest is the best option since the volume will be a problem listening to 580's as the card does not have any "oomph" so to say!

Let me set it up and see what the card is capable of.

An audiophile without an attitude.

 

[ritesh_laud]

First of all, are you talking about the headphone connector on the Audigy Drive? Because the Audigy card itself doesn't have an onboard amp, just a Line Out, which definitely won't power the headphone.

Second, the sound card can't possibly fry in this situation. Think about an *extreme* high-resistance load, like a stick of wood plugged into the Audigy. There'll be so much resistance that practically no current will flow.

All that will happen is that the headphone won't get enough current to sound like it's supposed to. I'm guessing that the bass will be way underpowered.

I have the 560 HD, which is also 300 Ohm. When I got it a few months ago I was also concerned about the unusually high resistance. But I found I didn't need a separate headphone amp for it; it works fine plugged into my old Sony jambox. I haven't tried it on the Audigy. It's likely that small battery powered devices won't have anough current even on the headphone amp to power this beast of a headphone. But it's worth the trouble, Sennheisers are simply the best mass-market headphones out there.

Ritesh

 

[Quadophile]

Yes the Audigy has only line out, however it is capable of driving a 32 ohm headphone on its own.

What I did was to connect my sons Nad amp and used the headphone out socket to listen to the Audigy. It sounded pretty much OK but I must say the 580's are really ruthless when it comes to less than perfect source. I intend to stick to my hifi for the Sennheiser.

An audiophile without an attitude.

 

[ritesh_laud]

Actually I just found out that my headphone is a 600HD, not a 560HD. Yet I've tested this headphone on both my old Sony boombox and my hi-fi receiver (Harman-Kardon). They sound almost identical, with the Sony imparting a soft hiss in the background while the receiver is perfectly silent. So all you need to drive these high-impedance headphones is enough power on the headphone jack. They sound fine even on cheap boomboxes.

Ritesh

 

[Quadophile]

Ritesh,

Thanks for the feedback will check it out.

An audiophile without an attitude.