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Headphone Impedance

Profile picture for user doubleJ
Submitted by doubleJ on

I'm looking at the AKG 240, Sennheiser 280, and koss pro4aa headphones. Most of the studio people that I know have experience with the AKG and like them, but say that they are quiet and should have a headphone amp pushing them. They were saying that it has a high impedance (I think). From what the specs say, it's 55 ohms. The Sennheiser is 64 ohms and the koss is 250 ohms.

I was never good with impedance and power amps, except that I know you can half it and double your output, or something like that.

I will just be hooking the headset up to the phones out on an audio interface. Would it be better to use one of the lower-number ones? Did AKG change something to where they are louder now?

BTW...

The only real reason I'm looking at the koss is because of the lifetime warranty. I think that's a very cool thing. I also like that they are made in america and not malaysia or something.

JJ

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Profile picture for user TVPostSound
TVPostSound

The AKG 240 comes in 2 flavors of impedance.



The 240M is 600 ohm, the 240 Studio is 55 ohms.



If your headphone amp is +4 not -10, then use the 240 S.

A home stereo headphone jack will do better with the 240 M.



I have blown many 240Ms, but never a 240S.



The Sennheiser 280 sound the best, but get a little uncomfortable

over a long day.



I cant speak for Koss, as I have noexperience with them.

Thu, 09/07/2006 - 20:43 Permalink
anonymous
anonymous

I currently have a pair of AKG 271 and Senn HD280, and previously owned a pair of AKG 240M (until they melted in the trunk of my car).



Of the three, the AKG 240M is my favorite. When I bought them there was only one style, so I can't comment on the newer low-impedance version.



Keep in mind that the AKG 240 is a semi-open design, and the HD280 is a closed design. The HD280 isolate very well, but can be a little tiring after extended use.

Sun, 09/10/2006 - 11:26 Permalink