Question about Resistance ratings for Headphones....l.1...1.

[psylevation]

I'm looking at buying a pair of beyerdynamic dt770 pro headphones. I have a guitar center by my house and I guess they have an exclusive model with a higher resistance, I think 80 ohms.

So my question is what are the benefits of a higher resistance, and the benefits of a lower resistance?

[C00kie]

80 is quite average, actually it's categorised as low!
http://www.practical-home-theater-guide ... hones.html

Impedance: One issue that's especially important when choosing a pair of headphones is impedance. So called low impedance and high impedance pairs should not be intermixed.

Low impedance headsets may vary from 75 ohms up to about 150 ohms. Phones in this impedance range may be directly plugged into the headphone jack routinely found on recording and playback equipment.

Higher impedances sets normally have an impedance of around 600 ohms; these are more useful in studio installations where many units may be wired in parallel for studio monitoring applications.

The 600-ohm models are more rugged than low impedance ones in that the higher resistance coils are less susceptible to burn out than low impedance models. On the other hand, high impedance sets require a higher driving signal to produce the same level of sound output in comparison to low impedance headsets.

This means that low impedance headphones will sound louder when plugged in devices with low output voltages such as portable CD players, etc. In reality, because of the limited power available from portable players, headsets for portable use should have a maximum impedance of 64 ohms.

Worth keeping in mind here that the lower the impedance, the more efficient headphones are in converting the incoming electrical energy into sound. On the contrary, the higher the impedance, the more electrical energy is required to drive the headsets tiny speakers.

[psylevation]

okay thank you very much. I'm going to just stick with the 80 ohm ones, They have some 250 ones, but I can't afford a headphone amp right now...

[psylevation]

I also heard they take a while to "work in" so should I leave something playing through them, when I'm not using them?

[DuX]

It also depends on your listening habits. I don't like to listen loudly, so for me 600ohm HP are OK. I haven't found a sound card that couldn't drive them as loud as I want, yet.

However, lower impedance HP are safe bet, because many people like to listen really loud. Me, no thanks, I like having my hearing intact for as long as I can .

Cheers!