Headphones On The Pandora

[lulzfish]

I don't know much about speakers...

Would larger headphones have a lower or higher impedance?
I changed from earbuds to circumaurals recently, and they're a hell of a lot quieter on my laptop but I suspect they use more power because they're big and they have stronger bass than the earbuds. I'd like to use them on my Pandora as long as they won't harm anything or drain the battery too fast.

 

[urjaman]

Absolute Maximum Ratings:
Continuous total power dissipation: internally limited

From the same PDF. == It will protect itself if it overheats.
And the chart showing output power vs load resistance shows about 225mW at 8 ohms.
The chart is from 8ohms up so...

 

[Tom`]

I don't know much about speakers...

Would larger headphones have a lower or higher impedance?
I changed from earbuds to circumaurals recently, and they're a hell of a lot quieter on my laptop but I suspect they use more power because they're big and they have stronger bass than the earbuds. I'd like to use them on my Pandora as long as they won't harm anything or drain the battery too fast.

Yes, larger headphones generally (but not always) have a higher impedance. (This is not absolutely true - there are IEMs that are 70-100 ohms and plenty of full-size headphones are 32 ohms.) If this is the case, they will drain the battery (somewhat) faster, but I don't know whether the difference would be noticeable.

There are a lot of external, battery-powered amps you can buy if the headphone jack doesn't provide enough power, but most of them are overpriced "audiophile" hardware - check hydrogenaudio for recommendations, but you can usually get a very good one for under $50.

 

[Loonie]

True. I would also like to add that doubling the resistance will not decrease your volume. Internal circuitry should still map the same line-out voltage range (AC 1.5V) to the earphone. I'm not entirely sure but could decrease audio quality as the error becomes relatively higher at lower output current.

Volume is largely a function of how efficient the headphones are, i.e. how many dB/W they manage. If they are receiving the same line-out voltage range, then they will actually be getting less power, therefore potentially less volume:

Power = V*I or V*(V/R)

In the case of 1.5V, power = 1.5*(1.5/32) as opposed to 1.5*(1.5/32), so 16Ω would give 141mW whereas 32Ω would give 70mW.

I'm sure whatever the headphone jack can supply will be more than enough.

 

[Elanzer]

My 32ohm Grado SR-80s can be powered by mostly anything, I would be pretty surprised if the Pandora couldn't handle them when most good PMP and smartphones drive them fine.

My 55ohm AKG K-240s are a different story, max volume is too quiet with PMPs, even on my Cowon D2 which is generally well regarded for it's power output. I got a cheap FiiO E5 headphone amp from dealextreme for $18 with free shipping, which boosted the volume about 20% overall and made them much better.

 

[Consequence_9]

I've actually got a headphone question too that I don't feel merits it's own topic - The headphones that came with my pre have a mic & a button (for pausing, etc.); now I know the mic should be supported just fine, but will I be able to use the button? I'm not sure how it's handled since the plug looks the same as any other headphones w/mic...

 

[Exoskull969]

My 32ohm Grado SR-80s can be powered by mostly anything, I would be pretty surprised if the Pandora couldn't handle them when most good PMP and smartphones drive them fine.

My 55ohm AKG K-240s are a different story, max volume is too quiet with PMPs, even on my Cowon D2 which is generally well regarded for it's power output. I got a cheap FiiO E5 headphone amp from dealextreme for $18 with free shipping, which boosted the volume about 20% overall and made them much better.

Usually they do not, i have same headphones. If i hook them up to my phone, mic works fine, but buttons dont. I dont know if it is possible to map these buttons out for a pandora since its open source there aren't exactly many boundrys i dont think

 

[Aninhumer]

Usually they do not, i have same headphones. If i hook them up to my phone, mic works fine, but buttons dont. I dont know if it is possible to map these buttons out for a pandora since its open source there aren't exactly many boundrys i dont think

The limitation on headphones with built in buttons to control an mp3 player is whether something has the hardware to support them, nothing to do with drivers.
I don't know if there are any standards, but I think they're only designed to work with the player they came with, so there's little chance of using them with the Pandora, or indeed anything else.

(Unless you're talking about USB headphones)

 

[Adventus]

I've used my Sennheiser HD25-1 IIs (70 Ohm) on the Pandora no problem, It's plenty loud enough.

 

[DragonAX]

A Higher impedance means less load. Coz Ohm's law etc etc... So you're not going to blow it up.

 

[kingoddball]

Hi Adventus,
Long time no see.
How's the Pandora holding up? Still worth all the hype?

 

[nikkopt]

Panda's DAC (Edit: not the dac, the amp ) can handle 8ohm and above. Anything below 8ohm can and probably will cause damage. The 150mW stated is for 16ohm, you will get higher power and less quality with 8ohm headphones (although they are hard to find, maybe some chinese crap ones) and lower power and higer quality with headphones above the 16ohm impedance.
Very high impedance headphones will be poorly driven cause you need like 9 or 10 volts to drive 150mW on some 600ohm headphones
Anyway, 150ohm and below will probably be ok.
Btw, i have a 320ohm headset and they aren't that bad on my PC (or even my ipod), they are ok if there is no one near me talking or making noise, they are not suited for outside use toh (unless i use an external amp or go for a walk in a quiet park) but then again, the pandora can output more power than an ipod..

 

[fraseyboy]

Panda's DAC (Edit: not the dac, the amp ) can handle 8ohm and above. Anything below 8ohm can and probably will cause damage. The 150mW stated is for 16ohm, you will get higher power and less quality with 8ohm headphones (although they are hard to find, maybe some chinese crap ones) and lower power and higer quality with headphones above the 16ohm impedance.
Very high impedance headphones will be poorly driven cause you need like 9 or 10 volts to drive 150mW on some 600ohm headphones
Anyway, 150ohm and below will probably be ok.
Btw, i have a 320ohm headset and they aren't that bad on my PC (or even my ipod), they are ok if there is no one near me talking or making noise, they are not suited for outside use toh (unless i use an external amp or go for a walk in a quiet park) but then again, the pandora can output more power than an ipod..

Guess I won't be using my 600ohm DT880's with them..

Speaking of that, is it possible to get a line-out from the Pandora somehow, for an external headphone amp?

 

[Tom`]

Guess I won't be using my 600ohm DT880's with them..

Speaking of that, is it possible to get a line-out from the Pandora somehow, for an external headphone amp?

Yes, the EXT port has line-out pins.

Are there any portable players that can drive 600-ohm headphones?

 

[nikkopt]

Guess I won't be using my 600ohm DT880's with them..

Speaking of that, is it possible to get a line-out from the Pandora somehow, for an external headphone amp?

Yes, the EXT port has line-out pins.

Are there any portable players that can drive 600-ohm headphones?

This one can, this pmp is a similar project as the Pandora.

 

[Poem58]

Never had heard of 600-ohm headphones. So off to Google where I got another board where it was mentioned they were likely meant for Line-out usage directly. So If you ordered the TV Cable you could place an adapter on the two RCA Line Outs to give you the jack for your headphones and from what I read it would work well.

Of course you'd have to try it to know and generally I find you have to string together multiple adapters/cables to get from what you have to what you want for connecting. Might just be easier to use different headphones. I cannot say enough about how much I love the sound quality of the in-ear Sony buds that go for around 25-35 bucks. Great range ( like 6-23,000hz ), Deep bass, crisp highs, took awhile for me to get used to having them IN my ears, but once I got used to them, I could never go back. Regular outer-ear phones sound weak unless they are the big studio cans.

 

[nikkopt]

Never had heard of 600-ohm headphones. So off to Google where I got another board where it was mentioned they were likely meant for Line-out usage directly. So If you ordered the TV Cable you could place an adapter on the two RCA Line Outs to give you the jack for your headphones and from what I read it would work well.

Where did you read that nonsense?
Headphones need amplification and the greater impedance, the greater the juice they need. Line out is a clean signal with no amplification at all, its purpose is to supply sound to a device that is going to add its own amplification, like a TV for instance.

 

[Poem58]

Never had heard of 600-ohm headphones. So off to Google where I got another board where it was mentioned they were likely meant for Line-out usage directly. So If you ordered the TV Cable you could place an adapter on the two RCA Line Outs to give you the jack for your headphones and from what I read it would work well.

Where did you read that nonsense?
Headphones need amplification and the greater impedance, the greater the juice they need. Line out is a clean signal with no amplification at all, its purpose is to supply sound to a device that is going to add its own amplification, like a TV for instance.

Heck, I don't know where it was, which is why I mentioned having to try it to know and using different headphones was likely a better option. I just put it out as a suggestion as I figured someone like yourself who's more "in-the-know" would simply correct it. It just goes to show that the internet is not a reliable source of info for something you don't know about! If you wanna find it, I just Googled 600-ohm headphones and I'm sure it was near the top. Maybe you can find it and enlighten them. As I stated, I'm happy with my buds and don't have any issues like that.

Edit: Found the link 2nd down...
http://homerecording...ead.php?t=81301

I got out of electronics and into computers in my early teens. I'll bet I've forgotten as much as I learned which is why I wouldn't spot issues like this anymore.

Edit #2 this might be helpful?
http://www.head-fi.org/forum/thread/325883/earphones-16-ohm-v-s-32-ohm-any-difference

 

[nikkopt]

Never had heard of 600-ohm headphones. So off to Google where I got another board where it was mentioned they were likely meant for Line-out usage directly. So If you ordered the TV Cable you could place an adapter on the two RCA Line Outs to give you the jack for your headphones and from what I read it would work well.

Where did you read that nonsense?
Headphones need amplification and the greater impedance, the greater the juice they need. Line out is a clean signal with no amplification at all, its purpose is to supply sound to a device that is going to add its own amplification, like a TV for instance.

Heck, I don't know where it was, which is why I mentioned having to try it to know and using different headphones was likely a better option. I just put it out as a suggestion as I figured someone like yourself who's more "in-the-know" would simply correct it. It just goes to show that the internet is not a reliable source of info for something you don't know about! If you wanna find it, I just Googled 600-ohm headphones and I'm sure it was near the top. Maybe you can find it and enlighten them. As I stated, I'm happy with my buds and don't have any issues like that.

Edit: Found the link 2nd down...
http://homerecording...ead.php?t=81301

I got out of electronics and into computers in my early teens. I'll bet I've forgotten as much as I learned which is why I wouldn't spot issues like this anymore.

Edit #2 this might be helpful?
http://www.head-fi.org/forum/thread/325883/earphones-16-ohm-v-s-32-ohm-any-difference

It happens
In an open discussion forum anyone can give an opinion, even if you don't know what you are talking about . The problem with that guy is that he was comparing microphones with headphones thinking that they work the same way.
I also use in-ear earphones (or ear-plugs) and it also took a while for me to get used to them but now i can't stand any other type, they are 32ohm like the ipod ones.