Recommended headphone impedance

According to the manual, the Headphone output is rated at 35 Ω but, as far as I know, there are no special limitations or recommendations on headphone impedance. Any headphone will work.

However, if you want to be picky, they say that "most headphones work best when the output impedance is less than 1/8th the headphone impedance" (35 x 8 = 280 Ω)... but that is for audiophile petulants :D

http://nwavguy.blogspot.com/2011/02/headphone-amp-impedance.html
 
Last edited:
When using the. III, higher Impedance is where it’s at, for the best sound , and another vote for the pricey but amazing Sennheiser HD 600..
 
So, we have shatteredsquare saying as low as possible and bradlake saying as high as possible... :)

I had the Sennheiser HD600 (300Ω). I sold them because I prefer the Audeze LCD-2 (70Ω). There is a huge quality difference in favor of the Audeze. What I hear through the LCD-2 is what I hear through the Mackie HR824 monitors, what I heard through the HD600 was not.

Impedance is not an indicator of the quality of a headphone; that is just another internet myth. If you have a capable headphone amplifier, like the Axe-FX, do not choose your headphones based on its impedance! (unless you want to use them with a bad quality low-power amplifier, like a cellular phone)
 
Last edited:
If you have a capable headphone amplifier, like the Axe-FX, do not choose your headphones based on its impedance! (unless you want to use them with a bad quality low-power amplifier, like a cellular phone)

It's not an indicator of quality, but if you have high impedance output and low impedance load, you'll get low damping factor, so while you may like the resulting sound, it's not likely to be accurate.
 
It's not an indicator of quality, but if you have high impedance output and low impedance load, you'll get low damping factor, so while you may like the resulting sound, it's not likely to be accurate.

Who said the Axe has a high impedance output?
 
I bought a pair of Audiotechnica ATH-40x’s to use with the Helix when I first got it, but they sounded terrible. Great for everything else though! Apparently the Helix needed high impedance headphones to sound good.
Anyway, now I get only get chance to play late at night I was thinking of revisiting headphones and tried the 40x’s with the Axe 3. They sounded a lot better than with the Helix, but not great compared to the power cab I normally use.

I don’t mind investing in some high impedance headphones, but am worried they won’t sound any better. I thought this thread was well timed, but I’m still as confused!
 
Back
Top Bottom