I don’t currently own any high impedance headphones. The most difficult pair I have to drive would probably be my Audeze LCD-X, which even though they are low impedance they require a fair amount of power. They sound fantastic, as do my Focal Clear’s.
Apologies if that wasn’t useful.
Edit:
My comments are regarding the original Rupert Neve Designs RNHP.
It’ll depend on what you mean by “hard to drive”.
If you’re just talking about high-impedance, which seems to be how certain other places define “hard to drive”, then no, it isn’t a problem (voltage swing isn’t an issue).
Sensitivity is a more important factor since that, along with the impedance, determines how much raw current and total power is required for a given SPL.
What headphones are you thinking of?
Correct, I mean sensitivity when I say hard to drive cans.
I own - LCD2C open and Closed back, LCDX, Focal Clear and Stellia, HD600, 650, 660s, HD800s, going to get the Verite and Focal Utopia’s.
I also wonder what the difference is between this AMP at 1K and the 500 dollar model? They have the same output power it looks like.
This AMP vs Schitt Magni (Is the Magni over the top do you really need that much power?):
As measured with typical headphones, Z=44 Ω: 3.617 VAC RMS @1kHz = 300mW RMS
16 Ω typical Load: 1.933 VAC RMS @1kHz = 230mW RMS
150 Ω typical Load: 5.108 VAC RMS @1kHz = 175mW RMS
Magni Heresy:
Maximum Power, 16 ohms: 2.8W RMS per channel
Maximum Power, 32 ohms: 2.4W RMS per channel
Maximum Power, 50 ohms: 1.6W RMS per channel
Maximum Power, 300 ohms: 410mW RMS per channel
Maximum Power, 600 ohms: 215mW RMS per channel
I wanted to buy this AMP then I saw the output power. So I thought I would ask around.
It has plenty of power for all of those.
The casework.
And some minor component tweaks, that don’t amount to anything audible (nor usefully measurable).
If measurements are your thing, the Schiit Magni Heresy beats either of the Rupert Neve models.
Thank you very much for your help. I really appreciate it.