Over-ear headphones that are easy to drive?

Another factor I’d add to the above list is your personal listening habits and preferences. This is vaguely alluded to in Chat GPT’s references to “sound quality”.

For some people, especially some newbies to audio or headphones, volume is the only sound quality that really matters. Especially if they aren’t able to get enough from their current setups, and are trying to push the hardware to levels it wasn’t really designed to go.

The opposite scenario is discussed in the topic below, btw. Namely, what happens if you try to drive a louder, higher sensitivity headphone or IEM with an amp that has too much power for it. Problems can potentially ensue from either type of arrangement, though the sound quality will usually be effected in different ways…

If you have all the specs for an amp and headphones, then it is also possible to compute the maximum decibels that are possible in your setup. If you don’t know what levels you like to listen at though, then that sort of info may be less useful. And some people like to aim for more headroom in their setups than others.

The peak level required in the midrange for a THX certified sound system, for example, is 105 dB (85 dB for reference level + 20 dB of headroom). This is measured outside the ear btw. And the low frequency levels can go a bit higher in these systems. Some headphone enthusiasts will target even higher levels though. I’ve heard numbers in the 120 to 125 dB range quoted by some of these folks. If you’re listening with peak levels in that range though, then the reference listening levels (at -20 dBFS) could be as high as about 100 dB!! Which is pretty dang loud, and likely to be overkill (and also damaging) for most listeners.

The type of content you listen to also matters though. Because if you like to listen to full dynamic range recordings, then you’re likely to need a bit more volume or headroom than if you mostly listen to recordings with the dynamic range more compressed.

I mostly listen to music on YouTube, where the dynamic range of the audio is usually heavily compressed in order to boost its loudness. (When was the last time you heard a BTS video that sounded quiet? Hint: almost never. :wink: ) Most CD recordings are also loudness-boosted. And if you mostly listen to these kind of louder recordings, then you generally won’t need as much volume in your amp or headphones. And are more likely to be turning the volume down to achieve a comfortable listening level on a reference system.

Higher quality recordings and movie/video soundtracks will generally be less compressed though, and have a wider dynamic range. So you may need a bit more volume in order to comfortably hear the quieter passages in these types of recordings. (The THX reference levels should generally be sufficient though.)

Another factor to consider, that could be part of your listening habits, is whether you use EQ. Because EQ will typically lower the overall dB level of the audio going into a pair headphones (or speakers) by a few dB, or in some cases more. This generally won’t have a dramatic effect on your amplification requirements. But a few dB is a few dB!.. So it does have some. And chances are you’ll be cranking the volume up a little higher on an amp in order to compensate for the negative gain/preamp settings that are necessary in your EQ to avoid any clipping of the audio content.

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