I have been testing headphones out with the kemper power head. I tried the dt770 250 ohm (I didn't like these at all ), I tried the dt990 250 ohm (sounded cool at first and very hifi - but then became fatiguing with too much bass and treble - not balanced sounding), and the dt880s 250 (sounded great - very balanced in all frequencies). I also bought a pair of dt880s 600ohm just to try them and compare them to the dt880 250 ohm headphones. I feel like the 600ohm version sounds good, but I am afraid of the lack of volume. I have to pretty much crank the master volume all the way up, and the regular volume knob up (and sometimes the gain has to be turned up) pretty high and some frequencies are still sounding to soft and drowned out - plus the original character of the profile is changed due to all the increases in volume and gain. I am sure if the dt880 premium 600 ohm were amped up with an expensive external headphone amp then the 600s could sound amazing, but not sure if its worth it. I may just stick with the dt880 250 ohm. Do you have any advice or personal experience in testing these out? What do you think...?
Headphones
- hendrix.stratman
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I own DT 880 250Ohm and DT 770 Pro 80Ohms. 2 different horses. I own a Roland Quad capture and I have to crank the volume with the DT880, but it sounds much more neutral than the DT770. I use DT770 to record vocals and acoustic guitars in order to avoid any bleeding from the headphones, but I prefer the more balanced tone of DT770. I had also an AThM50 and M40X and both sounded much more Hi-Fi than the DT880...
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The higher impedance of headphones, the lower volume output. If I'm not mistaken Kemper's HP output is 33Ohms.
If you get quality HP amp you should get quality singal. The one in Kemper is very good.
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With the DT770 Pro, 80 Ohms, my Kemper headphone output, and my Focusrite output, are a very close match, nearing identical.
This was the most important factor for me, being able to record and playback, and not feel like something was missing, or different than the source.
I also have have the Sennheiser HD280, which I like a lot too, with Kemper and Focusrite.
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A higher Ω value doesn't mean higher-quality headphones.
My HD25-1 pair, my all-time favourite, most-balanced-and-natural-sounding headphone set, is 70Ω. It was $600 Aussie 17 years ago, and is the most-used model by pro sports commentators (even the WWE, and you know how their gear gets treated sometimes!) 'cause it's so robust, sounds natural and delivers more-than-enough level when paired with any headphone amp out there because of the low-ohm value.
IOW, higher values most-definitely don't correlate to higher headphone quality.
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Why di you think kemper put in a 33ohm headphone jack, and not something more compatiable with a higher quality 600ohm headphone considering that a kemper is a studio grade/quality product.
I don't think. I just wasn't 100% sure, I remembered it was somewhere around 30 something:
https://www.kemper-amps.com/pr…/technical-specifications
ANALOG OUTPUTS
Master L and R Outputs:
XLR balanced, ¼ inch TS unbalanced with ground lift max. output level: XLR +22dBu, TS +16dBu
Monitor Output:
¼ inch TS unbalanced with ground lift max. output level: +16dBu
Direct Output/Send:
¼ inch TS unbalanced with ground lift max. output level: +16dBu
Output Dynamic Range:
>108 dB
Dedicated Headphone Output:
¼ inch TRS stereo, 33Ohm -
As I understand it, the higher impedance the less harmonic distortion, but will require more power to drive.
I have just bought a pair of 250ohm DT770, so I will give them a go and update this post.
Edit: Just had a session with them - superb. Volume is fine. Very spacious sounding despite being closed. I would recommend them. You can pick these up for around £109 at the moment. Bargain.
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I think it must come down to the design of the things, 'cause my HD25-1 pair is rated at 70 Ω and is insanely-accurate even at ridiculous volumes.