Headphone monitoring fidelity

    Greetings!


    I was wondering if someone with more experience than me could shed a little light on a fidelity issue Ive noticed when auditioning rigs with headphones.


    My gear


    Sennheiser HD-280 PRO Headphones


    http://en-us.sennheiser.com/pr…ise-cancelling-hd-280-pro


    Focusrite Saffire PRO 24 DSP connected to non-power rackmount kemper via SPDIF
    http://us.focusrite.com/firewi…rfaces/saffire-pro-24-dsp





    What I have experienced is things sound more hi-def when auditioning profiles with my HD-280s plugged directly into the kemper headphone jack.




    It got me wondering if it is an impedance issue?


    My focusrite is clocking from the kemper at 44KHZ and Ive set mixcontrol back to factory default.


    Maybe I need a headphone amp for my audio interface?


    I ask, and hope that someone can help as I was thinking of picking up Beyerdynamic DT880 250Ohms.. but if I already have an issue with the 64Ohm HD280's..


    Thanks in advance



    I have the same headphones, but my KPA isn't in the same spot as my interface right now, which is a M-Audio Firewire 410. I'll try to test tomorrow. PM me if you don't hear back in 2 days.


    I did have that issue with my Line 6 Pod HD 500. They recommend high impedance headphones, and there was a perceivable difference when plugging the phones into my interface vs directly into the Pod. I want to say that if there was any difference between the KPA and interface, it was much closer than Pod vs interface.

    Tried it out and while I didn't do a blind test by getting my wife to swap the headphones from the KPA to the interface, I think it was pretty clear that there was NO discernible difference which device I connected to. I will say that at higher volumes, the headphones tend to exhibit a bit more crackle (but again it was equally prevalent on the KPA and interface). I'm not sure if that's something with an impedance issue, the nature of the headphones themselves, or simply that you can hear higher frequencies and such subtle details better through (particularly isolating) headphones in general compared to open air speakers. I try to keep them at a medium volume, particularly for solo guitar.


    I hope that helps. I've often thought about replacing these, but for the price, all the reviews seem to indicate these are the "best". If you end up getting a different set or do get an interface and hear a significant difference, I'd like to know about it.

    Depending on device's output impedance, HP's impedance may play a critical role in regards to fidelity to the signal. The matter is a bit complex, i hope to have time to translate an article I wrote time ago to give some headlines about choosing the right HPs in regards to the device in use. It might help some user choosing a pair, or choosin the best output device - provided the ones available exhibit different output impedance.


    :)