INTRO: While the plugs on most headphones are compatible with the

jacks on most gear that doesnt mean the two will play nice together.
Headphones vary widely in their power and drive requirements and
some sources are far more capable than others. Mismatches are
common. If youre not satisfied with what you have now, or youre
shopping for new gear, this article might be worth checking out. (photo:
Mikael Altemark).
THE PROBLEM: Put simply, a lot of headphones are not well suited
for a lot of sources and vice-versa. Theres more involved than just using
headphones with the right impedance. One of the most important things
to consider is the sensitivity (efficiency) of the headphones.
THE EASY WAY (ROUGH ESTIMATE): If the sensitivity of your
headphones is listed in dB/mW you can get a rough idea how much
amplifier power is needed with the following table. To use the table, find
your headphones sensitivity in the left column (use the next lowest
number if its between two numbers). Then look at the numbers in the
next 3 columns. Most should use a peak SPL of 110 dB (the middle
column). But if you dont like loud music, or listen to mostly pop music,
you might be happy with 105 dB. If you like it really loud, or listen to a
lot of audiophile recordings, use 115 dB. For example, the Sennheiser
HD600 is 97 dB/mW so it requires 20 mW to hit peaks of 110 dB. The
tricky part is your source needs to produce at least that much power at
the impedance of your headphones and some manufactures dont do a
good job specifying power output. More on that in the Tech Section. You
can also use the table in reverse to look up a sources output power and
see how that might match up to different headphones.
<
Pe
ak
dB/m
SP
W 105 110 115 L

85
88
91
94
97
100
103
106
109
112
115
118

100. 316. 1000

0
2
.0
158. 501.
50.1 5
2
251.
25.1 79.4 2
125.
12.6 39.8 9
6.3 20.0 63.1
3.2 10.0 31.6
1.6 5.0 15.8
0.8 2.5 7.9
0.4 1.3 4.0
0.2 0.6 2.0
0.1 0.3 1.0
0.1 0.2 0.5

SPECIFICATIONS DO MATTER: If you ask a lot of the audiophile

manufactures why they dont offer more complete specs for their
products they often counter with something like: specs dont really
matter. But in this case they very much do matter. Headphones playing
loudly enough with a particular source isnt magic or something that can
only be determined by trial and error. Its entirely determined by a few
numbers and some relatively simple math. Its not like all headphone
sources work well with nearly any headphones. Its very much the
oppositecompatibility problems are widespread. So the next time you
hear specs dont matter consider that person either mis-informed or
theyre intentionally trying to mislead you.
MAXIMUM POWER vs GAIN: A headphone amp needs both enough
maximum power and also enough gain to reach that power level with a
given source. Sources vary widely in their output. An iPod Touch line
output (LOD) only produces a maximum of 0.5 volts while most home
gear has at least four times more output. So just because your amp has

enough power you also need to make sure it has enough gain. See: All
About Gain
POWER REQUIREMENTS vs POWER HANDLING: Theres often
a big difference the amount of power headphones need to play loudly
enough versus the maximum power the manufacture claims they can
handle. When you see a specification that says something like
Maximum Power: 200 mW that doesnt mean you need, or even want,
200 mW. It only means if you use much more than 200 mW you might
damage the headphones.
FIVE FACTORS: If you want know everything that goes into
determining headphone and source compatibility there are five things to
consider:
Type Of Music (average volume) Music varies widely in its
average volume. Heavily compressed pop music has a much higher
volume than say an audiophile jazz recording.
Desired Maximum Output This is simply the maximum
perceived volume someone wants to listen at. It varies from person
to person but it can be estimated fairly accurately several different
ways.
Headphone Sensitivity This is how loud the headphones will
play for a given power or voltage level (from the specs or
professional measurements).
Headphone Impedance This makes a big difference in the next
item and is necessary for some conversions. This is nearly always
in the headphone specs.
Source Maximum Output This is how much power the source
can produce which varies depending on the impedance of the
headphones. This is often poorly specified but it is measured in

proper product reviews with full measurements. You can

sometimes make assumptions from what specs are provided.

AVERAGE (RMS) VOLUME:

Music varies widely in average
volume (also known as RMS
volume) which roughly equates to
the perceived loudness of the music.
Somewhere around the early 90s the
loudness wars started. Recording
engineers starting using more and more compression (which boosts the
soft parts of music) so their mix sounded louder than other mixes. As a
result, over the last two decades, the average volume of pop music has
slowly risen dramatically. With digital recordings the loudest anything
can be is 0 dBFS where the FS means Full Scale. This sets the
maximum peak levels on the recording. Average volume is measured in
dB below 0 dBFS and heres a rough guide:
Highly Compressed Pop (see pic above right): 6 dB to 9 dB
Well Recorded Pop: 9 dB to 12 dB
Well Recorded Acoustic/Jazz: 12 dB to 18 dB
Wide Dynamic Range Classical: 18 dB to 30 dB
WHATS RMS? RMS is just a geeky way to, for the purposes of this
discussion, describe the average level of a waveform. Its roughly 1/3 the
peak-to-peak value of a sine wave. For something as complex as music,
the RMS value is much more complicated but still can be calculated by
software analysis and measured by more sophisticated instruments.
WHY AVERAGE VOLUME MATTERS: If you include the extremes
theres a range of roughly 24 dB in average volume between different

kinds of music. How much is 24 dB? If we take highly compressed pop

recording and play it at given average volume a highly dynamic classical
recording might require 250 times more peak power! This isnt strictly a
fair comparison as if you really tried to play the classic recording at that
level you would likely be reaching for the volume control during the
louder parts. But it illustrates how important the source material is in
determining peak power requirements.
DIFFICULT MUSIC: The most challenging music is where the
average volume is always relatively low prompting you to turn up the
volume but there are very brief transients that are far higher in level.
This is most common in audiophile recordings where very little or no
compression is used and there are Sforzando (brief loud) notes in the
music. This is very different than say symphonic classical music that
builds up to fairly high sustained average levels (i.e. crescendos) that
will have you turning down the volume. Brief loud transients add impact
to the music without making it seem much louder. Worst case, these
brief transients can be 20+ dB above the average level requiring around
100 times more power than the average level. Compare the Flim and the
BBs New America track in Audacity to the Lada Gaga Just Dance
track (the two screen shots above). Even during the loud part of New
America the average level (light blue
portion) is still relatively low.
CLIPPING: When the source
doesnt have enough voltage and/or
current to meet the peak demands of
the music it clips off the peaks.
Studies have shown it may go
unnoticed if its infrequent and mild. But if it happens often, or a single
event is severe, it tends to be plainly audible as a harsh grunge. Its the
number one cause of plainly audible distortion in everything from cell
phones to car stereos. In the waveform shown to the right the yellow
trace is properly reproduced while the green trace is from a less capable

amp and you can see what happens to the peaks in the musictheyre
clipped off as if someone took
scissors to the music.
DESIRED MAXIMUM VOLUME:
So how loud is loud enough? To
establish the upper end of subjective
tastes, studies show the threshold of
pain starts around 120 dB SPL. It
seems reasonable to use that as the
absolute upper limit. 120 dB SPL is
also the level at which even short term exposure can cause permanent
hearing impairment. Studies have shown even sustained average levels
above 85 dB SPL can cause hearing damage. For more on these
thresholds see Sound Pressure Levels. The research indicates the
average maximum level should be at least 85 dB, and with classical
music, that puts the peak level up to 30 dB higher at a worst case 115
dB). For more typical music peak levels of 110 dB SPL are more
reasonable.
LIVE MUSIC: If you monitor sound pressure levels during live
performances, rock concerts typically average 110 dB with peaks of 115
dB to 120 dB. Classical performances typically have peaks hitting 110
dB and a much lower average level of around 90 dB or less.
TESTING THE THEORY WITH POP MUSIC: I used my nonfatiguing HD650 headphones plugged into my O2 amplifier, and played
several different selections of fairly well recorded pop music at levels as
loud as I would ever want to listenlikely into hearing damage territory
for any sort of sustained or cumulative listening. The HD650 needed
about 1.7 1.8 Vrms which works about to about 107 dB SPL. The
oscilloscope screenshot to the right (click for larger) shows the music
and the the horizontal dashed lines are the peak-to-peak value (about
4.8V). Notice the marked peak isnt all that far above the rest of the
music. For this kind of music, and my subjective idea of whats too

loud, Im close to the 110 dB SPL guideline established above. So far

the guideline is holding up well.
TESTING WITH FLIM & THE
BBs: Next I repeated the above test
but this time using the same Flim &
the BBs New America track shown
earlier. I set the volume to where the
loudest parts of the track were about
at my limit of still being
comfortable. Now the peaks hit 5.1
volts in one direction or about 10.2 volt peak-to-peak (the sample in this
case is about 9 V p-p). Thats about 3.2 3.6 Vrms which is about 114
dB from the HD650s on the peaks. This at the limit of or beyond what
most portable amps can manage (the O2 being a notable exception). This
correlates well with the 115 dB rule of thumb for highly dynamic music.
So, working backwards from the threshold of pain and hearing loss you
get 105 115 dB. Using live performance levels you get 105 115 dB.
And testing using my own music, ears, and headphones, I get 107 114
dB SPL. So, all things considered, 110 dB SPL seems like a good target
if you want to pick just one number. Add 5 dB for really wide dynamic
range music at live levels and subtract 5 dB if you listen to mostly Lady
Gaga or dont like it very loud.
HEADPHONE SENSITIVITY:
Headphones need widely different
amounts of power to play at the same
loudness. How loud they get with a
given amount of power is their
Sensitivity or Efficiency. This
number is properly specified as either
dB SPL per milliwatt (1/1000 of a
watt) or as dB SPL per volt. The older international standard used the
milliwatt method and the newer method uses voltage. But sometimes
manufactures dont specify either in their specssuch as Ultrasone in

the list below. The list shows a range of 87 dB to 117 dB at the same 1
mW of power. Thats 30 dB and, believe it or not, the HiFiMAN
headphones need 1000 times more power to play at the same level as the
TripleFi 10s! Some examples:
Sennheiser HD600: Sound pressure level (SPL) 97 dB (SPL) at 1
mW, 300 ohms
Sennheiser HD650 - Sound pressure level (SPL) 103 dB (1 Vrms),
300 ohms
Ultimate Ears TripleFi 10 - Sensitivity: 117 dB SPL/mW, 1 kHz,
32 ohms
HiFiMAN HE-5LE - Sensitivity: 87.5 dB, 1 mW, 38 ohms
Ultrasone Edition 10 Sound Pressure Level 99 dB (useless
spec!), 32 ohms
HEADPHONE IMPEDANCE: The impedance is listed at the end of
the specs for each of the above headphones. Its important to know the
impedance if you want to convert between watts and voltsto say
compare the HD600 to the HD650s sensitivity. Its also essential to
estimate how much output a given source will have using a particular
pair of headphones. Impedance is specified in ohms ().
SOURCE MAXIMUM OUTPUT: This is where things often get
vague. A lot of sources, including portable players, headphone DACs,
and headphone amps, have incomplete output power specifications. The
output power of any device is very dependent on the impedance of the
headphones (known as the load). Power is a function of voltage and
current. And, unfortunately, different sources have differing maximum
amounts of both. Some, like Apple, keep it all a secret while others, like
Sony, specify a useless value. The output impedance of the source
(which is rarely specified) also alters the maximum power into different

loads. So without complete specs it can be difficult to estimate. Here are

some typical examples:
Apple iPod Touch Power not specified, output impedance not
specified
Sony NWZS545 Audio Power Output: 5mW + 5mW (useless!),
output impedance not specified
NuForce uDAC-2 - Power output: 80mW x 2 @ 16-Ohm, output
impedance not specified
FiiO E7 Output power: 150mW (16 Ohm); 16mW (300 Ohm),
output impedance not specified
FiiO E9 - Output power: 1W (16); 80mW (600), output
impedance not specified
Leckerton UHA-4 - 20mW 16 ohms, 40mW 32 ohms, 50mW 100
ohms, 15mW 300 ohms, output impedance 0.4 ohms
HEADROOM: The 105 115 dB guideline established above works
fairly well without any extra headroom. But audio purists might want to
add another 25% 100% (1 3 dB) more power for a bit of extra
headroom so the amp is even less likely to clip any peaks.
SUMMARY: The table at the start of this article can be used to get in
the ball park and Ive tried to explain how average volume and
preferences also make a big difference. The more technically inclined
may want to keep reading and learn how to calculate volume levels,
convert between different specs, and more.

TECH SECTION (math ahead)

PERFECT SOURCES: As shown earlier, headphone and source

specifications range from non-existent to fairly complete. Some
headphone sources behave as a perfect voltage source. That means they
will always produce the same output voltage no matter what reasonable
load you connect. Even a headphone amp such as the $20 FiiO E5 can
produce the same 1.2 Vrms into any load from 16 ohms (about as low as
headphones go) to 600 ohms (the common upper limit). As long as you
dont need more than 1.2 V, it does a pretty good imitation of a perfect
voltage source. This is because it has a low output impedance and
enough current to drive 16 ohm loads without current limiting. With
such a source the max power output is given by:
P = (Vmax * Vmax) / Headphone Impedance
POWER EXAMPLES: For low impedance sources that have ample
current available, such as the FiiO E5, heres the same amp with 3
different headphones, note the widely different power outputs:
HD600 (300 ohms) & FiiO E5 (1.2 * 1.2)/300 = 4.8 mW
Beyer DT770 (80 ohms) & FiiO E5 - (1.2 * 1.2)/80 = 18 mW
TripleFi 10 (32 ohms) & FiiO E5 - (1.2 * 1.2)/32 = 45 mW
IMPERFECT SOURCES: In this case imperfect doesnt necessarily
mean bad, but several factors can limit the output of a given source. Any
source can only manage so much voltage even with no load at all. Its
limited by the internal power supply voltage, and with most portable
battery powered gear, is often relatively low. Most iPods can only
manage about 0.5 1.0 Vrms maximum voltage, the FiiO E7 1.2 Vrms
and the Leckerton UHA-4 about 2.2 Vrms into the highest impedance
headphones (600 ohms). As the impedance drops, instead of the voltage
staying the same, the voltage also may drop. This can be due to a
significant output impedance and/or reaching the internal current limits
(current limiting).

OUTPUT IMPEDANCE: Headphone sources have output impedances

ranging from less than 1 ohm to 120 ohms or more. As the output
impedance gets within about 1/8th of the headphone impedance it starts
to significantly decrease the output available. The output impedance
creates a voltage divider with the headphones. Its no longer close to
being a perfect source as explained above. If an amp has a 50 ohm
output impedance, and you plug in 50 ohm headphones, only one quarter
as much power is delivered to the headphones compared with a zero
ohm output impedance.
CURRENT LIMITING: Look at the specs for the Leckerton UHA-4
above. It puts out 50 mW at 100 ohms and that works out to 2.2 Vrms. If
it could manage the same 2.2 Vrms into 16 ohms it should put out (2.2 *
2.2)/16 = 302 mW. but Leckerton only lists 20 mW. It has an output
impedance of only 0.4 ohms so thats not the problem. So whats going
on? The answer is some sources run out of current as the load
impedance drops below some value. Thats whats happening with the
UHA-4. It just doesnt have the beans to maintain the same voltage into
loads much below 100 ohms. If a manufacture doesnt specify the power
output over a wide range of impedances its impossible to predict this
behavior. Some might be tempted to argue that low impedance
headphones are much more sensitive and need less power so this doesnt
matter, but thats not always true. The HiFiMAN headphones above,
many of the AKG models, and others, have low impedances and
relatively low sensitivities. And they would be a poor match with
something like the Leckerton.
CONNECTING THE DOTS: If a company doesnt specify the power
output around your headphone impedance youre forced to try one of the
following:
Power Specified At A Lower Impedance In this case you want
to figure out the voltage at the lower impedance and use that
instead. The math is V = SquareRoot( Power in Watts * Impedance

). So for the FiiO E7, for example, its SquareRoot ( 0.15 * 16 ) =

1.5 Vrms.
Power Specified At A Higher Impedance Its impossible to
accurately predict a sources behavior into impedances lower than
specified when you dont know the output impedance or maximum
current. The Leckerton UHA-4 example above shows how it goes
wrong with current limiting. And the E9 shows how it goes wrong
due to its higher (10 ohm) output impedance. The E9s 80 mW into
600 ohms gives: SquareRoot ( 0.080 * 600 ) = 6.9 Vrms which
should yield 3 watts at 16 ohms, but the E9 only manages 1 watt or
4 Vrms because a lot of power is lost due to the 10 ohm output
impedance. A very rough estimate can be obtained by calculating
the voltage at the next higher impedance, and then dividing that
value by four to calculate power at lower impedances.
To Many Unknowns If you dont know a devices output into an
impedance at least as low as your headphones, I would strongly
suggesting choosing a different source with better specified output
power (or voltage). Generally manufactures that dont offer
complete specs likely are trying to hide something or they many
not even know themselves. Their potential customers should not be
forced to guess if their gear will meet their needs. A better
specified product is a much safer investment.
BRINGING IT ALL TOGETHER: If your eyes havent glazed over
yet, its time to bring all of the above together. That involves converting
between volts, power and decibels.
LOGARITHMS: Dont panic, but the math involved requires a button
that might not be on your calculator usually labeled LOG (base 10
logarithms are known as LOG10 in spreadsheets) and the inverse usually
labeled 10x (base 10 antilog or POWER(10,value) in spreadsheets).
There are some online logarithm calculators that can also help with the
math.

CALCULATE SPL FROM POWER: If you have a given source, and

want to know how loud your headphones will get, you need to know the
sensitivity of your headphones in dB/mW and the output power of the
source in mW at the headphone impedance. Heres the equation and the
the FiiO E5 driving the HD600s (from above):
dBSPL = Sensitivity in dB/mW + 10 * LOG ( Pmax in mW)
97 + 10 * LOG ( 5.6 ) = 103.8 peak dB SPL for HD600 & FiiO
E5
CALCULATE SPL FROM VOLTAGE: If you know the voltage of
your source at your headphone impedance, and your headphones
sensitivity is rated at 1 volt, you can calculate the maximum output using
the FiiO E5 and the HD650:
dB SPL = Sensitivity in dB/volt + 20 * LOG ( Vmax)
103 + 20 * LOG ( 1.2 ) = 104.6 peak dB SPL for HD650 & FiiO
E5
HOW LOUD WILL IT BE? The rule of thumb established above is
110 dB SPL for peak levels with a reasonable range of 105 115 dB
depending on music and preferences. The E5 obviously falls a bit short
with either the HD600 or the HD650 but it might still get loud enough
for some tastesespecially with heavily compressed pop music with a
high average volume. So lets work the numbers the other way and see
how much power the same headphones ideally need.
CALCULATE POWER FROM SPL: Using the HD600, rated in
dB/mW you get:
Power in mW = Antilog ( ( Desired SPL - SPL at 1 mW ) / 10 )
Antilog ( ( 110 - 97 ) / 10 ) = 20 mW for HD600 to hit 110 dB SPL
peak

 Antilog ( ( 115 - 97 ) / 10 ) = 63 mW for HD600 to hit 115 dB SPL

peak
CALCULATE VOLTAGE FROM SPL: As above except for the
HD650 rates in volts we get:
Voltage RMS = Antilog ( ( Desired SPL SPL at 1Vrms) /20 )
Antilog ( ( 110 103) / 20 ) = 2.2 Vrms for HD650 to hit 110 dB
SPL peak
Antilog ( ( 115 103) / 20 ) = 4.0 Vrms for HD650 to hit 115 dB
SPL peak
TO CONVERT FROM OTHER SPECS: Sometimes you might find
things specified a bit differently. InnerFidelity, for example, measures
headphones at the voltage required for 90 dB SPL. Here are some
conversions:
90 dB Voltage to SPL at 1 Volt: SPL at 1 Volt = 90 + 20 * LOG
( 1 / V90db )
Voltage to Power : Power in Watts = ( V * V ) / Impedance
Power to Voltage: Voltage = SquareRoot ( Power * Impedance )
Decibels from Two Voltages: dB = 20 * LOG ( V1 / V2 )
Decibels from Two Powers: dB = 10 * LOG ( P1 / P2 )
Volts p-p To Volts RMS: Vrms = Vp-p * 0.354
Vrms to Vp-p: Vp-p = Vrms * 2.83
DOING IT RIGHT: The best manufactures specify a devices power
output at several impedancesincluding the extremes of 16 and 600

ohms. The Leckerton example earlier is one example and another is

Violectrics Specification Page. The best measurements do the same
thing. Here, for example, is the output of the O2 amplifier vs THD into
several loads. You can see the distortion remains very low until the amp
reaches clipping and then the distortion quickly goes nearly vertical and
off the top of the graph. The 1% THD point is the generally accepted
level for maximum output. The O2 has current limiting to help avoid
damaging low impedance headphones. Thats why the 15 ohm and 33
ohm output voltages are lower. But youll notice at 80, 150 and 600
ohms the voltages are almost identical at about 7.3 Vrms because the
output impedance is very low and the O2 is behaving essentially as a
perfect voltage source:
MEASURING MAXIMUM OUTPUT: To measure output power
correctly specialized equipment is required. RMAA has no concept of
absolute levels (such as voltage) and it cant plot output vs THD as seen
above so its not very helpful. Its also easy to damage a soundcards
input which typically have a maximum input of 2 Vrms or less. You can
make a very crude measurement using an oscilloscope with a known
load resistance (dont use headphones) and increasing the level until
barely visible clipping is observed. Ideally the test is done with a 60 hz
sine wave and a DMM used to read the RMS voltage (most DMMs are
only accurate around 60 hz and not at higher frequencies). You can also
read the peak-to-peak voltage from the scope but thats less accurate.
Tests should be brief (only a few seconds at full power) into lower
impedance loads as sustained sine wave testing can exceed the thermal
limits of many devices. Without a scope or distortion/audio analyzer its
very difficult to get accurate output measurements.
BOTTOM LINE: Hopefully, especially for the more technically (or at
least mathematically) inclined, this article sheds a bit more light on
power output and volume levels. Once you get past the math, the main
hurdle is incomplete specifications. The best remedy for shoddy specs is
to simply spend your money on products from companies that are not

afraid to publish detailed specs. The others will eventually get the
message.