Low impedance headphones vs high impedance

Same Headphones but different Impedance, Let’s find out what does that means?

IMPEDANCE

Impedance is a measure of efficiency and it is measured in Ohms.

The more impedance that you have the better sound output you get.

RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN IMPEDANCE AND AUDIO

With more impedance, you have the better sound output you get. 

LOW IMPEDANCE HEADPHONE

Low impedance headphones have very low resistance. So, it can easily be powered with low voltage to function properly.

It works great even without Audio Interface.

It gives you a lot more volume, when you drive them up, you going to find a comfortable level much quicker than the high impedance headphone.

Low Impedance ranges between 32-ohms to 80 ohms.

Headphones for mobile devices with low impedance headphones are great.

HIGH IMPEDANCE HEADPHONE

High impedance headphones have more resistance. So, it needs more voltage to function properly.

It works great with the Audio Interfaces and with its dedicated Headphone Amplifier.  

One has to drive it much further to get the same output as one has to do with the low impedance headphones.

Low Impedance ranges between 250-ohms or above.

So, what does that really mean? You must buy high impedance Headphones?

If you do that and connect it with your mobile phone or computer you will notice that there is not a lot of volume behind them because your portable device is not strong enough to give them the amount of power they need to function at the same level as low impedance level.

If you are working in any studio or audio-mixing something you must probably be choosing high impedance headphones.

So, 32-ohm headphones are going to work great with a computer, smartphone or tablet.

If you have high impedance headphones and you have a low audio output device like a computer.

If you use high impedance headphones with a low audio output you not going to hear anything. In this case, you can connect a DAC it amplifies your low audio output and make it sound better.

Disclaimer: Do not connect your low impedance headphone to the DAC or amplifier it may distort your headphone.