audio output transformer wire color codes

The lower moving mass of the 250- and 600-ohm headphones’ voice coils is lighter than the 32-ohm models, and the lower mass is part of the reason high-impedance headphones sound better. The thinner wires have more windings (layers of wire) on the voice-coil than the lower-impedance Beyerdynamic headphones, which have thicker and heavier, easier-to-manufacture voice coils. Stereophile did not mince words with their opinion of that standard and claim. This was so prevalent that even as recently as 1996, the standard recommended source output resistance was 120 ohms, and went so far as to claim that source impedance had very little effect on the performance. 600 ohm designation on Beyerdynamic DT880 plug.

Without getting too heavily into the math behind it, the high impedance load preserves the source output voltage to be able to drive multiple pairs of headphones. In some cases, high impedance headphones were designed to chain multiple pairs in parallel for pro studio applications. These headphone circuits consequently worked best with high impedance headphones. Pre-1990s receivers and pro audio equipment often used resistors to attenuate the speaker output power (wattage) to create a simple and inexpensive headphone circuit. Headphones with impedance greater than 100 ohms are typically older or professional studio specific designs. Why are some Headphones High or Low Impedance? In general, low impedance headphones (which we will hereby define as below 50 ohms) are designed to work properly with portable devices, as they can efficiently reproduce adequate sound quality and volume from a low voltage device.Ĭonversely, high impedance headphones (50 ohms and greater) usually require robust amplification to perform their best. Equal source and load impedance maximize the power we can transfer between the amp and headphones, but this typically reduces frequency bandwidth so it’s not what we want in high fidelity.

For now, it is enough to understand that audio source and headphone impedances should not be equal and that headphones with different impedances will require different sources. We will look at the rules around finding that perfect match in some detail below. “The single most important technological factor to consider when looking for a headphone amplifier that works well with your ear phones is impedance matching.” – RHA Audio

Audio output transformer wire color codes