Not sure which impedance setting to use on audio card

[B3nchm4rk]

The audio setup I'm using in this case is:

Audio card: Sound Blaster ZxR
Headset: Sennheiser G4ME Zero

The headset is rated at 150 Ohms of impedance.

The audio card has 2 impedance settings: 32 Ohms for most standard headphones, and 600 Ohms for high-end headphones. I've been using it at 32 thus far, but I feel like I'm obviously not fully utilizing the headset's potential. Would setting the card at 600 Ohms potentially damage the headset? I'd rather not destroy my $200+ headset!

 

[photonboy]

Shouldn't be an issue, however turn the VOLUME down to zero within Windows before inserting the headphones.

Then only raise a very small amount at a time.

 

[B3nchm4rk]

Shouldn't be an issue, however turn the VOLUME down to zero within Windows before inserting the headphones.

Then only raise a very small amount at a time.

Ok great. I'm still new to headphone audio. Correct me if I'm wrong, those impedance numbers are represented at maximum output levels, right? So assuming I keep the volume in check (not that I generally run it anywhere near max) there shouldn't be any issues?

 

[Killmeplsok]

Having your output with lower impedance than your headphones is almost always better than having an output impedance exceeds your headphone impedance. Read up "damping factor" on wikipedia. No, it will not destroy your headphone, what it might do to your headphone is make it losses control in term of sound quality, especially bass. So instead of improving the sound quality, it could make it worse.

You could get an amp instead if you're really concern about it, which can be very cheap.

 

[webphantom.hc]

Having your output with lower impedance than your headphones is almost always better than having an output impedance exceeds your headphone impedance. Read up "damping factor" on wikipedia. No, it will not destroy your headphone, what it might do to your headphone is make it losses control in term of sound quality, especially bass. So instead of improving the sound quality, it could make it worse.

You could get an amp instead if you're really concern about it, which can be very cheap.

Sorry for bumping this old thread, but is the first thing that you see when searching in google and the "best solution" answer is absolutely wrong.

The output impedance and the max supported headphone impedance are different things.

Some sound cards supports up to 600ohm headphones, which means you can connect any headphones of any impedance up to 600ohm without any problems.

Connecting in example, a 300ohm headphones to a sound card that supports up to 80ohm means your sound card doesn't have enough power to correctly move the headphone drivers through all frequencies, causing sound distortion and innacuracy.

Connecting a 15ohm headphones to a soundcard amping to 600ohm will never damage your headphones and it does not produce any issues on the sound. It's like having a 2000w power supply on a computer that uses only 300w on full load. It only ensures your headphones will have enough power when needed.

You should always use the 600ohm option on your sound card when you are using headphones with high impedance (most likely over 80ohm).

Btw, i'm an audiophile

Regards.