Understanding Headphones Impedance In Details

Impedance happens to be one of the most basic specifications that come with every quality of headphones and also with other audio sources. But only a few of you know what it is. Impedance has a great role to play when it comes to buying a new pair of headphones.

If you want to know more about impedance, you are in the right place. In this article, we are going to tell you what is impedance in headphones.

What is the basic concept of impedance?

Before moving on to any further details, let us first try with what is impedance in headphones.

In order to describe impedance, you need to have knowledge about many other terms as well. However, if you view it from an electronic circuit then the impedance of the audio source can be written as output impedance. On the other hand, the impedance of the headphones is considered to be load impedance.

When it comes to headphone impedance, it is rated somewhere between 8 to 600 ohms with a standard around 32ohms which is very common.

Things To Know About Headphone Impedance

Here are a few important points that will help you to understand the concept of impedance better.

1. Impedance is basically a technical measurement which is actually hard to explain in simple words. It takes scientific jargon and equations to bring out the actual meaning of impedance. This is why people usually break down impedance as high and low impedance when it is related to headphones.

2. Headphones that come with a low impedance, requires very less power to deliver high levels of audio. For example, headphones with low impedance will work the best with equipment with weak amplification such as phones, portable music players and other portable devices.

3. Just the opposite of low impedance headphones, we have the high impedance headphones which take more power to deliver high levels of audio. This keeps them protected from any sort of damage that is caused by overloading. Not just that, but you can also use these headphones with a wide range of devices.

4. When using more powerful amplifiers, low impedance headphones are more susceptible to blowouts. For example, if you try to connect cheap quality headphones with low impedance to a DJ mixer and turn it on, you are sure to blow them out.

5. The impedance of a pair of headphones is heavily determined by the driver’s voice coil. You can avail headphones with various impedance levels such as 32, 16 and 8 ohms. The power supplied by the source of audio is different at different levels. This may happen due to many reasons such as being limited due to battery-powered. At lower power levels, the lower impedance in the earbuds can allow higher levels of volume.

From the above points, hopeful the concept of impedance is clear. Now that you know what is impedance in headphones, you should pay attention to it the next time you go to buy a new pair of headphones.