FP3+ maximal headphones impedance

Discuss The Products
1

Any idea what’s the maximal usable headphones impedance for FP3? 16Ω? 32Ω? 50Ω? More?

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2

Good question. There is a Guid for that.
Some have given information about the impedance, others not. For a crack like you it is surely no problem to find out by the Manufacturer they named.

FP3: List of compatible headphones and headsets

And here are the Specifications from the Hardware

x

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3

“List” consisting of 6 entries. Heh.

Anyway if the audio chip is indeed WCD9335 then it seems 120 mW (typical) into 32 Ω; 150 mW (minimum) into 16 Ω applies. Hence 32Ω might be the highest usable.

Thanks :slight_smile:

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4

Done with pleasure. BTW, the List is 6 weeks old, so …

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5

[waiting for FP3+ delivery] Oof, my Bose QC15 seem to be 73Ω… but otoh I think they might have internal amplifiers, let’s see…

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6

I’ll have to look into it more. I have no idea how “plug & play” portable amps are in the non-Apple de-Googled world.

7

I don’t think, that there is a maximum impedance. Depending on the sensitivity of the device, it might only play not loud enough for your ears.

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8

Let me rephrase that. “Maximal useful headphones impedance” then.

9

That depends on the device and your prefered volume. I guess a 600Ω headphone can be used, if you don’t want to mimic a techno club.

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10

A, in my opinion, qualified explanation about the headphone impedance. Not specifically for smartphones but about the technology.
Why Impedance Matters

Quote: … the range of impedance in headphones spans from 8 ohms all the way up to 600 ohms.
x

11

Fun fact the beyerdynamic DT 990 which are 600Ω are absolutely spectacular (and really cheap). But probably best used with some desktop headphone amp.

12

The old ones are 600Ω, current versions have 32Ω, 80Ω or 250Ω.
I always liked the closed DT770 more, I still have the old 600Ω version from the eighties, I will test them, when I’m at home.

13

I once plugged 250 Ohms into my old phone, it played but it got pretty warm…

FP does play 250 Ohm, not sure how long the internal amp holds up (after my experience with my old phone I don’t want to try, actually, using a cheap headphone amp for it).

Typical headphones for phones would likely be around 8-32, so I guess 32 would be my recommended max.

14

With higher impedance of the headphone, less current and therefore less power is possible, so there should be no warming of the phone.
But I will check today, as yesterday I prefered to ride my bike and not test the FP3 :slight_smile:.

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15

So I thought, too, and in earlier times (™) I had one of Sony Ericson’s Walkman phones, with 80 Ohm phones attached to it, for hours and days, no problem.

Could well be though, that my old phone was either weird or defective, who knows.

Anyways, I’d say FPs internal amp is probably not made for powering larger headphones anyhow…

16

So, now I tested them, it works, but as expected, it’s not very loud. It might work at home, but not very impressive. The Beyerdynamic T90 with 250Ω works quite well, although not as loud as a 32Ω headphone like the Philips Fidelio X2 for example.
So I still think, there is no real limit for the impedance, it depends on what you like to do with the headphones. For a mind blowing, ear shattering volume, you will always need an amplifier.

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