Thank you Sir Jojo D. May i kindly ask what are some of the points that i should look for when looking for a headphone amp/headphones. I believe loudspeakers are the reverse of headphones when it comes to impedance po.
Also, will it benefit if i use Rotel RA04 as an headphone amp to drive 300 above headphone impedance?
Thanks for the clarification.
You're welcome po.
As a general rule, most headphone amps and headphone output of amps (like the RA04) are optimized for 32 ohms impedance cans. Though technically, all these cans must present an industry standard impedance of 120 ohms but let's not go there, it would be blurry when we talk about technicalities so let's make it simple. Current is plenty with portable devices so they stick with lower impedance while high impedance cans require less current, they do require larger voltage swings.
Most cans are 32 ohms nowadays to support most portable media players, portable/desktop DACs, laptops, etc. So if you are hunting for something that should work amp'd or not amp'd then I strongly suggest you stick with 32 ohm cans.
300 ohm to 600 ohm cans are what I refer to as "Specialty" type of cans. Aside from the fact that you can already buy a second hand Volkswagen car for it's price, it needs special amplification to get the most out of it.
To answer your last question about the RA04, the answer is no because it is also optimized for 32 ohm impedance headphones.
