Headphone Heights

RE: Pass Labs should have a headphone amp available by the end of the year.

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A resistor or transformer based adapter might work but it's not the best or most elegant solution, IMO. Dedicated headphone amps exist for a reason.

The typical lo-fi stereo receiver or integrated amp with a headphone jack tacked onto the faceplate is a nothing more than a resistive adapter in most cases. The results are less than optimal, muddy bass being one of the most obvious colorations in resistor-based setups.

A transformer-based adapter could sound slightly better than a resistor-based one, but as long as the signal is being routed through any adaptive device it is probably being diluted and degraded to an unnecessary degree.
OTOH, a good dedicated headphone amp draws directly from it's own transformer and provides the cleanest, clearest signal transmission possible. A dedicated headphone amp often might provides the user with adjustable impedance settings too, since some headphones like to be current-driven while others like to be voltage-driven.

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