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Topic: AKG K240 - Good for use with laptop/cellphone? (Read 6389 times) previous topic - next topic
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AKG K240 - Good for use with laptop/cellphone?

Hi,
I read about these headphones and found them on Amazon at ~68$:
https://www.amazon.com/AKG-240-Semi-Open-Studio-Headphones/dp/B0001ARCFA

I see that they have a 55ohm impedance.
Will they be good for listening to music from my laptop/cellphone? Is there a big difference in that sense from 32ohm impedance headphones?
I plan to use them at work. Should I expect sound leakage from them?

Any ideas for good alternatives at the price?

Thanks :)

Re: AKG K240 - Good for use with laptop/cellphone?

Reply #2 –
Quote
I see that they have a 55ohm impedance.
Will they be good for listening to music from my laptop/cellphone? Is there a big difference in that sense from 32ohm impedance headphones?
Possibly no difference...

There are couple of effects of impedance -

 - IF the headphone amp/driver circuit has an output capacitor, the capacitor and headphone resistance (impedance) form a high-pass filter.    The lower the headphone impedance, the higher the cut-off frequency.  IF the capacitor is too small (in microfarads) you may loose bass with low-impedance headphones (higher impedance is potentially better). 

 - Headphone impedance is not constant over the frequency range.    If the headphone output impedance* isn't low relative to the (nominal) headphone impedance, you'll get frequency response variations.    So again, higher impedance is potentially better IF the amplifier impedance is too high.  (Headphones are tested/specified using a low source-impedance amplifier).

 - Power is inversely related to impedance** and with lower impedance you get more power (Watts or milliwatts), all-else being equal.    That might mean that the higher impedance headphones are not as loud...    Let's say you have a pair of 32-Ohm headphones playing and you're getting 1 milliwatt.  If you unplug them and plug-in a pair of 64-Ohm headphones, you'll be getting 1/2 milliwatt.     The power (watts or milliwatts) is related to "loudness", an half the power is -3dB quieter...   with the same headphones...      But, if the 64-Ohm headphones are more efficient (or more "sensitive"), they could actually be louder, or they could be much quieter, etc.     So, you'd have to check the sensitivity of both headphones to know if one is louder than the other.   



* The actual source impedance of a headphone amps/outputs is rarely specified/published...  They usually just specify the acceptable headphone load impedance...  

** Impedance and resistance (both measured in Ohms) are the resistance to current flow.   With lower resistance and the same voltage, you get more current (Ohm's Law).   And, power is the product of Voltage x Current.   

Re: AKG K240 - Good for use with laptop/cellphone?

Reply #3 –
Quote from: odedyer on
Hi,
I read about these headphones and found them on Amazon at ~68$:
https://www.amazon.com/AKG-240-Semi-Open-Studio-Headphones/dp/B0001ARCFA

I see that they have a 55ohm impedance.
Will they be good for listening to music from my laptop/cellphone? Is there a big difference in that sense from 32ohm impedance headphones?

Probably.

Quote
I plan to use them at work. Should I expect sound leakage from them?

Probably.

Quote
Any ideas for good alternatives at the price?

IEMs are the better solution when it comes to accuracy and leakage suppression for the price.

Re: AKG K240 - Good for use with laptop/cellphone?

Reply #4 –
Quote from: odedyer on
Hi,
I read about these headphones and found them on Amazon at ~68$:
https://www.amazon.com/AKG-240-Semi-Open-Studio-Headphones/dp/B0001ARCFA

I see that they have a 55ohm impedance.
Will they be good for listening to music from my laptop/cellphone? Is there a big difference in that sense from 32ohm impedance headphones?
I plan to use them at work. Should I expect sound leakage from them?

Any ideas for good alternatives at the price?


Headphones that are used with embedded audio interfaces such as those in cellphones and PCs should be as sensitive as is reasonably possible because of their often quite  limited maximum output.

Several means are used for rating the sensitivity of headphones, but the one you are interested in is given in  dB SPL per volt.

I did a little searching around, and found that headphones like the Sennheiser HD 280s may be a good choice because of their roughly 50 ohm impedance and higher rated sensitivity than many  others.  There are too many headphones to expect someone else to do your legwork in this area at your whim and for free. The research is up to you!

The headhones  used with PC should either have the flattest highest impedance curves because some embedded audio interfaces, especially PCs may have relatively high source impedances which effectively puts a random equalizer composed of the source impedance and the headphone's impedance curve into the system.  This can be compensated if the cellphone or PC's internal equalizer is adjusted to compensate.

There is no simple compensation for headphones that are not sensitive enough, but to add an external headphone amp which can be fairly inconvenient with cell phones.