Maybe this is getting off topic for this list...

But anyway...

On Apr 29, 2014 1:34 PM, "Balduin Waldmeister" <detle...@hotmail.com> wrote:
>
> Thank you for your replies. Maybe this concerns more the ALSA developers.
>
> Yes, the STX drives all kinds of headphones and most of them very well
but it lacks on low impedance (<32 ohm) models. This is due to the
headphone output impedance of 10 ohm on the STX and also on the new STX II.
Thus it theoretically is perfect for headphones >80 ohm, although ASUS
claims to have it (the old STX) optimized for headphones 32 - 600 ohm
(probably by its drivers). Please see:
>
>
http://www.innerfidelity.com/content/meridian-explorer-case-study-effects-output-impedance/
(an  example to explain the "why?")
> http://www.asus.com/News/knWtTLpnXrb1YaqR/ (see "Headphone impedance")
>
> Instead of releasing a headphone output <10 ohm on the STX II (e.g., 2
ohm) to resolve the old STX's well known issue with low impedance
headphones (16 - 32 ohm), ASUS seems to address it on their Window driver
(only) for the STX II, as mentioned before.
>
> Right now, for the old STX, you find on AlsaMixer the following three
settings:
>
> <64 ohms (which in reality is 32-64 ohm)
> 64-300 ohms
> 300-600 ohms
>
> Thus I really would appreciate - if possible - an additional 16-32 ohm
optimization on ALSA for the old STX; enabling fun playback also on top
notch low impedance headphones e.g., Fostex TH-900 (25 ohm) or Audeze
LCD-XC (22 ohm).
>
> Best regards,
> Balduin
>
> PS: Maybe you are right and buying an additional headphone amp is the
only way to go when using an old STX...

If you read the article you quote carefully, you should struggle to
understand how some kind of digital processing can compensate for too-high
output impedance into an arbitrary set of low-impedance headphones.

The point being the frequency response aberrations depend on the headphone
in question's impedance at varying frequencies - not something that can be
corrected for in an a priori fashion.

Also the damping problems created by too-high output impedance result in
underdamped signal excursions which AFAIK cannot be fixed by some kind of
frequency response filter.

Seems to me the logical thing to do would be to get a higher impedance  set
of cans, or maybe an outboard headphone amp with low output impedance.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
"Accelerate Dev Cycles with Automated Cross-Browser Testing - For FREE
Instantly run your Selenium tests across 300+ browser/OS combos.  Get 
unparalleled scalability from the best Selenium testing platform available.
Simple to use. Nothing to install. Get started now for free."
http://p.sf.net/sfu/SauceLabs
_______________________________________________
Alsa-user mailing list
Alsa-user@lists.sourceforge.net
https://lists.sourceforge.net/lists/listinfo/alsa-user

Reply via email to