DAC external/high impedance problem

[mhw100]

My B&O H3 headphones are suddenly not being recognized by the DAC as either external or high impedance i.e. its stuck in normal mode. Even when it was working it would sometimes trigger external and sometimes high impedance.

Is there a workaround to make the headphones trigger these better settings?

 

[Mooncatt]

Those ear buds are not high impedance. There was a factory coating on the plug that tricked the phone into occasionally triggering high impedance mode, but it wears away fairly quickly.

 

[mhw100]

You've got to be kidding me.

 

[Mooncatt]

You've got to be kidding me.

I wish i was. This was discussed a fair bit here when the buds started getting to users and people had inconsistent results at first.

 

[Mike Dee]

You don't need those other settings for those headphones or any low impedence headphones for that matter. External is line ouput to play through another source like your car as an example. High impedence is matched output for high impedence headphones which usually require more juice to drive them. I would have prefered that they left the gain alone, however they set the DAC up to adjust based on what is plugged in.

 

[mhw100]

The volume is far too low on Normal mode. To get the high impedance mode is there a minimum ohm I need to buy?

 

[Mooncatt]

The volume is far too low on Normal mode. To get the high impedance mode is there a minimum ohm I need to buy?

50 Ohm will trigger it, but a higher resistance means less volume per watt. So buying a high impedance set of headphones don't necessarily mean they will be louder.

EDIT: make sure it's not artificially limiting your volume. Android has a nanny mode that tries to prevent you from listening above a certain level to protect you from yourself (i.e. playing too loud). That can be overridden by trying to increase the volume more and it'll pop-up a warning you can dismiss and then increase the volume more.

 

[mhw100]

The warning fades out when the volume is increased. Are you saying there is some action that needs to be taken to dismiss it? I don't see any option to do that.

 

[Mike Dee]

The volume is far too low on Normal mode. To get the high impedance mode is there a minimum ohm I need to buy?

Something isn't right. I get plenty of volume and I don't hear as well as I used to. Some music I can't put it up all the way. Did you try using different size ear plugs.

 

[mhw100]

There is a big diference between high impedance volume and normal volume when the h3 were working.

 

[Mooncatt]

The warning fades out when the volume is increased. Are you saying there is some action that needs to be taken to dismiss it? I don't see any option to do that.

Let me clarify. Yes, that will pop-up and fade out when you first plug them in. There's also one that may pop up with a persistent warning that requires you to manually dismiss. If you hit confirm, OK, or whatever it is (i haven't seen it on mine in a while to remember off hand), then you can take the volume up louder. To check this, try raising the volume with headphones plugged in. The volume slider should allow you to go all the way to 75. If it's being limited, it won't go all the way until you OK it to. It's been a rather annoying feature in Android for years now, not specific to the V20.

 

[mhw100]

Let me clarify. Yes, that will pop-up and fade out when you first plug them in. There's also one that may pop up with a persistent warning that requires you to manually dismiss. If you hit confirm, OK, or whatever it is (i haven't seen it on mine in a while to remember off hand), then you can take the volume up louder. To check this, try raising the volume with headphones plugged in. The volume slider should allow you to go all the way to 75. If it's being limited, it won't go all the way until you OK it to. It's been a rather annoying feature in Android for years now, not specific to the V20.

It's going to 75 so at least that's working.

 

[Mooncatt]

It's going to 75 so at least that's working.

Well at least now you know what to look for if it does pop-up, because it's not every time.

Something else to check is the different size ear inserts. Those can make a big difference too, especially with bass response. I ended up going smaller than i expected to get my best results.

 

[Mike Dee]

There is a big diference between high impedance volume and normal volume when the h3 were working.

Of course there is. They bump up the gain to drive high impendence which are generally require it.

 

[mhw100]

Of course there is. They bump up the gain to drive high impendence which are generally require it.

Guess I need the > 50 ohm units then because the normal is loo low for some songs.

I can't believe the misrepresentation of producing a set of headphones that are supposed to be tuned to the high impedance DAC only to find that they did not do so. What a con.

 

[Mike Dee]

Guess I need the > 50 ohm units then because the normal is loo low for some songs.

I can't believe the misrepresentation of producing a set of headphones that are supposed to be tuned to the high impedance DAC only to find that they did not do so. What a con.

Where did you see that?

 

[huungryshark]

Sorry to jump in but i got the B&O Play H6 , how does the DAC sound? Think they are 32Ohms

( i got a FIIO A5 hi-res amp , so enough power in the tank to drive most up to 300Ohm)

 

[Mooncatt]

I can't believe the misrepresentation of producing a set of headphones that are supposed to be tuned to the high impedance DAC only to find that they did not do so. What a con.

They never claimed those ear buds were high impedance. Plus those are sold on the open market and anyone could've looked up the specs prior to getting them. The assumption that they were high impedance or somehow tuned especially for the phone was all on the consumer end of things.

 

[Mike Dee]

Guess I need the > 50 ohm units then because the normal is loo low for some songs.

I can't believe the misrepresentation of producing a set of headphones that are supposed to be tuned to the high impedance DAC only to find that they did not do so. What a con.

The DAC was touted as a Quad DAC that could support High Impedance headphones. The headphones were included as a freebie with the phone. High Impedance headphones are not always louder even with the high output since the usually require higher output to drive them. The sensitivity of the headphones dictates how efficient the headphones are. Your best bet are headphones with high sensitivity.

 

[mhw100]

Where did you see that?

Above it was mentioned that they put a coating on them that wears off. Sounds like they were attempting to misrepresent something?