Amplified Headphones – When Do I Need Them

Some people ask "I have a portable mp3 player, so do I need amplified headphones"?  To answer that question, there are many applications where you need some help from an amplifier.

The new mp3 players, especially ones that run on one AAA battery don't have a whole lot of output power to drive headphones. Typically, they get out of this dilemma by including very high efficiency headsets. These often sound really bad, mostly because high frequencies which make the sound more tinny require less power to reproduce. These mp3 players are totally incapable of driving a good set of headphones with decent bass response to any acceptable volume levels. If you buy an external battery powered amplifier or a pair of headphones with the amplifier built into them, you have much more flexibility. See, when you put an amplifier in the loop, you do more than just raise the volume, you bring back the missing bass.

What other situations might call for amplified headphones? Well, many computer sound cards have lousy speaker drivers. They have a low current output. They have a lot of distortion at higher volumes, over 10%. This distortion becomes very noticeable unless you are just trying to drown out the noise of a passing train. Maybe a coworker is the passing train that you are trying to drown out.

Whatever the case, having an amplifier in the loop can result in high sound levels at very low distortion. This also brings to mind another reason for having headsets with amplifiers in them. By having the heavy lifting done by another amplifier, the device you are listening to can play without distortion and you can play the music at very high levels cleanly.

You might be wondering about the extra batteries you'll be needing. Yes, amplified headphones do need batteries for the amplifiers in them. Fortunately for you, most of these units consume very little power. As a result, a play time of over 100 hours is not unreasonable. If you use it for commuting, an hour a day or so, that's three months on one set of batteries. That's not bad at all. I personally am a fan of rechargeable batteries. I usually get two sets so when one set is on the charger, the other set is on the road with me.