I don’t think that the Dan Clark Audio E3’s are particularly difficult to drive. According to the spec, they are 27 Ohms impedance and ~90dB sensitivty.
With this spec, to get a peak audio level of 110dBa, you would need a preamp that could supply 61mA at 1.65V. This does not appear to be beyond the reach of many dongle DACs - especially if they have a balanced output.
For example, a USB powered dragonfly cobalt, which claims a maximum 2.1V output, would be able to drive these headphones to a maximum of ~112dBa.
My Fiio BTR7 (admittedly, battery powered), should be able to drive them to ~115dBa using the balanced output.
These 112dBa peak levels would be plenty for me. I prefer to list to mean levels much, much lower than this ~60 to 70dBa so a 40-50dB crest factor (peak to mean power ratio) would appear to be more than enough.
Beyerdynamic T5 - closed back and easy to drive at 32 ohms - designed as a portable headphone.
Focal Bathys - when used in their unique USB DAC mode they don’t even need a dongle when used with an iPhone. Like the T5 they are closed back and designed as a portable headphone plus they have noise cancellation.
You might also want to look into (wired) in ear monitors. Just about all of them are easy to drive and great for portable use. Many high end IEMs rival the sound of best rated full sized over ear headphones. Sennheiser IE 600 and IE 900 are both excellent. I also like and own a set of Westone Mach 80s. I should warn that it’s easy to fall down the rabbit hole once you start researching and using IEMs.
1 Like
Torben_Rick
(Torben - A Dane living in Hamburg - Roon Lifer)
4
Very good - but to small for my head Have been looking at Noble Audio FoKus Apollo but probably also to small
I have had Audeze LCD-X’s, an open back headphone, that I’ve used with 2 models of iPhone, an LG V30 phone and an Astell & Kern DAP (2016 model, I forget the number).
The Meze 99 (I own the Neo) are light, comfortable and easy to drive. Entertaining, but not fantastic in terms of sound signature. Great value for money and more than ok, until you try something better, then you start noticing the limitations.
This happened to me when I bought a pair of higher-end headphones, starting with the Spirit Torino Radiante. These are closed back and fairly easy to drive. I use them with my iPhone with a Cayin RU6 dongle on the balanced output, they sound great!
Of course, at home with a better ampli they are even better, but for office use the RU6 and the Radiante are a fantastic pair.
Any good suggestion would be welcome?
