Glad you brought this up - let's work the numbers.
The DT990 is 96 dB/mW, so at 250 Ohms is 102 dB/ 1V RMS. The Zen Air spec indicates it can deliver at least 6.5V into 250 Ohms, which would be 118 dB SPL. Just a couple of minutes at this volume can damage hearing. If the OP is unhappy with the volume they can get out of this amp then I suspect either they already have hearing damage or the specs are wrong (EDIT: or their source delivers too little voltage to the amp).
jason
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Its loud . I dont think i have hearing damage. I listen to louder volumes for just 2-3 min. Not maxed out cause it hurts. Then for longee listening knob is at 12 . I just think more power headroom would let me play with my eq more. I have a tube preamp with eq. Connected to the air stack . When i listen a little bit louder and I crank the bass up sometimes it distorts . Like on newer songs most of the time. I dont know why i thought maybe it needs more juice. Cause on the fidelios i can do that no problem and it sounds fine. But beyers cânt do it
So the Zen Air DAC can output 1V at least. The Zen Air CAN has 18 dB of gain (x8 for voltage) in ‘high’ gain mode, so in principle the input to the amp can be high enough to push the amp to its limit of 6.5ish volts into 250 Ohms.
Here is the Air CAN ‘manual’, by the way
https://ifi-audio.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/05/ZEN-Air-CAN-User-Manual-Ver1.02_ok.pdf
Here is the Air CAN ‘manual’, by the way
https://ifi-audio.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/05/ZEN-Air-CAN-User-Manual-Ver1.02_ok.pdf
..luckily just found that thread.
I still have the legacy DT990 with 600 Ohms. Bought back in the late 80'ies^^
its driven now by an Darkvoice 336SE 🙂 (which im gonna swap for an Le Figaro 339i soon)
Now, i like to use it outdoors, with my fresh new bought Samsung Galaxy S25Ultra.
Those new Smartphones sadly didnt have any audio plug anymore...
So i spent the whole night in research..
Maybe, if i am lucky again, i'll get me an KAEI TAP1 Pro one day...
But for now, i just got an offer for an Fosi Audio DS1, which also got an balanced 4,4mm input jack with 220mW(BAL)
and only 120mW(SE) on the 3,5mm single end...
So i just think of MartinX's post, only to change the plug to an 4mm... Cause mine has the 2 cables...
What's the secret for all those new (for me) mobile DAC`s which almost all have those balanced outputs now?
Sorry, but i never saw any headphones even "balanced" nor with an 4,4mm jack -.-
There must be something magic out there, from which i never heard before...
@Netlist don't get me wrong, i do love my fancy DT990! But nowadays it feels a bit like driven an Porsche, but with an SEAT engine, lol...
A little bit of an "fine-tuning" shouldn't be that bad!
And i just revived my little home studio (it was sleeping in an container the last 13 years), with all those BALANCED XLR cables, which i bought this year for the first time (used 6.3mm jacks before^^ And now of that, i felt in love with those balanced things ;-)
Also it`s very hard to find any 6.3mm female to 4.4mm male adapter!
And please, may someone explain me what's exactly the difference between "Gain" and "Power" is?
I mean, it really doesn't matter, which one of those 2 reaches my ears, and give an tinitus..LOL
No, i got my tinitus from from lying 10 years inside an JBL 4520 rear loading horn system, in Frankfurt's (Germany) famous airport discotheque Dorian Gray - Terminal 1, Hall C, level 0, which Sound System was build by Richard Long 🤪🤪🤪
Cheers and peace out,
M;.
I still have the legacy DT990 with 600 Ohms. Bought back in the late 80'ies^^
its driven now by an Darkvoice 336SE 🙂 (which im gonna swap for an Le Figaro 339i soon)
Now, i like to use it outdoors, with my fresh new bought Samsung Galaxy S25Ultra.
Those new Smartphones sadly didnt have any audio plug anymore...
So i spent the whole night in research..
Maybe, if i am lucky again, i'll get me an KAEI TAP1 Pro one day...
But for now, i just got an offer for an Fosi Audio DS1, which also got an balanced 4,4mm input jack with 220mW(BAL)
and only 120mW(SE) on the 3,5mm single end...
So i just think of MartinX's post, only to change the plug to an 4mm... Cause mine has the 2 cables...
What's the secret for all those new (for me) mobile DAC`s which almost all have those balanced outputs now?
Sorry, but i never saw any headphones even "balanced" nor with an 4,4mm jack -.-
There must be something magic out there, from which i never heard before...
@Netlist don't get me wrong, i do love my fancy DT990! But nowadays it feels a bit like driven an Porsche, but with an SEAT engine, lol...
A little bit of an "fine-tuning" shouldn't be that bad!
And i just revived my little home studio (it was sleeping in an container the last 13 years), with all those BALANCED XLR cables, which i bought this year for the first time (used 6.3mm jacks before^^ And now of that, i felt in love with those balanced things ;-)
Also it`s very hard to find any 6.3mm female to 4.4mm male adapter!
And please, may someone explain me what's exactly the difference between "Gain" and "Power" is?
I mean, it really doesn't matter, which one of those 2 reaches my ears, and give an tinitus..LOL
No, i got my tinitus from from lying 10 years inside an JBL 4520 rear loading horn system, in Frankfurt's (Germany) famous airport discotheque Dorian Gray - Terminal 1, Hall C, level 0, which Sound System was build by Richard Long 🤪🤪🤪
Cheers and peace out,
M;.