output of a sound card?

[Flakk]

I was just wondering how you measure the output of a soundcard and compare it against the impedance of your headphones, to see if you are powering them enough.

I have a Sound Blaster Audigy 2 and a pair of Sennheiser 280 Pro headphones. The headphones have 64 ohms impedance, but I don't know what my sound blaster output is.. What is it measured in, and how do i understand/convert it in relation to ohms?

sound blaster audigy 2 specifications page

I guess i need a lesson in audio nomenclature and theories. If anyone could clear up terms such as Ohms, impedance, dB and how they all relate to each other that would be appreciated.

I know my sound card isn't outputting quite enough juice to fully power these (as the basses are lacking) but I am just wondering if there's a way to tell how much exactly...

thank you very much in advance.

 

[skab]

Ohms is a term for the meaurement of resistance, Impedance is total resistance in a circut including inductance (action of coils), capacitance (action of capacitors) and resistance (wires and resistors). Db is for decibels and ussualy refers to the strength of the signal. Noticed the spec.s call for amplified speakers, see if you have a jack on you speakers for your headphones.

 

[Flakk]

if ohms is the resistance, then what is the term for the power going to this resistance. I want to raise whatever this is called. Need name

would boosting the decibels boost this power to the ohms...?

 

[Strida]

A headphone amplifier would do you well. They are pricey for a good one though.

 

[BowerR64]

what about the input? My NF7 has really hot inputs. If i come out of my VCR into my NF7-S line in i have to turn the input level to about 2% or it records at such a hot level it distorts.

This is totaly the oposite from my last rig using the SBlive, i had to pretty much max out the input level just to get a decent volume.

 

[Strida]

I dunno about input. Never used it cept in gaming.

 

[Flakk]

Strida: yeah a headphone amp would be nice, but I've realized basically i'm just better off buying a whole new pair of headphones to get what i want-- even at $80-- rather than pay for an even more expensive amp... cuz they are a lot!

Bower: input? are u talking about recording? i dont want to record... want to play loud on headphones :O