Just bought the new Rega Ear headphone amp to be able to listen to my Sennheiser IE800 in-ears at home on my 252. Connected it to one of the 3 record outputs on 252 using a specially ordered Chord DIN output to RCA cable and selected relevant record output.
Problem is output is very loud and I can barely touch the Rega volume control - a few % off minimum. If there was a 1 to 10 scale I might make 1! Any ideas apart from get a different, less sensitive, headphone amp!
Specs are -
Naim output 75mV. Headphones 16ohm.
Rega Maximum output level and required input sensitivity
25Ω load = 775mW, input sensitivity = 175mV
32Ω load = 685mW, input sensitivity = 185mV
50Ω load = 530mW, input sensitivity = 205mV
100Ω load = 320mW, input sensitivity = 225mV
600Ω load = 60mW, input sensitivity = 235mV
Open circuit voltage (no load) = 6V, input sensitivity = 240mV
Posted on: 01 May 2018 by feeling_zen
The 252 doesn't come into this so much since it has a buffered tape out. More down to the Ear and earohone pairing. Considering most headphone amps expect you to be driving something in the 100-600 Ohm range, I'm not surprised at your results.
My understanding of the IE800 is they are designed to be the Rolls Royce of in ears to be paired directly with devices that have high quality but portable amps like a Sony ZX1 or even an iPod. At a pinch, more entry level Naim components like the Uniti range.
Have you considered using them for on the go, and proper headphones for the Ear?
Posted on: 02 May 2018 by Richard Dane
As FZ explains, it's not down to the NAC252 but rather the headphone amplifier. In-Ears (IEMs) are very sensitive so you need to be careful in your choice of amp. Choose one that works well with either IEMs specifically, or a wide range of headphones. FWIW, I believe that the recent Arcam R-Head was designed to work well with a wide range of headphones, including IEMs, but you may well be best off with a portable type amp that was designed specifically for IEMs from the outset.
Posted on: 02 May 2018 by ChrisSU
I think FZ's suggestion of a portable player is a good one. I have a Sony ZX1, and at home, it will find the music on my NAS and play it on its built in streamer, as well as from local storage. Either that, or get some less sensitive headphones instead of IEMs.
