Headphone Amplifier Calculator — Power & Voltage Matching

It depends entirely on your headphones and target volume. Efficient IEMs need less than 1mW. Most dynamic headphones need 10-50mW. Planar magnetic headphones like HiFiMAN Sundara may need 100-500mW for comfortable listening with headroom for peaks.

For high-impedance headphones (250-600 ohms), voltage swing is the limiting factor — you need 3-7V RMS. For low-impedance headphones (16-50 ohms), current delivery matters more — you may need 100-300mA. Match the amp to your headphone type.

Power headroom is the extra power available above your average listening level. Music has peaks that can be 10-20 dB above the average level. Having at least 10 dB of headroom ensures clean reproduction of transients and peaks without clipping.

Headphones have maximum power ratings. Exceeding these can damage the voice coil through overheating. However, in practice, distortion becomes audible well before reaching damage levels. The bigger risk is hearing damage from excessive volume.