Tagged: desktop audio

Watts on a spec sheet don't predict how a headphone amp will actually drive your cans. Here's the impedance and output-impedance story that does.

Before you chase another DAC or amp, sort the desk. Reflections, cable strain and monitor height quietly wreck more desktop headphone rigs than gear ever does.

Open-back headphones leak sound both ways. Here's how much, when it genuinely matters in a share house or apartment, and when it's a non-issue.

Most multiroom systems are designed around speakers in rooms. Here's how to build a headphone zone into that same ecosystem without gutting the sound.

A look at what genuinely changes when you push a headphone system into cost-no-object territory, and what you're really paying for once the sound has stopped improving.

Headphones bypass room acoustics for the direct sound, but the room you sit in still shapes fatigue, focus and what you hear. Here's why.

Multiroom systems are built around speakers in rooms. Here's how to get a proper headphone zone out of the same network, without losing resolution.

The chip inside your DAC gets all the marketing. The output stage that actually drives your headphones gets almost none. Here's what to check.

Most budgets go straight to the headphones. I reckon that's backwards for a lot of desktop rigs — here's the maths on why the source and amp deserve first dibs.

One box or two? Hannah Reid cuts through the marketing to explain when a combined DAC/amp unit is smart and when separates genuinely pull ahead.

Closed-back headphones promise isolation, but the acoustic trade-offs are real. Hannah Reid explains what you're giving up — and when it's worth it.

Building a desktop headphone rig that actually performs means more than buying good cans. Jonno Fraser walks through the chain from source to ear.

Headphone EQ is one of the most powerful tools available to personal audio listeners — but most people either ignore it or overdo it. Nell Shaw explains how to do it right.

Balanced headphone outputs are everywhere on serious desktop rigs now. But do they actually change what you hear, or just justify a pricier cable? Sofia Laurent finds out.

Electrostatic and planar magnetic headphones sound unlike anything dynamic drivers produce — but they impose real system requirements. Sofia Laurent explains what you actually need to drive them properly.

Discrete Class A, op-amp, tube hybrid or pure valve — Jonno Fraser breaks down what headphone amp topologies actually do and how to choose the right one.

Sensitivity and impedance numbers look simple until your expensive headphones sound terrible from a phone. Priya Anand explains what the specs actually mean.

Trying to decide between IEMs and full-size headphones on a tight budget? Dave Okafor breaks down where each format punches hardest below $500.

Output impedance shapes how your headphones actually sound. Theo Mensah explains the engineering behind the number and what it means for IEMs, planars and dynamic cans.

Open-backs sound better on paper, closed-backs work in the real world. Sofia Laurent on how to choose honestly — and when the answer is both.

Sofia Laurent explains how to build a genuinely high-end headphone and desktop audio system — from transducer choice to amping, DACs and desk setup.

FiiO teased a fully discrete, pure Class A desktop headphone amp ahead of Vienna High End 2026. Marcus Vale breaks down what it means for serious headphone listeners.