Onboard sound and headphone impedance

Hardware Motherboards
1

I’m not sure if this is the right section for my question, as the onboard sound is just a small part of a motherboard and would also fit into the Sound Gear section.

tl;dr - how do I know (beforehand) if the impedance of headphones are too much to handle for the onboard sound?

My M40x (35ohm) are creaking a lot when I move my head, to the point where it’s just not a good experience using them (cause I would have to sit completely still). Lubrication didn’t work that well (used just a little machine oil). They’re also not fit for longer sessions (it gets hot under the earcups and the clamping force is still too much, even after 2 years).

My cousin’s K601 (discontinued) on the other hand are soooo much more comfortable. No creaking, no sweating and no pain. The only problem was that they were not really “loud”, due to high impedance (120ohm), used on my Asrock H87 Pro4 back then (Realtek ALC892). The K612 Pro are basically the same.

According to PCGamesHardware my Aorus AX370 Gaming 5 does not have a headphone amp (ALC1220).

Will the K612 Pro be too difficult to drive for my motherboard? I don’t really want to spend extra money on an ext. DAC/Amp right now.

2

The easiest way to find out is just to try it.

Some motherboards will have more gusto than others in the audio department even if they don’t advertise it, so it’s kinda hard to say one way or the other. Having said that, most modern motherboards that aren’t as basic as can be will have adequate sound for most headphones.

EDIT: I looked your motherboard up. It has amps, so you should be fine.

Dual ALC 1220 with Front & Rear 120dB SNR HD Audio with Dual Smart Headphone Amps

3

That’s weird.

IMG_20170922_213515666
IMG_20170922_213515666.jpg2340x4160 3.49 MB

Kopfhörer-Verstärker means headphone amp

4

I think I figured it out, apparently the ALC1220 audio chipset has amps built right into the chip.

So that’s probably why there’s a discrepancy, there are amps, but they are integrated into the audio chipset. I can’t find any datasheets on the ALC1220 after a quick search however, so I can’t say if the amps are any good or not.

1 Like
5

I could only find this:

I measured my own ALC1220 mainboard (MSI Z270 SLI Plus): 77.8 Ohm.

from a reddit post.

Realtek doesn’t have the ALC1220 listed. A search brought up no results.

77 Ohm might be too little for 120 Ohm headphones.