It is said that "it costs less than 10,000 yuan to listen" and "headphones are all metaphysics". In fact, this is not unreasonable. What the Prime Minister wants to explain to everyone is that the earphones worth over a thousand yuan or over ten thousand yuan mentioned on the Internet are not like what we usually do, just plug the earphones into the mobile phone and listen to music. It involves many things and is a relative comparison. complex process. The length of the article will be relatively long, so I will explain it to you in three articles.

Chapter 1: Player

The things we need to listen to music mainly include: players, headphones/sounds, and sound sources. The "player" mentioned here is not What we know: Apps such as NetEase Cloud Music, QQ Music, and Xiami Music actually refer to machines that play music, and there are many types of such machines, such as the most common mobile phones, MP3s, computers, and tablets we use every day. , CD player, vinyl record player, etc. Its main function is to convert audio files into waveforms and then transmit them to headphones/speakers. Finally, the headphones/speakers vibrate to produce sound.

Generally, headphones worth over a thousand or ten thousand yuan need to be equipped with a special music player. However, it is not a mobile phone or a computer, but a lossless HIFI music player (MP3) and power amplifier. In addition to playing In addition to the amplifier, you need one more thing: a "decoding headphone amplifier". In fact, the function of the decoding amp is very similar to that of the player. It can also interpret audio files, and most power amplifiers will be equipped with independent decoding amps. I won’t go into details here. Let’s use the simplest lossless HIFI music player. For example.

There are many lossless HIFI music players available on the market, both domestically produced and imported, with prices ranging from a few hundred to tens of thousands. Mention a few well-known brands (in no particular order, including domestic and foreign brands): Avery, Sony, Onkyo, FiiO, Philips, Shanling, Albaso, HiFiman, and Letu. These players are all portable music players and are small in size and easy to carry.

In addition, due to differences in size and price, the performance differences between music players are still very large. For example, Sony's NW-A35 music player is an entry-level machine with a small size and stylish appearance. However, its decoding capability is relatively weak and its thrust force is insufficient. It cannot push high-impedance headphones at all. If you want to use this player to listen to lossless music, you must equip it with a decoding headphone amplifier.

The decoding amp is actually a product derived to compensate for the low decoding ability and insufficient thrust of the player. It is also divided into two types of amps, desktop and portable, with different sizes. If a piece of lossless music has a hundred codes, and the playback can only decipher half of it, then the audio we hear is incomplete and has some missing parts, but after connecting to the decoding amp, the hundred codes can be Interpret it so that we can hear the most complete audio.

Sometimes when we use other people’s headphones to listen to music, we find that the sound of the headphones has become softer and cannot be heard clearly. Why does this happen when we clearly did not turn down the volume? This involves the issue of player thrust. Each player has a rated output power. The greater the output power, the more compatible it is with headphones with higher impedance. The impedance of the headphones we use daily is generally in the range of 10~20 ohms. Within this range, most mobile phones, Computers, tablets, and music players can all support it. Headphones can also run at full power, and the sound will be clearer and brighter. However, if the impedance of the headphones becomes larger, reaching 60, 70 or even 100 ohms, ordinary There is no way to push the player. Although there will still be sound from the headphones, the volume will be very small, blurry, and even unpleasant or harsh. This is like a fully charged battery and a battery with only half a charge. Just like putting the battery in a small fan, a fully charged one will inevitably have a larger air volume and cooler air.

If the thrust of the player is insufficient, the decoder amp can play a role in increasing the audio output power at this time. Even if it encounters headphones with higher impedance, it can operate at full power. Of course, it does not mean that everything will be fine with the decoding amp, because the decoding amp itself also has different output power and decoding capabilities, which depends on the actual situation.

So does it work without a decoding amp? No, some music players have very strong thrust and decoding capabilities. As long as the impedance of the headphones is not too high, they are compatible with most headphones on the market, such as Sony's NW-WM1A and Letu's PAW GOLD. Second generation, iRiver's SP2000, but the price of this type of player will be relatively high.