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How does damping factor affect sound?
The effects of damping are most apparent at low frequencies, in the range of the woofer’s resonance. Well damped speakers sound “tighter” in the low end. Low damping factors result in mushy or indistinct bass. Speakers connected in series or parallel will experience the same damping factor from the amp.
What is headphone damping?
Damping factor is the amount of control an amplifier has over the driver. This ideal is based on the theory that regardless of how large an impedance spike is in the headphone driver’s response, a high enough damping factor prevents the frequency response from varying more than 1 dB (not typically audible).
What is damping factor in audio?
Damping Factor (DF) is the amplifier’s ability to control speaker motion once a signal has stopped. Damping Factor changes with frequency (as does impedance) and is most noticeable at lower frequencies.
How much damping factor is enough?
Most power amplifiers on the market specify a damping factor of a few hundred, enough to prevent a ‘sloppy’ bass response when used with short, thick speaker cables. As a rule of thumb, a damping factor of 100 is considered a minimum, representing an output impedance of 0.04Ω.
What is the formula of damping factor?
Damping factor is the important parameter related to resonant circuits. It can be denoted as ξ. It measures the rate of decrease of oscillations when the source is removed and can be calculated using the formula: W = W0 e-2ξt. Where W0 = energy present in the system at t = 0.
What is the damping factor of a loudspeaker?
Technically speaking, Damping Factor is the ratio of nominal loudspeaker impedance (the impedance the loudspeaker is rated at) to total output impedance of the system driving the loudspeaker, including the amplifier and cables. Damping Factor changes with frequency (as does impedance) and is most noticeable at lower frequencies.
When does a damping factor of 100 occur?
A damping factor of 100 is achieved when the amplifier output impedance is 0.08 Ohms. A damping factor of 1000 is achieved when the amplifier output impedance is 0.008 Ohms. The lower the output impedance, the higher the damping factor, but let’s not get carried away…
How is damping factor related to output impedance?
“Damping factor” is sort of an upside-down way of specifying the output impedance of a power amplifier. I will attempt to pick up where these papers left off and bust the myth that they inadvertently created. With some simple math, I will quantify the benefits of having a low output impedance (or high damping factor).
What should the damping factor be on a zero ohm amplifier?
These would limit the damping factor to 317 if driven from a zero-ohm amplifier. In other words, damping factors greater than 200-300 can rarely be achieved at the speaker terminals. If damping factors near 1000 were important, we would need to place the amplifier very close to the drivers and/or use some very large conductors.