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as many of you already know, the barracuda hp1 headset draws power through a USB port to power its built in amp. normally a USB 2.0 port is limited to 500mA, so that puts a damper on how much current the amp can use. however, i have a gigabyte motherboard with their "x3 usb power" feature, which allows 1500mA on USB 2.0 ports and 2700mA on its USB 3.0 ports. i'm wondering if this increase in current would result in better amplifier performance, or it would make no difference at all. can USB devices control how much current they draw?

or, maybe the headphone would blow up, but i really don't see that happening. currently the headphone is powered through an ipod wall adapter, since my old PSU doesn't output a clean 5V rail, which showed up in faint rumbling noises when i scroll on a webpage, for example.

I doubt that it would help all that much if at all. My Headroom Total Bithead runs off USB power and has no problems driving my Shure SE-530s to ear-bleeding levels in its low gain configuration.

Power dissipation in headphones is usually measured in milli-Watts.

Devices operating under recent USB specs can identify themselves to a high-speed port as being a high-current device, and then accessing the extra power, but your headphones aren't going to pull more than they need.

If you want better, you need to buy or build a true discreet headphone amplifier and then buy a high-quality pair of 'phones to go with it.

Yeah, devices only draw as much current as they need/want. You're not gonna blow it up, but I doubt you'll notice any increase in maximum volume level or anything, as it's highly unlikely the amp was designed to draw more power than the standard USB socket provides.

oh well, it was worth a thought. i never go anywhere close to maximum volume on any of my speakers/headphones anyway; i value my hearing too much.

a slightly related question: currently the headset is powered using an ipod wall charger, the one that has a female USB socket instead of a wire coming out of it. does this mean that USB devices do power management by themselves, or is the adapter actually doing the power regulation?

The adapter is a small AC-DC convertor - it's so small because it only needs to push half an amp of current. Neat wee device

moriz wrote:

a slightly related question: currently the headset is powered using an ipod wall charger, the one that has a female USB socket instead of a wire coming out of it. does this mean that USB devices do power management by themselves, or is the adapter actually doing the power regulation?

The adapter is designed to output 5VDC at a specified milliamp rating. The device powered by the adapter will draw however many milliamps it's designed to. Bad things happen when the adapter can't push the current the device needs.