It has come to our attention that some customers have attempted to use “earbuds” or “In Ear Monitors” with their DA10 or DA11. These “headphones” are typically made for use with portable battery-powered devices such as MP3 players.

This implies that they are designed with the following considerations:
1.) Small size.
2.) Low energy use, requiring battery operated equipment to be recharged less often
3.) High efficiency so that loud volume levels can be achieved with a low voltage supply.

The DA10 and DA11 are not portable devices, so size and energy are not the driving issues in their design. Sound quality is, and for that one needs full size headphones.

Even though the DA10 and DA11’s headphone outputs are capable of driving the low impedance load typical of portable device headphones; the headphone drivers are not designed to accept the higher output voltage capability of the headphone amplifier. As a result, this type of headphone can be damaged if connected to the headphone output, if the Volume control is on a higher setting.

For these reasons, Lavry Engineering DOES NOT recommend use of the DA10 or DA11 with “earbuds,” “In Ear Monitors,” or any other headphones that are designed to work with portable battery powered equipment.

Brad Johnson
Lavry Engineering Technical Support