As my Micro iCan SE powers a 300 ohm HD800S, would that mean it’s operating at class A?
Answer: With headphones having an impedance greater than around 100 ohm, the Micro iCan SE always operates in Class A, and thus with constant current draw from the power source, the unit gives off a comfortable warmness.
As music tends to have a crest factor (peak to average ratio) of > 10dB, even a signal near clipping on the peaks will have a continuous power that will be 1/10th of the peak power. So in practice and with music, even exceeding Class A on peaks, will have little impact on power consumption from the mains as the bulk of the music remains in Class A.
