Desktop Headphone Amp + Headphone Selection

I

ilmmaf

Weaksauce
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Apr 16, 2013
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I am deciding between getting the Sennheiser 598s and the Beyerdynamic DT 770s. Any help there is appreciated as well, and I realize the 770s have 250ohms and the 598s are 50ohms so that will affect things...

The next things I need to look at is either getting a sound card with a built in headphone amplifier and 6.35mm out, or a desktop headphone amplifier..and possible a soundcard. Will I need an aftermarket soundcard if I use a desktop headphone amplifier?

I would love to keep the budget around 100. I'm really in the dark here.

Any help would be appreciated.
 
Asus Xonar Essence STX

2x your budget but if you're willing to spend that much on headphones you might as well drive them with something decent.
 
Schiit Magni would drive either of those just fine and is only $99. You don't have to spend more than that to drive anything if you don't want. You could also buy a Schiit Modi for use as a DAC and its also only $99 and the combo will sound better than an Asus STX and you can buy them one at a time so its more affordable.
 
Godmachine said:
Schiit Magni would drive either of those just fine and is only $99. You don't have to spend more than that to drive anything if you don't want. You could also buy a Schiit Modi for use as a DAC and its also only $99 and the combo will sound better than an Asus STX and you can buy them one at a time so its more affordable.
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Seconded; I don't think I'll be buying another sound card after my X-Fi dies. Creative's new kit looks very good, if I had to pick one, and Asus' can keep their parts and drivers to themselves.
 
I find that creative is currently ruling the sound card arena. Onboard is ok if only using optical but you still have to use realtek drivers.......ugh. B/w realtek and asus drivers....I don't know which is worse.

lol creative has good drivers...a sentence I never thought I would type.
 
I had awful experiences with Creative drivers throughout the years. I avoid them at my peril lol.
 
Godmachine said:
I had awful experiences with Creative drivers throughout the years. I avoid them at my peril lol.
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We all did! But I've had a couple of years with this X-Fi, and I'm pretty pleased at what they've done, along with driver support in Windows 7/8 x64. Thing just works.
 
ilmmaf, what are your goals with your headphone setup? What would the perfect Setup do for you?

Is this for music, movies, games, or a combination of all of the above?

With the answers to these questions, We can help further.

-I3
 
Nope there is a third option. There are some 558s for sale here and those should only run around $115-130. Basically the same sound as the 598 when you remove the foam and replace it with some dynamat. Or just leave them and they still sound great.

558 + creative Z is under $240 and is what I would have + my receiver. Still, the 558s driven by the creative z sounds great. My receiver just adds more power/control and the sound stage increases.
 
So a good sound card is required in addition to something like the e17 by fiio?
 
ilmmaf said:
So a good sound card is required in addition to something like the e17 by fiio?
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Nope. Just for gaming the creative z has more options than the e17 and if you have to buy one or the other, I would get the Z.
 
Ok so my 598s and e07k came today. Very underwhelmed. The e17 will be here next week. I mean.. I plugged a pair of the new skullcandy crusher headphones into the e07..and the 598s at the same time..and my unrefined ears didn't hear a ton of difference..what am i listening for? if i am that bad at telling the difference am i wasting my money with these 598s, and i should get a refurb 558 or the audio tech equivalent thats around 100? or another pair just went on sale, i cant remember the brand, but there was an open and closed model. model started with A..maybe ad80x or something..

and with the e17, am i going to have a much different experience?
 
The e17 was on sale for 100. and here is the creative z for 100. but it has two options, a foam microphone thing and something else. What's up with that? I was just really unimpressed by the e07k. Or maybe I was unhappy with the headphones. Nothing just really sounded that "crisp"

http://www.amazon.com/Creative-Blaster-Beamforming-Microphone-SB1500/dp/B009ISU33E

is there a different set of headphones i should be looking at, i got the 598s for 175..and that is definitely my max. are they the best performer for what I want? i want to feel the game more, i guess. i need to try them on a better game though i think haha. all i used with Chivalry. Would battlefield 3 or something be one of the better ways to test this? I am looking to find the best FPS to get into playing right now.
 
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Just give them some time. They are better and it takes a while for people to get figure out how they sound different. You will start hearing things you didn't with the skullcandys. BF3 has really good positional audio.
 
spaceman said:
Just give them some time. They are better and it takes a while for people to get figure out how they sound different. You will start hearing things you didn't with the skullcandys. BF3 has really good positional audio.
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Also lower your volume , your ear drums will take longer to adjust to louder sound , by lowering it you're allowing more detail to become obvious and at a faster rate.

An adjustment period is always required with new audio gear. Some people (cough Headfi cough) refer to this as a "burn in" period. The reality is your brain has to get use to a sound signature and then learn how to process it as easily as you're willing to accept it.
 
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