Sound card/amp suggestions

Man of Honour
Joined
2 Jan 2009
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60,169
My old Xonar Xense soundcard has been on the blink for ages, it's very old so I'd like to get a new one. I'm currently using onboard sound which is notably inferior to say the least, though not as bad as ones I've had in the past (board is a Z97X Gaming 7).

My headphones are Beyerdynamic T70's, so generally easy to drive, but they're 250ohm.

I don't want to spend a fortune, but I'll pay what's necessary for something more than decent. I'm open to suggestions really, can a soundcard do it all, do I need an amp as well, or...?
 
Soldato
Joined
18 Oct 2009
Posts
11,175
Do you play games?

If not, or you're not bothered about gaming sound effects, etc; might be better to look at buying a good DAC/amp.

If you do and want the surround sound effect over headphones thing, then maybe a Powercolor HDX would be a good choice. Very good sound card at around £90, but doesn't have Dolby Headphone that the Asus Xonar cards have. Uses something called Xear, but I'm not really sure how effect that is.

Either that or maybe get a Xonar Essence STX/II. Soundblaster Z is an option, but that's going to be step down from the Xense, Essence and HDX.
 
Man of Honour
OP
Joined
2 Jan 2009
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60,169
I play some games but really, surround effects and stuff don't interest me much. I'd rather just have something solid sounding for music and especially spoken audio like podcasts, etc.
 
Soldato
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If you're not wanting to spend too much then the FiiO E10K (£62) will drive them easily enough and has a decent bass boost which might give the T70s a bit more kick.

A week or two back Richer Sounds was selling off their EOL stock of TEAC UDH01 DAC/headphone amps for half price or less (seen as cheap as £130) but there is probably very little stock left now.

If you're up to spending a bit more then a Schiit Modi 2 (DAC) and Vali 2 (tube amp) would sound great but would set you back around £250
 
Soldato
Joined
18 Oct 2009
Posts
11,175
I think a DAC/amp is the better option if you're not fussed about gaming sound effects. I decided to go for a DAC/amp after I had two sound cards develop problems, rather than buy another sound card. I'm not too fussed about gaming audio effects any more, so buying another didn't make a lot of sense really, as I only use stereo. Plus the added bonus of not having to bother with drivers, and wondering will they be compatible with any up coming OS changes. Will they just flat out suck? as Asus and Creative have been guilty of. Also not having to be concerned whether a sound card will fit in a new PC build and whether or not there be any problems with EMI from adding new components. With a DAC, you just plug it in, and away you go.

It's a shame that these things can affect sound cards, because the hardware is very good.

As rids57 says, FiiO E10K is a great budget option.
 
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