What would give the 'best' sound?

fozzybear

fozzybear

fozzybear

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Just wondering the plus and minus points of an Asus Essence against a Yamaha AV receiver.

I'm just wondering what the difference between them would be when listening to blu ray through headphones.

With the receiver, I'd be running a HDMI lead to carry video and sound and listening through the headphone socket. That would give me Yamaha's 'Silent Cinema'.

With the Essence, I'd be using it with the Dolby Headphone option.

Has anyone any experience with both through a pair of Goldring DR150's?

For the price of the Essence, I'd be able to get a reasonable AV receiver.
 
Hmm, not an easy choice TBH. Just done a bit of searching, and Silent Cinema (SC), sounds pretty good according to the comments about it. There aren't that many though, at least not many that compare it to Dolby Headphone (DH). I found one comment where the guy said Silent Cinema was better, however a few people said DH was better, if SC is used with a preset. Some guy said, SC needs tweaking and the dynamics need altering to get the best out of it, and then it is better than DH. People seem pleased with both, of what comments I can find about both.

What about speakers, do you intend to get any, or are you just intending to use headphones only?
 
How did I know you'd be the first to answer? :)

I'd probably be using headphones 90% of the time if I'm I'm honest. It's just that if I got a receiver, I'd have the option to use it with the speakers.

I'm not sure I'd feel right forking out £150 for what is 'just' an excellent soundcard. The receiver would do so much more (DTS HD etc) and would probably give me more for the money. The quality of sound through my headphones is the main thing though.

I only mention the Yamaha AV receivers as I know they have the Silent Cinema option. I don't know what the other brands (Onkyo, Sony) do with the sound through the headphone socket. Probably nothing.
 
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Denon, Marantz and Harmon Kardon frequently include Dolby Headphone on some of their receiver ranges.
 
One other thing to bear in mind is the headphone amp built into the soundcard. The headphone outs on cheap receivers often aren't great.
 
fozzybear said:
I'll probably give the Asus Essence a try. Any reason why I should get the STX rather than the ST?
Click to expand...

Other then the obvious difference of the ST being PCI, only other difference is the ST has a better clock, which in theory gives better sound. I'm sure the average user would be very hard pressed to notice any difference TBH.
 
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