Xonar DG - ultimate budget headphone card?

d_brennen said:
In the Xonar control panel, next to where you select the output device, theres a tool button (looks like a hammer iirc) in there you can select one of three modes, Pro gamer being the middle one (55-65ohm iirc) with exciter being the top, balls out, loud mode :p

Sorry to be so vague, I'm not at my PC

Might give the E5 a bash, it's only £12
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Oh yeah, I totally forgot about that setting, I think I put it to pro gamer already and forgot about it. Too many things to fiddle with :D
 
PCM is for SPDIF output only afaik. The "hammer thing" is in-built amp setting, set it to the strongest on any mid-high headphones. My Creative Fatal1ty are 32ohm but I set it to >64ohm nonetheless and there's no sound deformation of any form.

Set 2 channels for music/stereo videos and 6 for games/movies on DVD/Blueray.
 
d_brennen said:
Good man, I doubt you'll be dissapointed! I had some resevations but at only £25, it's mega value :)
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Yes it is, although I would love to get Xonar D1 as I already ordered the E5 and £20 doesn't make much of a difference any longer :eek:

Question on the side note, does anyone know if Belkin Mini-Stereo Audio Cable Male to Male will be of any use for FiiO E5? I accidentally bought it for a fiver and not to sure if I can be bothered to get a refund.
 
I went ahead and ordered the E5 and NS1000s to see which I prefered (NS1000s or DR150s). My 'phones haven't arrived yet but the amp has and I don't think it's working, or should I say the battery isn't. It's powering on fine, get sound, etc but remove it from the USB and poof, gone. Left it to charge for ~5hr and nothing. I get a red flashing light but from the instructions I'm guessing it's meant to be solid on? If it is faulty I can test it out with the NS1000s when they arrive and make an informed decision on whether to get an exchange or a refund, just annoying really :(

As for front panel and these cards, Marsman pretty much hit it on the head. Detection fails more often than not on my system, I actually discovered that my case is somewhat awkward and if inserted slightly wonky it won't detect it's connected, I didn't even think that would be possible!
 
Auraomega said:
I went ahead and ordered the E5 and NS1000s to see which I prefered (NS1000s or DR150s). My 'phones haven't arrived yet but the amp has and I don't think it's working, or should I say the battery isn't. It's powering on fine, get sound, etc but remove it from the USB and poof, gone. Left it to charge for ~5hr and nothing. I get a red flashing light but from the instructions I'm guessing it's meant to be solid on? If it is faulty I can test it out with the NS1000s when they arrive and make an informed decision on whether to get an exchange or a refund, just annoying really :(

As for front panel and these cards, Marsman pretty much hit it on the head. Detection fails more often than not on my system, I actually discovered that my case is somewhat awkward and if inserted slightly wonky it won't detect it's connected, I didn't even think that would be possible!
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Defo a problem with the E5. Get it replaced.
When you have the E5 plugged into USB you'll get a bit of static when the sound is quiet, but take it out and it vanishes. You really need to have a proper working 1 which charges properly. i'd pop it back now and save yourself some time.
 
After posting that I Googled around a bit and found it's a relatively common issue although most everyone else gets some charge on it then it'll start flashing. It appears that whatever causes the red flashing LED issue also causes a degrading of quality, so yes I'll be getting a new one to play with rather than trying this one.
 
Just noticed that the DG has a SNR of 105dB vs the X-Fi Xtreme Music's which is 109dB. Does this mean that I could notice a reduction in sound quality in moving to the DG?
 
Nope, you would need the hearing of Superman to tell a 4dB difference. Lol, some people can't distinguish onboard audio from a sound card, and the difference can be as much as 30dB.

However, any reduction is not going to be the slightly lower SNR, but the cheaper components possibly.

Edit: Having said that, cheaper components of the DG is one of the reasons why the SNR is lower, but there is more to it than just SNR. I had a Xonar DS once, lower SNR than my X-Fi, sounded just as good.
 
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Some people were blind tested, Xonar DX against a D2X. Most could not tell a difference, and the SNR difference was 5dB IIRC. Of course, I say most, so entirely possible that one would notice a 4dB difference. That person might indeed be Superman. :p
 
To be quite honest, the SNR thing has just become a bit of a marketing tool for soundcard manufacturers. A CD has a theoretical SNR of 93db. Don't get too hung up on it when buying a soundcard.

High SNR does not necessarily mean great sound quality. It just means background noise will be less noticeable. The soundcard manufacturers test in somewhat idealised environments. Stick the soundcard right next to your graphics card or use the front panel with unshielded cables and there's a high chance that the quoted SNR will be meaningless.

A perfect example of a product with a poor SNR would be noise cancelling headphones like the NS1000s (in active mode). You hear background hiss. It's that sort of background noise that audiophiles try to eliminate by buying high SNR components. When sound is playing, you probably won't notice it. It just makes the silence 'blacker'.

Edit: when someone can discern the difference between two soundcards playing the same unprocessed audio, it's probably the sound signature they can hear, not the SNR. Sound signature preference is rather subjective and often difficult to quantify. The main discernable differences for most people will be due to features like Dolby Headphone or EAX etc.
 
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Got my E5 with the NS1000s now, definitely makes a good difference to the sound, but I need to use it more to compare, my battery ran out as soon as I got the E5 so no comparisons with NC on, but I think that the E5 boosts all levels of the music, especially the bass, but the high end treble seems a bit more lacking than when in NC on mode. This may be me being stupid, could also have been due to background noise as it wasn't quiet when I tested them. I'll keep trying and let you know my final verdict.
 
Yeah, the NS1000s treble with the E5 doesn't quite match noise cancelling mode but I find it's close enough to be usable.

I mainly use the E5 for a hiss free option.

It's worth noting that Goldring quote different frequency ranges for the headphones depending on whether noise reduction is active or not. With it on they quote a range that goes both higher and deeper than passive mode.
 
interesting i just ordered NS1000 and have been toying with the idea of getting either an E5 or E7 amp to go with it, has anyone used both??
 
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