Spec me: Sound card £150 - Headphones £120

Sharq

Sharq

Sharq

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Joined
9 Mar 2003
Posts
584
Currently I am using onboard sound with Sennheiser pc150.

I was thinking of buying a Asus Xoner Essence ST and was wondering which headphones would be best suited for this card?
Primary use is music with occasional gaming.

If someone could recommend a better soundcard, I could be swayed to change.
I was thinking Sennheiser HD595's headphones with the above soundcard?

£120 (possibly more) Headphones
£150 Soundcard

Thanks.
 
Beyerdynamic DT770 PRO Headset - 250 OHM?

Reviews look good, also read the posts in the other "which headphones" post. Seems like they come higher recommended.
 
Rather than spending £150 on the soundcard and £120 on the headphones, I'd recommend spending £140 on some DT770s (or DT990s if you prefer open, same internals just different casing), £120 on a Zero headphone amp, and £10 or so on a good optical cable, for the price it's simply an amazing setup that I cannot fault at all.

Check my reviews for both pieces of kit, link in sig :D
 
So i bought the DT770's 250ohm which sound great but seem a little underpowered i.e. it needs to be louder!

Currently im using a Asus Xoner d2x soundcard, im unsure if this has a headphone amp?
If i were to purchase a new soundcard, the essence STX, would this push the headphones to there full potential?

Thanks.
 
The Xonar d2x does not have a headphone amp whereas the STX has with a gain setting up to 600ohms so it should be capable of driving your DT770's.
 
i5aces said:
I think as this thread is 11 months old. The op already has some new headphones.
Click to expand...

Aye i do. I could do with the thickness size of the STX, i need to know if it will touch my G-Card.

I have a HUGE case, which im running SLI in, but thinking i might have an issue with the space inbetween the spare slots, my current Xonar DX2 just about fits nicely.

Thanks.
 
Sharq said:
Aye i do. I could do with the thickness size of the STX, i need to know if it will touch my G-Card.

I have a HUGE case, which im running SLI in, but thinking i might have an issue with the space inbetween the spare slots, my current Xonar DX2 just about fits nicely.

Thanks.
Click to expand...

Essence is no thicker than the D2/X.
 
I have the HD 558s and they are the best headphones I have ever owned, they are so comfortable and sound great and the velvety material is amazing. The 595s look great so go for them!
 
I already bought the 770's. I now own a Essence STX and all i can say is :D

Which gain boost should i use? +12DB for 300ohms or +18DB for 300~600 ohms?
What does the sample rate drop down box do?

Thanks
 
Sample rate doesn't really matter as I doubt anyone can notice the difference when resampling, but generally you should use the same sample rate as the source material. e.g cd audio 44.1Khz, gaming 48Khz etc.

As for the gain, you should use the lowest possible that achieves the volume and sound quality to your liking. Having the gain too high may introduce unwanted noise on cans that don't require the extra gain.
 
Thanks for the replies!

Just wondering if theres any advantage in changing the player i use for music? Currently im using winamp with everything standard.
 
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