Good heaphone amp with pc as source

brightside229

brightside229

brightside229

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Hi i am a complete noob when it comes to most audio stuff, but i do have a pair of high end sennheiser HD650 headphones which i have had around 4 years now, i have been using my pc's sound card as a source but i am wanting to improve the sound and get the most out of the headphones for a reasonable price.

I am looking to spend around £200, but could stretch to £300 at a push for something special. Any ideas would be great, thanks in advance!
 
brightside229 said:
just seen the Asus Xonar Essence One USB External Soundcard, is this a good shout? or am i just as well getting the onboard version?
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It's an extremely good device, underestimated and was quite rare to find. Costs a bit.

I use my HD650s with the FiiO E17 and E09K, great combo and a great price.
 
Just bought one £265, seems a bargain to say they seem to be £350-400+ but it is second hand but good condition fully boxed and 1 owner apparently!
 
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Thanks for the reply's guys, as said i opted for the asus essence one, Which i did not even know existed until i did a search yesterday for head phone amps, seems like it did everything i wanted and more, plus looks cool at the same time. Also opted to upgrade my head phone cable to a custom one, nothing too fancy, just a entry level audiophile one for £60 as my original seems to have a break in the left line somewhere and has to be in a certain position in order for it to work!

Not sure if anyone else has one of these amps on here, but i will post some pictures of it and write a review once i receive it on Tuesday for anyone interested!
 
brightside229 said:
Thanks for the reply's guys, as said i opted for the asus essence one, Which i did not even know existed until i did a search yesterday for head phone amps, seems like it did everything i wanted and more, plus looks cool at the same time. Also opted to upgrade my head phone cable to a custom one, nothing too fancy, just a entry level audiophile one for £60 as my original seems to have a break in the left line somewhere and has to be in a certain position in order for it to work!

Not sure if anyone else has one of these amps on here, but i will post some pictures of it and write a review once i receive it on Tuesday for anyone interested!
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Sorry to be brutal but you just threw £60 away. Cables make zero difference to SQ.
 
  • As above, internal soundcards like the Xonar Essence are a good choice.
  • For external options have a look on the amp subforum at head-fi as there are loads of options.
  • A third and often overlooked option is pro gear, just search for "audio interface" e.g. from dv247 (these are typically external DACs with lots of IO and a headphone output).
  • A final option would be to DIY, the M3 from AMB is a great beginners choice.

Edit: nvm lol you've bought the Asus. Will leave this here for others.

AbsenceJam said:
Sorry to be brutal but you just threw £60 away. Cables make zero difference to SQ.
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I thought this but you didn't read the post properly - the other one was faulty and needed replacing. Still, I would have replaced it with the stock cable for £11.
 
Tbh this new cable looks really cool, and is shorter then the genuine sennheiser one, 1.5m instead of 3 and with it being on my pc i dont need such a long cable, some people say it makes a difference others dont, but i needed a new cable and did see the original sennheiser one for cheaper but opted to get this one who knows it might even last longer, i know its a lot stiffer then the normal cable so might be less prone to breaking.
 
The Essence one just arrived! and i cant believe how heavy this thing is!! was expecting it to be fairly light but this thing weighs a ton! must be around 10kg!! Seems really well made, and nice material/finish! Cant try it out yet as my headphone cable does not come until thursday or friday :(

The box is a work of art in itself really posh packaging and well designed, even comes with a little posh gold book about test reports for the device! cant wait to try it!
 
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