Quality headphones and card?

Triggster

Triggster

Triggster

Associate
Joined
19 Apr 2007
Posts
23
Hey,

Been thinking about buying some quality headphones. I've never had any 'high quality' audio equipment before but its been something I've always wanted to try. I don't know much either nor am I an audiophile. I want something for gaming, music and movies.

I've been looking around however and came across the AKG Q701. Upon further reading it seems they need an amp to power, to which I've found the Asus Xonar Essence STX 2 which has a built in headphone amp.


Im just thinking a few things.
1) Is this a good choice? Like I said I'm not an audiophile, will this set up be wasted on me?
2) Is there anything better for less money and I'm I crazy to spend so much?
3) Is the sound card good enough or should I go for the external dac/amp. Although I think the internal option is much more tidy.
 
I can't vouch for either the card or the headphones but if you've never had any decent audio kit then I very much doubt you'd be disappointed!

Whether this is the best you can buy for that budget I don't know either :P I wasn't too good at finding what was best for my money and instead I just bought what I wanted.

You're definitely not crazy for spending that much though :)
 
Gone a completely different route, after reading around a bit more I came across the Philips Fidelio X1 which were getting very favourable reviews from some audiophiles on specialist forums. They seem a great all rounder, bought them from Italy as they were about £100 cheaper.

Also bought a Asus Xonar DX sound card, a higher quality cable and a Zalman mic.

So for under £250 I think I might of gotten a potentially really good set up. I was a bit unsure whether to get the Xonar STX though, still not sure although the X1's are supposed to be easily driven.
 
Last edited:
I'm not that familiar with the Asus cards but I can't see on the website whether it has an amplified headphone port or not. If it doesn't then you may want to change the soundcard for one that does are there are some similarly priced ones that do.

As for the headphones, I haven't tried them myself but if it has decent reviews then it should be pretty good for that price bracket :) If you've not heard headphones worth more than £20-30 before then I'm sure you'll love em.
 
Phal said:
I'm not that familiar with the Asus cards but I can't see on the website whether it has an amplified headphone port or not. If it doesn't then you may want to change the soundcard for one that does are there are some similarly priced ones that do.

As for the headphones, I haven't tried them myself but if it has decent reviews then it should be pretty good for that price bracket :) If you've not heard headphones worth more than £20-30 before then I'm sure you'll love em.
Click to expand...


I think your correct, I think I meant to actually get the Xonar DG/X which has an headphone amp built in.

I do actually have turtle beach x41 gaming headset, which cost me about £80 new, I bought them as they are wireless. Whilst they do give better sound than my speakers there uncomfortable and drink battery juice and drop out occasionally.

Sin_Chase said:
Money you could have spent putting into an STX over a DX. Higher quality cable will make zero discernible difference.

I'm sure you will be happy with it all but higher quality cables....nah - not something I buy into.
Click to expand...

I read that the stock cable was really bad as it had high resistance (2 ohm?), I found a recommended cable the Fisual S-Flex mini which was only like £11.49. I can RMA it as well I guess if I can't hear any difference.

However your point on the sound card, I now realise I have bought the wrong one. I have a couple of options here:
1. Swap out for a DGX. - Would be cheaper so bit of a bonus.
2. Swap out for an STX - More expensive and who knows, I mightn't be able to tell the difference.
3. Get both cards and RMA one when I decide...
 
Yes I seen those, I don't think I could justify paying over half of what the headphones are worth in order to get a minor sound quality increase.

Just tried to cancel the sound card from my order.
 
Both might be the best way if you're worried you're wasting your cash? Otherwise I'd just get the best one you're willing to pay for and be done with it :P I believe in buying once rather than twice :) hehe
 
I'm toying with the idea of the STX myself currently using onboard and at first i thought about the Phoebus but after reading reviews the Essence STX would seem the better choice for what i want to use it for tbh.
 
I think the Phoebus is more for gaming / speaker set ups, seeing as I'm getting headphones and doing a sort of mix of gaming, movies and music I think it'll be the better choice of them. Just will have to see if I notice a big enough difference to warrant the price.
 
I've just got a Creative Sound Blaster Z built in amp and AKG K550's and they sound amazing im sure yours will be even better than these!
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom