HeadPhone Amp ?

I never realized that there were two G5 amps the Sound Blaster E5 at £150 and the Sound BlasterX G5 at £120



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Marsman said:
Yes, the E5 has more features than the G5, like Bluetooth connection and has a battery, so is portable. G5 is for tethered use. Always connected to a PC or console.

I can see an optical port on the Humax and although Samsung's manual and site seemed useless for getting the TV's specs, looking on a comparison site does indicate it has optical.

Creative G5 will do what you need, but the X-Audio X6 will also do what you want for half the cost and should be simpler to set up, as you won't have to split the analogue out from the Humax box going to your amp like you would with the G5.

It will connect like this; PC connected to X6 via USB; optical out from Humax box into the X6; leave the analogue cable running from the Humax box into your NAD amp; RCA cable from the X6 line out into one of the inputs on the NAD.

You will need to change or make sure the optical output is set to stereo in the Humax settings. It may be set to multi channel, which won't work.
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Thanks for that Marsman. I don't ever see me needing Bluetooth or a battery powered one so the G5 would do it. I also like the look of the X-Audio X6 and I know there releasing the X-Audio X7 soon so it might be worth the wait.

I am moving house in the next 4 or 5 weeks so with any luck I will have a bit of spare money and I can update my PVR and TV and i would think they would have optical ports on them that I might use.


Marsman on a side note do you know anything about USB Audio Interfaces they also have a headphone amp in then but I don't know how good they are. I use USB mics at the moment but i was thinking about getting a XLR mic and maybe the headphone amp on something like the Audient iD4 USB Audio Interface would be just as good as a G5 or X-Audio X6 .



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Having looked at reviews i have now ruled out a USB Audio Interface. So its a straight fight between the X-Audio X6 and the Sound BlasterX G5. I think if they were both in a boxing ring the X-Audio X6 would be taking a real beating from the Sound BlasterX G5.


:D


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Marsman said:
Both can do the job, albeit slightly differently, in that you'd use analogue into the G5 and optical in for the X6.

I suppose it ultimately comes down to whether you're happy to pay £120, or whether you'd feel more comfortable paying £60.
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I'm thinking i might push the boat out a little and go for the XG5. Am i right in thinking that all i would need to connect it would be a 3.5mm to 2x RCA cable.


Also on a side note yet again :D Can the XG5 be connected to a TV Soundbar ?


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Hi

This is what i have

Beyerdynamic DT 770 PRO Studio Headphones - 250 Ohm

NAD 320BEE Amp

PVR Humax HDR‑FOX T2

TV is a Samsung UE40D5000

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Marsman said:
FiiO A3 is a good choice for an inexpensive headphone amp. It's portable, so you'd need to charge the battery, or possibly just leave it plugged into USB. You'd still need your E-DAC though, which is fine. It's just a headphone amp, unlike the E10K which is a DAC/amp. Only one input though, so you'd need to run another splitter cable in order to plug both E-DAC and input from the Humax box into the A3.

Perfectly workable option though.

Just had a look at the FiiO Q1. I'm not familiar with that as it's one of FiiO's newer products. Looking a bit closer; it is similar to the A3, but a DAC/amp. Looks like the amp puts out less power than the A3 though. While looking to see if this would be a suitable choice, I found a question on FiiO's forums from someone asking about using the DT770's with the Q1. A FiiO rep said the Q1 may not have enough for those headphones. As I said in a previous post though, FiiO are conservative when it comes to the output power of their headphone amps. Certainly a good thing and better than claims of being able to drive 600 Ohm headphones, when it can't; like we see from some gaming audio product manufacturers.

Read a review on head-fi of the Q1, from someone who does very good thorough reviews and he mentions that while using pair of Sennheiser HD600's, which he thought the Q1 did a commendable job with. If it can do fine with the HD600/650, it shouldn't have any trouble with the DT770.

The Q1 a better option than the A3 in my opinion, as it has 2 inputs; DAC via USB and 3.5mm analogue. Costs slightly more, but only about £10 extra.

So far then, we have; Creative G5, FiiO A3 or Q1 and FX-Audio X6. All are workable solutions. G5 is double or more the cost of the others, but I'm not certain it's £120 well spent if you have no use for the other features it has over the cheaper options. Technically, you'd be paying twice as much or more than one of the others that will do the same thing. G5 has a better DAC, but whether that will be noticeable and worth the extra is uncertain.
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Thanks Marsman that was a long one :D Okay off to look at some reviews on it. I see there is also a Mark 2 of this for about 30 quid more. But for now will just look at the reviews on the Q1


Thanks Mate

:)

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Thanks for that :) So does the stackable cable have six connections on it.4 on one end and 2 on the other


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Marsman said:
Yes.

There are two ways to go about it.

1. Use a standard 2x RCA to 3.5mm.

Connect the RCA cable coming from the Humax to the L and R inputs on 'tape 1' and connect a standard 2x RCA to 3.5mm cable to the L and R outputs on 'tape 1'. 3.5mm end to the Q1. The amp will need to be on for the Q1 to receive audio from the Humax. When you don't want sound from the speakers, just turn down the volume. It won't affect the audio coming out that goes to the Q1 as it's a fixed level.

2. Use a stackable RCA to 3.5mm cable like the one I linked to in post #58.

Plug that cable into the L and R RCA connections of the input you want to use on the NAD amp, but let's say 'tuner'. Plug the cable coming from the Humax box into the sockets on the back of the stackable RCA cable. 3.5mm end to the Q1.

Using a stackable RCA cable, connects the cables coming from the Humax box and the Q1 before it gets to the NAD amp, meaning the Q1 can receive audio from the Humax box even when the NAD amp is off.

Doesn't really matter which way. Comes down to preference. One way means having the amp on with the volume turned down when you don't want sound through the speakers. The other way, you just turn the amp off when you don't want sound from speakers.
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So will the NAD Amp always have to be on for me to get sound from the PC and the Humax box.




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mistersprinkles said:
Purely OPAMP based amps sound like hollow garbage. Seriously bad. Pick up a Schiit modi/magni combo. $199 USD not sure what it is in the UK but there is a distributor. You can't beat them for the price. Just can't.
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Is this not just Willy Waving going on here
:D

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