SBZ surround with headphones connected to speaker jack

BuckToothBilly · 25 Jul 2017 at 22:41

Hello!
Ever since getting my Sound Blaster Z and little dot 1+ I've used the the headphone out on the SBZ to connect to my amp. I recently figured out that this double amping was the cause for the constant buzzing I hear when gaming and I'm now using the speaker out on the SBZ to connect to my amp and am finally able to game buzz free!

I read a comment the other day that suggested that if my headphones aren't plugged into the headphone out I wont get the benefit of virtual surround and I'm hoping someone can shed some more light on this as I've been unable to find any more info on this via google searches.

Do I still get virtual surround in my headphones if they are plugged into the speaker out instead of the headphone out?

Thanks in advance for any help.

BuckToothBilly · 26 Jul 2017 at 01:19

Well that sucks, looks like I have the choice of virtual surround with buzzing, or clear audio but no virtual surround. The main reason I bought the sound card was for surround sound on my headphones but I'd hate to have to go back to the buzzing after thinking I'd finally solved that

I don't doubt what Marsman says, but does anyone else have any input? I'd rather not go back to the buzzing/interference but if that's the only way to get virtual surround in my headphones I guess I have no choice.

BuckToothBilly · 26 Jul 2017 at 12:09

I'm using AKG k7XX and sadly the sound card alone isn't enough to drive them. I guess I'll have to add a DAC with optical out to my list of things to purchase then.

Would a cheap dac like the FiiO D03K suffice or should I be looking at something that matches the rest of my setup better? something like a schiit modi 2 uber for example. I'd like something as cheap as possible tbh but I don't want to get something that doesn't do my amp and headphones justice or that's a noticeable downgrade from the SBZ's DAC.

Thanks for your help.

BuckToothBilly · 26 Jul 2017 at 17:13

The frequency varies depending on the framerate I'm getting but I would say it's high frequency, it's only a problem when gaming. Listening to audio and video on the desktop isn't a problem as the buzzing only becomes apparent at volumes higher than is comfortable to listen to unless I load up a game. I do actually have a cheap DAC I was using on my tv(£10) that I just plugged into the optical out on the SBZ and it has completely removed the buzzing while gaming and going by what Marsman says will still allow me to benefit from virtual surround. I think I'll stick with this for now and upgrade to something like the schiit modi 2 uber when money isn't so tight, I know Marsman said a cheap DAC like the FiiO D03K would be fine but I worry something that cheap could/would be holding back my headphones and amp.