Sound Card Advice

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adsl2

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Hi Guys,

I have a pair of Sennheiser HD558's. Up till now I used the onboard sound from my ASRock Z87 MB but I feel that it is time for an upgrade.

I read through a lot of threads about this but still have a few questions:

1) My MB has something they call Purity Sound. Does anyone have an opinion on this? Is it any good?

2) It looks like ASUS is the way to go WRT sound cards? Any other brand to consider?

3) Since the HD558's has an Impedance of 50 Ω, is an amplified card necessary? How big of a difference will the amp make?

4) I really like the ASUS Xonar Essence ST. It is about R1k which is what I am willing to spend.Is the ST worth it for my headphones over lower end cards like the Xonar DGX etc?

5) How long will new MB's come out with PCI ports? It will suck to buy the ST and when I upgrade my MB in the future realize that PCI is basically phased out.

Any input will be appreciated.
Thanks :)
 
From your post I reckon an ASUS Xonar Essence ST would be overkill for your use (unless you have a serious speaker system that you want to hook up).

If you just want to enjoy an improved audio experience through your headphones then something like the Xonar DGX or DSX would be more the sufficient.
 
Last edited:
HiToKiRi said:
From your post I reckon an ASUS Xonar Essence ST would be overkill for your use (unless you have a serious speaker system that you want to hook up).

If you just want to enjoy an improved audio experience through your headphones then something like the Xonar DGX or DSX would be more the sufficient.
Click to expand...

Thanks for your intput.

Electric said:
What are you wanting this card for?
Just to up the volume of your headphones or to improve the quality?

If it's just to up the volume then you can buy a BB Cmoy from JDS Labs.

Alternately you could look at http://www.soundselect.co.za/lexicon-alpha-1-1
Click to expand...

Volume is not a big issue, although I haven't listened to my headphones with an amp. Maybe the difference is huge..I don't know..

That is pretty awesome. How good does it work?
 
Which one?

I posted 2.

The Lexicon is a good entry level sound interface with built in headphone amplification.
The Cmoy BB is purely a headphone amp.

Either way if I must be honest, you don't understand how a good set of headphones will change if you drive them correctly.
It is very important.
 
Electric said:
Which one?

I posted 2.

The Lexicon is a good entry level sound interface with built in headphone amplification.
The Cmoy BB is purely a headphone amp.

Either way if I must be honest, you don't understand how a good set of headphones will change if you drive them correctly.
It is very important.
Click to expand...

Sorry. The Lexicon. Cool thanks.

Would you suggest to rather get the Lexicon than the Xonar ST?
 
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adsl2 said:
Sorry. The Lexicon. Cool thanks.

Would you suggest to rather get the Lexicon than the Xonar ST?
Click to expand...

The ST doesnt have any 3.5mm jacks, the ST is more for a studio setup with speakers.

D2X is wonderful.


d2x-backplane1.jpg


Asus_Xonar_DX_pic3.jpg
 
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I have the Asus Xonar Essence STX and I have to say that I have yet to find anything that can match its pre-amps when driving a good set of stereo headphones.
 
Thanks for all the replies guys. Much appreciated.

I use my headphones mainly for music and some gaming, no recording etc. I don't need 5.1 as the HD558 is only stereo.

My budget is 1k. It will be a waste for me to spend more than 1k on audio equipment at this stage.

Why would I buy a sound interface rather than a sound card?
 
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