Probably. All commercial soundcards have extremely high output impedance. IIRC STX 2 is 10Ω, which means you'd need at least 80Ω headphones for it not to distort sound. Of course you can just buy a Schiit Magni 2 b-stock, line-out from the card to that and plug them in the Magni instead. The...

Just as a final check before I try and find a used or buy a b-stock for $90, is there anything else as good as or better in the same price range for a transparent amp? I've already ruled out O2(higher price/less power/kinda ugly) and the Topping A30(comparable power and nice gain features, but...

Thats what I figured, always nice to get a second opinion confirming it though, thanks

That's what I figured. It seems to do perfectly fine pushing 32ohm iems. Volume controls suck though; control isnt fine enough, they jump from 'slightly not loud enough' to 'slightly too loud', think it jumps from 60-70% and 65% would be perfect. Might have to look into rooting it to change...

So either way you have to unplug one to use the other. Regular version has plenty of power to power any conceivable headphones ill ever consider buying. No, im never going to spend more than $300-400 on headphones. The main reason for getting the Magni is to circumvent distortion caused by the...

Okay so i'm in a dilemma between the Magni 2 and O2. If I decide to go with the Magni 2, is there any point at all to getting the Uber if all ill be using it for is an amp for mid-tier cans like 598/k7xx/k712/ad700x? I've heard that the pre amp outs on the uber can be used to for external...

AS mentioned, the impedance is generally going to be less or significantly less than 100, which afaik is far from considered 'high'. Talking in the 38-62Ohm ball park, with sensitivities of 100-112db/v. Things like the K7xx, 598, ad700x, ect.

Hate to sorta necro this but its like the only thread on it that I see. I've just gotten my Axon 7. Do other owners feel it really needs an amp or is it plenty enough for powering headphones with average impedances of under or well under 100Ohms and sensitivities of >100db/v?

For a more money you can get the best of both, though. Especially if you can get a SB-Z for cheap on ebay; from what I gather surround sound works through optical out, so you can toslink out to a dedicated quality stack, for better quality in every metric on top of surround sound and gaming...

I'm currently using a pair of crappy IEM's, on my laptop, and even on them I can hear the position of the sound shifting as he turns. It doesnt sound closer or further away, just the perceived direction the sound is coming from changes. Still, does anyone think the Fostex T20/T50's are better...

I would HOPE its better than the Z when it's 4x the cost, otherwise you just waste a ton of money. Thing is, you could also get an external SChiit stack or other DAC/Amp combo for that $440 price tag. Is it worth it compared to other options you have at that price? Does it beat a schiit stack...

Out of my pay grade, unless you got a pair for less than $200 :P

Ahh, so the $650 MSRP listed is just a bit of misleading pricing to make you think you're getting a massive deal when really thats just the average? Kinda unfortunate, but, they ARE right at the limit of my budget, and not much pricier than the other two, so if they're generally considered...

I wouldn't exactly say Nothing. If you dont care for swappable op-amps and are going to use your own dac/amp stack anyway the Z is a much cheaper way to get the gaming features through your current audio setup.

Question, is $199.99 a good price for AKG K7xx, and is it considered as good of an all-rounder(good soundstage, bass, ect) for gaming/movies/music as the K702 Annies? It says they are based on the Annies but not sure if that means they have the same all-round goodness or not. Is it generally...