Hi, I'm fairly new to the world of high quality headphone sound and would like some help. I'm currently using a pair of Westone 3s Limited Edition and have no foreseeable plans to use anything other than IEM. Due to my lifestyle and personal preferences, I don't see myself ever using high quality full-size cans.
In terms of the source, I recently upgraded from the X-FI Titanium Champion Professional to the X-FI Titanium HD. I know that Creative cards don't sound the best but I game quite a bit on the PC and really like their gaming features, especially for older non-Open AL games. However, the old Titanium HD sounded really harsh with my Westones so I decided to give the Titanium HD a try. Immediately, the HD sounded much better and natural. I was really surprised at how much of a difference a good source can made as I've always been a believer in the importance of speakers over electronics. My interest being piqued, I came over here to do more research and have been reading up on many related threads.
What I've gathered from the well of knowledge here is that the Titanium HD is fairly low to mid end compared to external DACs and does not have a dedicated AMP. I'm wondering if a good DAC/AMP combo like the Nuforce Icon HDP would be a better investment. Would I get significantly better sound if I feed the HDP with my old Titanium Pro's SPDIF? I'm asking because the HDP costs significantly more than a Titanium HD. After using some coupons, the Titanium HD costs only about $150+Tax. The HDP would cost 3 times more and I'm not sure if the highly sensitive Westone 3s would require more power. Even on the Titanium HD, my volume never goes over 20%. I'm sure my ears would hurt if I even push it to 30%.
Another concern of mine is whether the game processing would be accurately sent through SPDIF. I've read up on the subject too but they don't seem to be conclusive. It seems that the newer XFI can send the processed sound as a stereo stream but there is no mention of whether the surround headphone effects are preserved or if the output is only meant for 2.1 speakers. The surround headphone feature is really important for me because I have lousy PC speakers and usually game with my headphones on.
I would appreciate any tips or feedback. Thanks.
