Well I just bought a pair of JVC HA-RX900. They are my first real headphones so I started small. I have modded them as outlined by TopPop. I am really enjoying them. Unfortunately, I am having a problem getting them hooked up to the PC in a way that I like. My cheap-o pc speakers have a head phone jack, but it messes with the sound. on the other hand, If I plug them directly into the sound card (a X-Fi Fatal1ty extremeGamer) then I have no way to easily adjust the volume. I was thinking of getting a splitter with one end going to the speakers and another going through a portable amp like the pa2v2 to control the volume. The portable amp could also come in handy for travel as well. I know they sell cheep volume rollers at radio shack, but it just feels wrong to plug my new HPs into that "quarter machine" garbage.
My questions are:
1 - Will the splitter effect sound quality much?
2 - Is there a cheap way to build a potentiometer (not sure how they work) instead?
3 - Will the pa2v2 work for this purpose, is it redundant after the x-fi? will it have an adverse effect on SQ?
4 - What would be better over all, a portable amp or an opamp mod on the sound card (or both)?
I have a very limited budget at this time, lets say $75. I will be using this setup for music and gaming, (movies will be watched with the same HPs hooked up to the surround sound). I like electronic, insturmental and ambient music. If you would suggest an opamp mod, which opamps would you recommend for this setup?
