Buying HD 650, trying to figure out how to power it

Seems like a common topic, but everyone is looking for something different when it comes to amps for these headphones, myself included.  In my case, the $360 expense* for the headphones themselves is the reason why I didn't buy them years ago.  The simple fact that I pretty much must complement them with an amp of some kind is almost a deal breaker for my poor finances.

*(Somebody mentioned in the "seeking advice" thread that these headphones can be had for under $300.  I'd love to know where!)

I already tried researching this.  What I came up with:

http://www.amazon.com/FiiO-E7-Portable-Headphone-Amplifier/dp/B003E6K1VK/

FiiO E7 USB DAC and Portable Headphone Amplifier

Pros: Fits my budget.  Heavily associated with the HD650 on Amazon - people seem to like it.  No major flaws noted.  Bypasses the use of a DAC in the PC itself.

Cons: 16bit 48Khz cap.  This means that the noise floor is unavoidably high, which would seem to defeat the main points behind both the use of a USB DAC and the use of high-quality headphones.  Also, I can't pin down this device's latency, which is a problem with all USB DACs.  I plan to game with whatever I end up buying, so latency is a no-no.

http://www.amazon.com/NuForce-uDAC2-HP-Black-Headphone-24bit/dp/B00442KO0Q/

Nuforce Icon uDAC2-HP Headphone Amp and USB DAC

Pros: Fits my budget.  Mentioned in the same breath with the FiiO E7, though regarded as better, if less flexible.  Bypasses the use of a DAC in the PC itself.  24bit 96KHz.

Cons: Tons of people have complained about a high-frequency whine produced by this device, and I suspect that it is an inherent, universal flaw.  This basically means I won't be buying this.

http://www.amazon.com/Xonar-Essence-24-bit-192KHz-Interface/dp/B002UVME88/

Xonar Essence ST

Pros: I could stretch my budget to make this fit if I had to, but it would slay me.  In this thread: http://forums.overclockers.co.uk/showthread.php?t=18211138, one fellow gushes over the combination of this card and the HD650, and later on, somebody who can afford the HD800 and other expensive hardware offers his opinion that a proper headphone amp probably would not give any real improvement over said combination.  That carries a lot of weight with me.  Also, since it is a soundcard, I could expect effectively no latency, which means it easily beats any USB solution.

Cons: It's a soundcard, and I have never experienced a soundcard or other internal DAC solution which didn't let internal noises bleed into the audio (for example, power fluctuations associated with drive activity).

http://www.amazon.com/HRT-Music-Streamer-II-Resolution/dp/tech-data/B0038O4UFQ/

HRT Music Streamer II High Resolution USB D/A Converter

Pros: Fits my budget, sort of.  24bit 96KHz.  Asynchronous USB mode (for the win).

Cons: Latency unknown.  Not much discussion about this product.  I only discovered it ten minutes ago myself.

That's about all I've been able to round up in the last couple of days.  Whatever I buy, it will be used on a desktop PC, so it doesn't need to be portable.  As mentioned before, latency is a significant concern as I will be doing a lot of gaming, plus latency just plain bugs me.  I basically just need to know if anyone can make some suggestions based on the trend of the contenders I've submitted.  If there are any points I forgot to clear up, please ask.  Thanks!

This forum is fantastic.  Thanks, folks.

Yeah, I gotta admit I was leaning towards the soundcard.  My quibbles were my certainty (now quashed) that it would let other noises leak in, and the fact that I could not take the headphones to a buddy's place to show them off, without doing some annoying hardware swapping.

I had actually been taking a closer look at the E7 as well, as I found a compellingly thorough analysis of its capabilities in a blog.  The stickler point was that it only gives 16mW to headphones like the HD650.  One would need to combine it with the E9 to give respectable (usable) power, and this unfortunately would seem to result in a redundant double-amplification, as the E7's amp is presumably non-defeatable.  What a shame the E9 does not have a DAC built in.

Yeah.  The convenience factor of the USB solution has me very interested in knowing for sure whether or not there would be any strong negative aspects to using the E7/E9 combo, and whether or not there would truly be a big audible difference between said combo and the soundcard.

Good eye on that $339 HD650.  It really does look like they're selling the same product on both their Ebay and non-Ebay stores, only failing to mention it's not new-in-box on the store where they aren't necessarily legally mandated to. ;p

Wow, you answered my curiosity before I could post it.  And you directly answered my question which I just fired off to FiiO, regarding the possibility of the E7 simply passing the signal through non-amplified.

As far as using a cheaper DAC to feed the E9, I can't help but feel like I'd be throwing a wrench into the works.  The thorough rundown of the E7 I mentioned earlier made it clear that the reason it's a good solution is because of the almost inexplicably high-quality parts, including, as it happens, "an audiophile-grade Wolfson DAC".  Facts like these inspire a lot of trust in what the designers seem to have had in mind.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Head Injury 

There won't be much of an audible difference between the E9 and the sound card, except for gaming when Dolby Headphone is used.

Hmm.  So it comes down to.. The convenience of portability vs. the availability of Dolby Headphone.

...

I just checked and it seems my motherboard (Gigabyte EX58-UD5) has Dolby Headphone built-in (well, available in an update).  That sure complicates things.  Decisions, decisions.  At least now I know it's going to be one of these two solutions.  Three hours ago I was blind.