Headphones advice

DT770 80ohm should be nicely driven by the Xonar but the DT990

600ohm really needs a serious headphone amplifier to shine.

Coupled with your shared house arrangement. DT770 is a good bet.

HD598 also suits your sound card, unfortunately it is also open.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Gwarmi 

HD598 also suits your sound card, unfortunately it is also open.

Does the Xonar D2 also have about 100 Ohm output resistance, like the D1 ? If yes, then it is actually not very well suited by the HD598.

Quote:

Originally Posted by stv014 

 

Does the Xonar D2 also have about 100 Ohm output resistance, like the D1 ? If yes, then it is actually not very well suited by the HD598.

 

Not sure if it's officially published.

Audio Performance
- Output Signal-to-Noise Ratio (A-Weighted): 118 dB
- Input Signal-to-Noise Ratio (A-Weighted): 118 dB
- Output THD+N at 1kHz: 0.0004% (-108dB)
- Input THD+N at 1kHz: 0.0004% (-108dB)
- Frequency Response (-3dB, 24-bit/96kHz input): <10Hz to 46kHz (for all channels)
- Frequency Response (-3dB, 24-bit/192kHz input): <10Hz to 90kHz (for all channels)
- Output/Input Full-Scale Voltage: 2 Vrms (5.65 Vp-p)
- Sample Rate Conversion Quality: Almost lossless, high-fidelity floating-point filters, which has:
-140dB THD+N (typical value for 44.1K->48KHz, 24bit)
-145dB Dynamic Range (typical value for 44.1K->48KHz, 24bit)

Main Chipset
- 4-bit D-A Converter of Digital Sources: Burr-Brown PCM1796 *4 (123dB SNR, Max. 192kHz/24bit)
- 24-bit A-D Converter for Analog Inputs: Cirrus-Logic CS5381* 1 (120dB SNR, Max. 192kHz/24bit)

Sample Rate and Resolution
- Analog Playback Sample Rate and Resolution: 44.1K/48K/96K/192KHz @ 16/24bit
- Analog Recording Sample Rate and Resolution: 44.1K/48K/96K/192KHz @ 16/24bit
- S/PDIF Digital Output: 44.1K/48K/96K/192KHz @ 16/24bit ,Dolby Digital, DTS, WMA-Pro
- S/PDIF Digital Input: 44.1K/48K/96K/192KHz @ 16/24bit
- ASIO 2.0 Driver Support: 44.1K/48K/96K/192KHz @ 16/24bit

I/O Ports
- Analog Output Jack: 3.50mm mini jack *4 (Front/Side/Center-Subwoofer/Back)
- Analog Input Jack: 3.50mm mini jack *2 (Line-In/Mic-In)
- Other line-level analog input (for CD-IN/TV Tuner): CD-In, Aux-In (4-pin header on the card)
- Digital S/PDIF Output: Coaxial and High-bandwidth Optical Combo Connector
Supports 192KHz/24bit
- Digital S/PDIF Input: Coaxial and High-bandwidth Optical Combo Connector
Supports 192KHz/24bit
- MIDI Ports: Additional MPU-401 MIDI I/O bracket and converter cable

Driver Features
Operation System: Windows Vista/XP(32/64bit)/MCE2005
Dolby® Technologies: Dolby® Headphone, Dolby® Virtual Speaker, Dolby® Pro-Logic IIx, Dolby® Digital Live
DTS® Technologies: DTS® Connect (DTS Interactive Encoder and DTS Neo:PC)
Smart Volume Normalizer™: Normalizes the volume of all audio sources into a constant level
Xear 3D™ Virtual Speaker Shifter: Virtual 7.1 speaker positioning
Magic Voice™: Modifies the sound of your voice, for VOIP and online chat applications (Windows XP)
Karaoke Functions: Music Key-Shifting and Microphone Echo effects (Windows XP)
FlexBass™: Professional Bass Management/Enhancement system
Other Effects: 10-band Equalier/27 Environment Effects
3D Sound Engines/APIs: EAX®2.0&1.0, A3D® 1.0, DirectSound® HW & SW
DirectX: DirectX 9.0 or above required for 7.1ch output

Quote:

Originally Posted by hyperr 

 

Thanks for the reply. I might be getting an amp in the future, how much would I be looking to spend to get the most out of the DT990's?

 

Also I'm guessing from your reply that open headphones are rather loud, that's a shame.

 

What about DT770 600ohm? What kind of amp would I require to get the most out of it coupled with the Xonar D2?

Problem with a 600ohm headphone is that in the meantime, they will sound harsh, thin and lifeless out

of the Xonar. Best to steer clear of them, minimum would be something like the Violectric V90

330 quid just for the amp.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Gwarmi 

Not sure if it's officially published.

Unfortunately it is not published for the D1, either, so I only know it because I measured the resistance after buying the card But what is published seems to be quite similar for both cards (except the D2 has slightly better distortion/SNR), so maybe the D2 has a similar output stage and is high impedance as well.

Quote:

Originally Posted by hyperr 

 

Ah right, yeah I'm not really willing to spend that much on an amp. At least not for a long time.

 

How would the DT 770 250 ohm work with the Xonar? or are 80 ohm version really better suited? Which amp would be required (if any) for 250 ohm version?

 

Only reason I ask is because I heard the 80 ohm version has lots of bass, which might be bad for gaming?

The 250 Ohm version works reasonably when used directly from the Xonar D1, at least it is definitely more than loud enough (for me). But it still improves somewhat when used with a low output impedance source/amplifier, because the higher damping factor allows for a slightly more balanced frequency response. For this reason, I assume the 80 Ohm version (which I do not have) would be louder, but perhaps the high output resistance of the card would be more of a problem.

Although I cannot compare the 80 and 250 Ohm versions, both are known to have plenty of bass (not Sony XB series amount, though) that extends very low., but is somewhat recessed around 200 Hz That is, assuming that you get the "Pro" versions. The "Premium" ones have relatively lighter bass. Also, the 250 Ohm Pro has a coiled cord, as opposed to the straight one of the 80 Ohm version.

I tried using DT-770 Pro 250-Ohm with a Xonar DX, the PCI-Express version of the D1, barely powered the 250-Ohm headphones, not really worth it.

Any chance you could sell off the D2 and buy a used Essence STX or ST. They can easily power up to 600-Ohm headphones.

You can get low cost single tube headphone amplifiers off eBay, prices start at $50, ships from China.

They every easily power my 250-Ohm headphones.

I guess you can try 250-Ohm headphones with your current setup and see what happens.

You'll be needing one of these to line out from the D2 to the amplifier.

Quote:

Originally Posted by hyperr 
Quote:
I'd rather not get a new card because this D2 is rather new :P, I'd prefer to get an amp with the 250 ohm version I think. What do you recommend?

Fiio seems to be a popular Solid state headphone amplifier.

Lots of low cost headphone amplifiers (solid state and tube) solid on eBay, ships from China.

Now an external headphone amps works easily with music.

You really only need is a nice 2 channel line signal from your source (sound card) to the two RCA jacks (or mini jack) on your external amp.

As a movie uses 6 channels (5.1) you have to feed 6 "signals" into a 2 channel input (external amp).

Now your sound card can takes true 5.1 and make a simulated 5.1 to feed directly into some 2 channel headphones (though the headphone jack).

So you need an external amplifier that can intake that (simulated 5.1) two channel signal and boost it for headphones.

Hopefully others on Head-Fi can recommend a good headphone amplifier for doing that.