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Newbie in need of help/direction

post #1 of 9
11/21/11 at 2:22pm
Thread Starter 

Title says it all!

 

I just started to get into high end audio after being in the dark for so long.

 

 

I basically unsure on how to proceed on to get more out of my setup.

 

 

 

I currently have a pair of hd555's I picked up for better gaming sound quality and found that I didn't end up getting what I was looking for.....but for music they are worlds above my old "gaming" headphones. I just picked up (shipping soon) a pair of AD700's for gaming after getting a few recommendations.

 

My system comprises of my PC and the internal audio card

http://www.realtek.com.tw/products/productsView.aspx?Langid=1&PFid=28&Level=5&Conn=4&ProdID=173

 

That outputs 24b/192kHz

 

My PC is connected to a Sony kg700 receiver/amp (theater in a box setup)

 

 

most all of the music i listen to is either streamed from the Internet/ played from my collection of Flac files or played on my stand alone turntable (I have a large collection of lp's).

 

 

I guess my question is if my sound card is out putting 24b/192kHz to my receiver that I use to drive my headphones, what do I have to gain? would running my PC -> DAC -> phones give me gains I would notice?

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post #2 of 9
11/21/11 at 2:47pm

It depends how crap your receiver is, since is was a theater in a box setup I doubt it's up too much especially the headphone amp, just get something like the fiio e10 for your headphones a dac/amp all in 1.

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post #3 of 9
11/21/11 at 3:05pm
Thread Starter 

So even tho the receiver/amp displays 24b/192kHz output when the headphones are jacked in, it may not necessarily be pumping that into my headphones?

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post #4 of 9
11/21/11 at 3:16pm

Yea it probley is if it displays 24b/192kHz then thats probley what your getting.

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post #5 of 9
11/21/11 at 5:33pm

How is the built in sound card connected to the Sony KG700?

Is it RCAs or a digital (optical or coaxial) connection?

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post #6 of 9
11/21/11 at 5:53pm
Thread Starter 

spdif coax

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post #7 of 9
11/21/11 at 6:24pm

HD-555s (50-Ohm) and ATH-AD700s (32-Ohm) are very easy to drive.

To me spending like $70 for a separate headphone amp/DAC would not be worth it.

An external headphone amp/DAC with upgradeable op-amps (operational amplifiers) might be worth it.

I guess to be really worth it to improve the the sound, you would get something like the Schiit Asguad $250 headphone amplifier.

If you had gotten higher end headphones that were like 250-Ohms, that would have been a better reason to get a separate headphone amp/DAC.

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post #8 of 9
11/21/11 at 6:28pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by mpodesta View Post
So even tho the receiver/amp displays 24b/192kHz output when the headphones are jacked in, it may not necessarily be pumping that into my headphones?

I would guess music files would be in the 44kHz range, DVD movies up to 96kHz range and Blu-ray can take advantage of 192kHz.

 

Just checked, I'm guessing the Sony KG700 would not know what to do with anything over 96kHz.
 

 

 


Edited by PurpleAngel - 11/21/11 at 6:33pm
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post #9 of 9
11/21/11 at 7:11pm
Thread Starter 

Thanks purple,

 

looks as if im at the point i'll hold off on upgrades till I up the ante with a better pair of headphones down the road.

 

 

That will give me more $$$ towards finishing building my speakers.

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