I can't say for certain.

If the AD900 is an improved AD700 (especially where bass is concerned), then it's a safe bet in terms of long-term comfort...but it doesn't really need a dedicated headphone amp, either. It's just that sensitive.

I also wouldn't get too hung up on the Essence STX's built-in headphone amp. Sure, it's a great one for something built into a sound card, but that assumes that you're going to be sticking to dynamics and orthos...if you want to try electrostatics, it's useless. (But then we're going way out of budget here, unless you find a good vintage Stax deal I'm not aware of.)

By any chance, do you still play games that use EAX 3/4/5 effects (Battlefield Vietnam/2/2142 come to mind)? Those probably won't sound right on non-Creative hardware, as the GX2.5 engine that comes with every C-Media-based card like a Xonar can only emulate and approximate anything above EAX 2. Otherwise, if you're only sticking to games that use XAudio2, FMOD, and other software-based audio engines, then the Xonars would be a safe bet. (At that point, it's just a matter of whether you prefer CMSS-3D Headphone or Dolby Headphone-a debate I won't get into without more first-hand experience.)

New Creative Labs sound card, the Recon3D (SB1350)

Comes with a 600-Ohm headphone amplifer

Price is around $100

Should be avaiable very soon

I just want to echo the earlier comments about the ATH-AD700.  I've had it for about 2 years, and now I can't use anything else for FPS gaming.  If you can get over the lack of bass, the positioning and huge soundstage are amazing for games like BF3 and CoD.

I just recently bought a pair of HD650's to replace some DT880's, and I gave the beyers a try for gaming, and although they -sound- loads better than the AD700s (of course), they just didn't have that same edge for positioning that the AD700s have.  You really can pick people out moving around you, and tell almost exactly where they are coming from.

My vote is for the ATH-AD700s (if you care, hehe.), and I wouldn't want to comment on the AD900s as I've not heard them.

Heh...well my take basically is, if you can swing it, I would definitely say get the ATH-AD700s for gaming, and then maybe buy another set of 'phones for movies, music, etc.  Once you get used to their sound signature and the excellent positioning, you may find that you won't really miss the bass all that much.  That's what happened for me, at least.  

Quote:

Originally Posted by carefullistener 
Whoa whoa whoa....wait a second...

Are you saying that I can do WITHOUT a sound card that has an onboard amp? 

But what if i ever decide to get the dt-990 600 ohm version??? 

Are you saying that it would be  more beneficial to me to get a cheap (20-50 dollar) sound card, and invest more money in a quality Amp? than it is for me to spend 179.99 on this: ASUS Xonar Essence STX Virtual 7.1 Channels 24-bit 192KHz PCI Express x1 Interface 124 dB SNR / Headphone AMP Card ?

I heard someone else tell me that if i get the card listed above right here, it will simplify things for me a great deal and then i wont have to worry about all those extras.

I am getting another 2 headphones from amazon to add to my collection of senheisser 555, trying to decide on which ones right now...

I am thinking DT-990 pro 600ohm as the first one, and perhaps the Audio Technic AD-900 as the second. 

What is better? ALL in ONE soundcard for 180 bucks and forgetting about Amps+Dacs....or 30-50 dollar soundcard with 150-200 dollars to spend on amp+dac? Please let me know asap! because I am ordering within the next 12 hours!!!

Speaking of which....should I hold off on ordering to see if Amazon and Newegg have better deals in the upcoming 48-72 hours? Does Cyber Monday usually have deals on Audiophile equipment of this high end stature?

Sound cards, even ones with out a dedicated headphone amplifier can easily use headphones in the 25-Ohm to 60-Ohm range.

On-board audio is usually the cheapest (and decent?) audio processor then can build in, motherboard manufacturers want to keep costs down.

Motherboard's built in sound card has gotten better in the past several years.

The Asus Xonar DG (PCI) $30, comes with a half-way decent headphone amplifier rated for 150-Ohms

Comes with Dolby Headphone surround sound and GX 2.5 (Asus's emulation of Creatives EAX 5.0)

Most Xonar sound cards come with the C-Media CMI8788 (8 channel) audio processor, the DG comes with the slightly older CMI8768 (6 channel) audio processor.

Sound cards like the Essence STX & ST can use "audiophile" class headphones and you can upgrade to better op-amps then that usually come soldered into sound cards and headphone amplifiers.

External amplifier/DACs are nice because the external device is unaffected by internal electrical noise in the computer case.

Hooking up an external headphone amplifier might only give you great sounding stereo 2.0 channel sound, not 5.1, depending on the hook up to the computer.

Quote:

Originally Posted by carefullistener 

Whoa whoa whoa....wait a second...

 

Are you saying that I can do WITHOUT a sound card that has an onboard amp? 

 

But what if i ever decide to get the dt-990 600 ohm version??? 

 

Are you saying that it would be  more beneficial to me to get a cheap (20-50 dollar) sound card, and invest more money in a quality Amp? than it is for me to spend 179.99 on this: 

ASUS Xonar Essence STX Virtual 7.1 Channels 24-bit 192KHz PCI Express x1 Interface 124 dB SNR / Headphone AMP Card ?

 

I heard someone else tell me that if i get the card listed above right here, it will simplify things for me a great deal and then i wont have to worry about all those extras.

 

I am getting another 2 headphones from amazon to add to my collection of senheisser 555, trying to decide on which ones right now...

 

I am thinking DT-990 pro 600ohm as the first one, and perhaps the Audio Technic AD-900 as the second. 

 

What is better? ALL in ONE soundcard for 180 bucks and forgetting about Amps+Dacs....or 30-50 dollar soundcard with 150-200 dollars to spend on amp+dac? Please let me know asap! because I am ordering within the next 12 hours!!!

 

Speaking of which....should I hold off on ordering to see if Amazon and Newegg have better deals in the upcoming 48-72 hours? Does Cyber Monday usually have deals on Audiophile equipment of this high end stature?

What I'm saying is that having a good headphone amp integrated right into the sound card can be a great thing, so long as you know what kind of headphones you want. If you like dynamics and orthos, you're fine. If you find yourself wanting to delve into electrostatics...well, be prepared to spend hundreds on the amp alone, because 'stats function so differently that they REQUIRE specialized amps. You can't just plug them into a sound card or most audio equipment in general; the jacks are proprietary for good reason. (Alternatively, they might come with a transformer box, but that still requires a speaker power amp, like what you'd find in an old receiver.) So why go through all that trouble? It turns out that Stax Lambdas make great gaming headphones, albeit highly expensive ones...

If you get an external DAC, you're effectively bypassing the analog output stage of a sound card if it's feeding the DAC through S/PDIF, reducing it to nothing more than a DSP. Since Xonar cards cannot output Dolby Headphone-processed stereo PCM over S/PDIF, you'd have to go for an X-Fi and CMSS-3D Headphone over S/PDIF, before it hits the DAC. (But if you want to seriously consider an external DAC, be prepared to drop $300-500. Way out of budget...below that, and you're best off sticking to internal sound cards.)

Getting the Xonar Essence STX means you'll have a competent DAC and dynamic amp all in one, along with Dolby Headphone for surround gaming. The only variable is EAX, really, and since you didn't mention it, I'm just going to take that as a sign that you don't really care about it.

Oh, and as for headphones...the AD700s are indeed comfortable and synergize well with binaural surround technologies, but you'll find more than a few people who hate them for the price, simply because of the lack of bass. These same people are bassheads and would advise that you get a "fuller" headphone on which you can EQ the bass down if you want to listen to footsteps.

Carefullistener, going with a great sound card like the Essence STX is beyond just amplification, it's digital to analog converter(the thing that turns the data of the digital audio into sound) is just going to be so much better than onboard audio or low end sound cards. The op amps...I'm not sure on the technical use of them but basically, they affect the way your equipment sounds. From detail, sound stage, and all that good stuff. Some are warm, others more analytical, etc. but lets not get into that. Just know that being able to change them if you want is a great thing

As far as your alternative, a 30-50 sound card and external amp/dac, that just isn't good. You either get the high end built in sound card, or stick to external DAC/Amp, no need to upgrade the sound card if you go the latter route. This is because if you get an amp and an external DAC, the sound card is going to be bypassed anyway so there is no need to have a PCI/PCI-E sound card, just go off the coax or usb of your motherboard into the dac you choose to buy. But if you don't want external equipment, stick to the Essence STX.

As far as headphones are concerned, I think the AD900 is in order here. You probably know already that heavy bass is very fatiguing when playing FPS for a long time, my friend tyrant(don't know if you know him, he used to play CoD) taught me that and I am a firm believer that a bass light headphone is probably the best. But since you do want to use it for music as well and you like EDM, I think that going for the AD900 instead of the AD700 should be helpful. The bass is much better supposedly(I don't know personally but everyone pretty much agrees, the frequency charts suggest it as well) but it shouldn't be to the point where it could become annoying after a long session of gaming. I know the DT990 is a good gaming phone apparently but I know little about it.

Quote:

Originally Posted by NamelessPFG 

 

What I'm saying is that having a good headphone amp integrated right into the sound card can be a great thing, so long as you know what kind of headphones you want. If you like dynamics and orthos, you're fine. If you find yourself wanting to delve into electrostatics...well, be prepared to spend hundreds on the amp alone, because 'stats function so differently that they REQUIRE specialized amps. You can't just plug them into a sound card or most audio equipment in general; the jacks are proprietary for good reason. (Alternatively, they might come with a transformer box, but that still requires a speaker power amp, like what you'd find in an old receiver.) So why go through all that trouble? It turns out that Stax Lambdas make great gaming headphones, albeit highly expensive ones...

 

If you get an external DAC, you're effectively bypassing the analog output stage of a sound card if it's feeding the DAC through S/PDIF, reducing it to nothing more than a DSP. Since Xonar cards cannot output Dolby Headphone-processed stereo PCM over S/PDIF, you'd have to go for an X-Fi and CMSS-3D Headphone over S/PDIF, before it hits the DAC. (But if you want to seriously consider an external DAC, be prepared to drop $300-500. Way out of budget...below that, and you're best off sticking to internal sound cards.)

 

Getting the Xonar Essence STX means you'll have a competent DAC and dynamic amp all in one, along with Dolby Headphone for surround gaming. The only variable is EAX, really, and since you didn't mention it, I'm just going to take that as a sign that you don't really care about it.

I think just talking about electrostic headphones in general is just not really called for in this case....I mean, everyone who has a pure dynamic setup is going to need a new amplifier for some electrostatic headphones <_<.....at least give the dude a chance to get into the headphone world first lol.

Quote:

Originally Posted by B-Dawk20 

I think just talking about electrostic headphones in general is just not really called for in this case....I mean, everyone who has a pure dynamic setup is going to need a new amplifier for some electrostatic headphones <_<.....at least give the dude a chance to get into the headphone world first lol.

I'm not saying for him to plunk down for the Stax setup he can't afford right now...but at least consider the route and don't get TOO invested into headphone amps, if you catch my drift. At least try some 'stats when the budget allows to find out if they're your cup of tea or not...and if not, then you know for sure that you can focus more on dynamic/ortho equipment.

Though one way of looking at it is that if he gets the Xonar Essence STX, that's all the dynamic/ortho amp he should need for now, and there's nothing stopping him from connecting an electrostatic amp to it later on, if so desired...after all, it's more like a mere $70 premium over comparable sound cards, instead of the several hundreds of dollars that most dedicated dynamic/ortho amps raved about on here go for.