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Don't know what amp to go with!?!?!

post #1 of 8
11/28/11 at 11:04am
Thread Starter 

Hey all, I just joined the site because it looked pretty informative and looked like there was quite a bit of activity.  Anyways, I just picked up some Sennheiser HD 598's and I'm LOVING them.  The thing is, is that I want to be able use them as they were suppose to be used.  So I'm now looking for a amplifier for them.  It looks like the FiiO E7 and E9 are pretty good external amplifiers, but i recently built a nice desktop and was wondering if getting a nice sound card would be better.  I talked to my friends and they pointed me at the ASUS Xonar Essence ST 24-bit 192KHz PCI Interface Audio Card.  I really don't know what is going to be best, and was hoping you guys could maybe share your experiences with headphone amplifiers.  I do most my music listening at my desktop so portability isn't a huge factor but is nice i guess. 

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post #2 of 8
11/28/11 at 6:11pm

The 598's are pretty easy to drive. The Xonar essence is good, specially if you plan to upgrade headphones in the future.

 

Welcome to head-fi btw. wink.gif

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post #3 of 8
11/28/11 at 9:53pm

The Sennheiser HD-598 is only 50-Ohms.

 

The Essence STX is cheaper and more future proof then the ST.

The STX & ST headphone amplifier is rated up to 600-Ohm.

you can also upgrade the 3 op-amps (operational amplifiers) for $15 to $30

The Essence(s) are great for music, movies and fairly good for gaming.

 

The Fiio E7 or E10 are headphone amplifiers that come with a USB DAC

You plug the computer USB port to the USB port on the Fiio.

Digital sound comes out of the computer (USB) into the E10(or E7) USB

The DACs (Digital to Analog Converter) change the digital (zeros & ones)

into an analog signal, which is the sent to the headphone amplifier (on the Fiio)

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post #4 of 8
11/28/11 at 11:35pm

I too own the HD 598 and I can safely say that you DO need an amp to hear their full potential.   For the first couple of weeks I listened to them straight from the headphone jack on a Macbook Pro.  I was happy with the sound but I felt that the low-end was lacking.  I dusted off an inexpensive 2 channel receiver that had been sitting in the basement and plugged the 598 in.  Major improvement in the low-end and I cannot complain about the bass now.  It's thunderous.  There's more drive and dynamics as well.  Unfortunately, now plugged directly into the Macbook the Senns sound anemic.  So now I'm going to save up for a dedicated headphone amp (the receiver is fine for now but too big for my desk setup).  

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post #5 of 8
11/28/11 at 11:52pm
Thread Starter 

Wow! Thanks guys for such quick responses!  Definitely very helpful.  I have a similar situation as MathewM.  I was snooping around my basement and found a old yamaha amplifier.  Its a RX-V690.  I think it was a pretty respectable amplifier for the time, but its way out dated by now.  Do you think I would get similar results from this old amplifier as I would from one of the previously mentioned amplifiers.

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post #6 of 8
11/29/11 at 12:16am

Plug it in and try it out.  The receiver I'm using is an Insignia (Best Buy brand) that I picked up a few years ago for $99. I would think the Yamaha would best it.  

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post #7 of 8
11/29/11 at 7:15am

I use the HD595 (similiar model to the 598?) with a FiiO E7 & E9 for my work set up and I enjoy it.

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post #8 of 8
11/29/11 at 12:09pm

Get the sound card. It does more than just power headphones and are about the same SQ as the E7/E9 combo.

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