ncsuzoso said:

   
You have VERY little room to work with if you want to use the EMI shield.  Look at the link below in the next paragraph, shows a picture of my previous setup.  I tried many different types of op-amps and many would not fit under that shield.  However I finally landed on what you see in my profile which did all fit.  The issue is not only the height going up, but the room around the socket is extremely tight.  If you use anything that isn't the exact width of a DIP-8 socket it will most likely not fit unless you use an adapter to raise it above the caps (I did this for a few).
 
As impressive as these Burson V5-OPA-D's are, they have yet to blow away my 4x ADA4627-1BRZ setup (keep in mind I am only talking about the two blue/rear sockets, there is another SOIC-8 on the underside).  However as I mentioned I am still running AD8597's along with them, so I am going to see if Burson Audio will send out their V5-OPA-S to run with these to get the full picture of what they are offering here.  Don't get me wrong, the Bursons are better, but being a student I am not sure if I can justify the cost difference vs my Analog Devices op-amps that are ~$50 for four of them + a dual DIP-8 adapter and I believe Burson is going to retail these around $100-$150. 
 
I will get a clearer picture when I start doing A/B testing though.  Also I just recently bought an oscilloscope (analog/digital hybrid Hitatchi V1065), so I can actually examine the output of the L/R channel and take measurements.
 
**Edit: just got an email from Burson Audio letting me know once I review the samples I am free to keep them 

 

Click to expand...

That is a suh-weet photograph--thanks for that.

How much better the ZXR is compared to Asus Xonar D2X ?
 
% better for music, gaming and movies/tv series ? 
 
thanks

jubijub said:

Hello everyone,

I want to upgrade from my onboard audio to discrete card + DAC (I use win10)

I play games so I want good positional audio, and from tests, it seems CMMS-3D and SBX are the best (to my taste at least).

I was therefore thinking to take a Sound Blaster Z --> Optical SPDIF --> DAC/AMP, and use SBX for positional audio.
My understanding is that I don't care about the ZxR as the upgraded DAC would be bypassed anyway since I output the sound via SPDIF.

Is my logic correct ?

Other question : is there any benefit in taking the SB Z vs using any card + the SBX Pro software ? Is it easier to setup SBX, or does it offer extra parameters in presence of the card ?

Click to expand...

Yes your logic is correct; if you're just after digital out and don't care about the headphone amp, analog inputs/outputs, mic preamp, etc the Z will be equivalent as a digital source. Recon3D as well (they're all SoundCore 3D; the Recon3D has THX in lieu of SBX - I've never done any aggressive side-by-side comparisons (and currently my PC with Recon3D is not hooked up), but they don't sound as far as apart as say, CMSS-Headphone and SBX, or Dolby Headphone and SBX; they seem similar).

I don't know about the SBX downloadable software vs the Z - if I remember right the downloadable software is limited by the capabilities of the device you use it on, so if that device isn't as full featured as the Z that might be a problem, and beyond that I have no idea as far as CPU usage, quality, performance, etc. Certainly the "big selling point" for the Sound Blaster cards is the hardware, so it may be quite similar if you already have a nice set of hardware and its drivers play nice with the SBX downloadable software.

reddfour said:

Would I be right in saying that the Z would be a bad choice with 32 Ohm and 18 Ohm IEMs?

Click to expand...

Never tried it with IEMs, but both my Recon3D and ZxR do fine enough with my 12 ohm MDR-F1 and 25 ohm TH-900. You may get hiss if the IEMs are *super* sensitive, but I've never heard hiss (from either card) on any of my full-size cans (even ESW9). On the 12 ohm cans I find I'm putting the volume control to a significantly higher position, but there isn't audible distortion or clipping - I think its just a lack of significant gain into lower impedance. Again I'd expect the IEMs to be somewhat more sensitive than the F1 or TH-900, so you probably won't even notice needing to put the volume control higher (also that "put the control higher" is relative to my other cans, so if you're *just* using your single pair of IEMs, there's no comparison, so whatever it is, it is, and life is happy).

reddfour said:

Due to the output impedance of the Z being 22 Ohm officially but measured as being even higher than that by some users. For a 32 Ohm IEM you would want a max output impedance of 4 Ohm.

Click to expand...

Says what? The whole "rule of 4" or "rule of 8" or whatever that nonsense is is total marketing dribble. That said, a lot of IEMs have pretty reactive impedance response, so you'll see some FR shift as you move from amplifier to amplifier ("but low impedance minimizes that" - no, its just one possible variation; whos to say what is "right" and what is "wrong" unless the manufacturer provides a specification, which few do, and even then, unless you're putting the equipment into a dangerous place (which you aren't) its a preference discussion: does it sound good to you? if yes, then it is what it is, and life is happy).

schyneyder said:

How much better the ZXR is compared to Asus Xonar D2X ?

% better for music, gaming and movies/tv series ? 

thanks

Click to expand...

FWIW:
I don't have the D2X, but I have a Razer card that is based on the same C-Media chipset and offers a lot of the same Dolby/DTS packages (however unlike the Asus, offers Razer's "ESP Surround" package as well) - honestly I'd rank it as comparable to the ZxR all things considered - both are good (and if you're just after a straight stereo/5.1 output, they're basically an even match, along with a whole slew of other nice soundcards). The ZxR has a dedicated headphone amplifier built-in, which my Razer lacks, but I know some of the Asus cards also have headphone amplifiers (and if I recall correctly, some of them even use the same TI chip the ZxR has; it sounds good on the ZxR imo). The biggest difference in gaming will be SBX vs Dolby Headphone - random comparo I found on YouTube:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y6ROujJ8Ae8

Honestly I think both SBX and DH do their job, but they do sound different. If you have an overwhelming preference for one or the other, buy whichever satisfies that, but otherwise I'd say the high-end C-Media platform is just as good, excepting any hardware differences (e.g. ZxR has dedicated headphone amp, includes the beam forming mic, etc).

schyneyder said:

  How much better the ZxR is compared to Asus Xonar D2X ?
 
% better for music, gaming and movies/tv series ? 
 
thanks

Click to expand...

 
Should be roughly equal for music, maybe slight edge to the ZxR.
The D2X comes with Dolby Headphone, the SB-ZxR comes with SBX Headphone
The SB-ZxR has a dedicated headphone amplifier, the D2X has more like a line-output that also pretends to be a headphone jack
So with the D2X, for headphones, your better off using an external headphone amplifier, with the D2X.
The SB-ZxR was designed (launched) several years after the D2X first came out.

Posting here at the suggestion of PurpleAngel:
 
 
Hello all,
 
I have a Sound Blaster Z sound card in my PC that I've had for about a year and a half. I'm using the Toslink output to my Astro A50 headset. Ever since using Windows 10 (about a year now), and trying various manufacturer driver versions, I continue to have a specific problem. At random times at least once every 24-hours, the audio starts to become choppy as in, it cuts in and out quite frequently (every few seconds, for .5 - 2 seconds in duration) and I get popping noises in my headphone earcups. It affects the sound system-wide until I reboot. Then it's back to normal again until the next time it happens, always within 24-hours of the PC being on (which of course facilitates a reboot at least once per day). I have isolated the issue to the SB Z because when the problem occurs, I switch the optical cable to my on-board sound and it works fine (though it doesn't sound as good as the SB Z, since it's an ALC898). Switching back to the SB Z and I hear the problem again until a reboot. 
 
Here is what I have set:
 
Sound Blaster Z Device:
-Default Format: 24 bit, 48.0 kHz (have tried down to 16 bit, 44.0 kHz)
-Exclusive Mode enabled (have also tried disabled, no beneficial effect)
-Signal Enhancements enabled (have tried disabled, no beneficial effect)
 
SPDIF-Out Sound Blaster Z Device:
-Formats: Dolby Digital (my headset does 7.1 using Dolby Digital, doesn't support DTS)
-Sample Rates: 48.0 kHz
-Default Format: 2 channel, 24 bit, 48.0 kHz (tried the same as above)
-Exclusive Mode enabled (tried the same as above)
 
Sound Blaster Pro Studio Software
-SBX Pro Studio enabled, only Surround checked.
-Crystal Voice disabled 
-Scout Mode disabled
-Speakers Config: 5.1 surround (center, subwoofer and rear l/r)
-Cinematic: Dolby Digital Live
 
I've also tried disabling via BIOS the on-board sound, no help. 
 
I'm at a loss for next steps to try. I've already disabled/enabled virtually every setting on the software and sound devices when the issue happens, I have re-installed the drivers (multiple versions) at least 4 times (fully uninstalled/cleaned and a fresh install each time), and absolutely nothing helps resolve it (except for a reboot). It's isolated to the SB Z card as described above (headset and sound work fine if immediately plugged into the on-board sound device), so at this point I'm thinking it's either a driver issue that is unresolved with Creative and Windows 10, or a faulty card. 
 
Any suggestions?

Sounds like Windows 10 strikes again.

Some random thoughts/notes:

- Dolby Digital (and DTS) are not capable of 7.1 output. At absolute best you can get a matrix-encoded 6.1 stream via Dolby Digital EX, but that isn't what DDL outputs. The SoundCore parts also don't do 6.1 or 7.1. So there's some additional processing going on in the headset. Since it works with other sources I'm disinclined to believe that's at fault though.

- Is "What U Hear" unmuted along with an input (e.g. mic/line-in or digital in) that's in use? That can lead to a "hall of mirrors" effect that is resolved by unticking "listen to this device" on the input (not on "What U Hear"), but that would be all or nothing because its double-monitoring of an input - so you can flip it on and off and go back and forth between problems and no problems (and the "hall of mirrors" would only impact whatever signal is coming in via that additional input, not the internal software audio).

- Not surprising that BIOS settings had no effect - since Vista, Windows has handled multi-adaptor pretty cleanly as long as everyone's drivers are stable. That is of course until Windows 10 came along and took us back to the stone age in terms of compatibility and stability and so forth.

If you can try with another, proven, operating system like Windows 7 or Windows 8, that'd give you a much better idea (and if this is a "oh my goodness things got bad after I got Windows 10" kind of thing, I think its fair to say we know where the problem is). I'd also probably upgrade to Windows 7/8 out of general principle, but that's just me (assuming your PC is "old" enough that Microsoft will give you that choice).

obobskivich said:

Sounds like Windows 10 strikes again.

Some random thoughts/notes:

- Dolby Digital (and DTS) are not capable of 7.1 output. At absolute best you can get a matrix-encoded 6.1 stream via Dolby Digital EX, but that isn't what DDL outputs. The SoundCore parts also don't do 6.1 or 7.1. So there's some additional processing going on in the headset. Since it works with other sources I'm disinclined to believe that's at fault though.

- Is "What U Hear" unmuted along with an input (e.g. mic/line-in or digital in) that's in use? That can lead to a "hall of mirrors" effect that is resolved by unticking "listen to this device" on the input (not on "What U Hear"), but that would be all or nothing because its double-monitoring of an input - so you can flip it on and off and go back and forth between problems and no problems (and the "hall of mirrors" would only impact whatever signal is coming in via that additional input, not the internal software audio).

- Not surprising that BIOS settings had no effect - since Vista, Windows has handled multi-adaptor pretty cleanly as long as everyone's drivers are stable. That is of course until Windows 10 came along and took us back to the stone age in terms of compatibility and stability and so forth.

If you can try with another, proven, operating system like Windows 7 or Windows 8, that'd give you a much better idea (and if this is a "oh my goodness things got bad after I got Windows 10" kind of thing, I think its fair to say we know where the problem is). I'd also probably upgrade to Windows 7/8 out of general principle, but that's just me (assuming your PC is "old" enough that Microsoft will give you that choice).

Click to expand...

 
Thanks for the reply!
 
-The Astro A50 is converting the 5.1 audio from the SBZ to 7.1, so the SBZ is only set to output 5.1 of Dolby Digital Live (not DTS, as Astro doesn't support that yet). 
 
-The Astro A50 microphone is not a separate plug-in, so it's all handled through their own mixamp receiver that sends and receives audio through the optical cable. In my testing, my microphone absolutely does not work without What U Hear being enabled (which I don't like because sometimes Skype will not detect the microphone and default to What U Hear, so if I'm listening to quiet music while on a conference call, I've had others say, "What's that music I hear?". To your question though, "Listen to this device" is disabled in both the What U Hear as well as the Astro A50 microphone. Mic always works fine when the described issue happens though. 
 
-With Windows 8.1, this issue was not present. That's not to say that the issue is definitely not a hardware problem, since a dip/spike in voltage could cause similar reactions, but it's most likely not the issue. I have almost no doubt that the issue is either due to the driver integration with Windows 10, or a hardware problem with the card (I've tried other PCIe slots already). However, as a software developer that has been using Windows 10 since pre-alpha internal release (helps to have friends on the Windows team at MS), we have far different opinions of the OS I'll simply leave it at that, and that there is no desire on my part to revert back to their less secure, and more resource intensive platforms. The SBZ works most of the time just fine on Windows 10, so I believe it's a driver issue (which is ultimately Creative's responsibility, especially this far after W10 release) where the driver is reaching some sort of resource deadlock or byte stream issue under some trigger circumstance (yet to be identified).
 
On the Creative forum, one of their main guys just sent me a PM with a registry update to see if it helps. I looked at the registry values and it's simply adding a definition for a hardware level max byte size, where previously there was none. Due to the sporadic nature of this issue, and how even a youtube video has set it off once, I'm not sure this is a desirable "fix" but will probably lead to a better resolution down the road.  Will update this thread if beneficial results are experienced. 

guys i m planning to buy a good microphone under 50 euro for gaming and twitch with good sound quality,noise cancellation and mute option if possible,some friends suggested me to look this 
nw-800 (don t know if my soundblaster z can handle right or i need to buy an amp or some like it) , modmic v4...

syntaxinvalid said:

Thanks for the reply!

-The Astro A50 is converting the 5.1 audio from the SBZ to 7.1, so the SBZ is only set to output 5.1 of Dolby Digital Live (not DTS, as Astro doesn't support that yet). 

Click to expand...

That's what I assumed was happening - if the issue was with that simulacrum it would exist constantly (it would be bound to the A50, or at least that's what would be reasonable to expect). There's nothing wrong with 5.1->7.1 simulacrum or anything of that manner. Just to throw it out there: the SoundCore, when in "Headphone" mode (digital output still functions here) will do automatic 5.1 -> headphone processing (it sends out a stereo PCM bitstream of this if you enable "Play stereo mix to digital output" in the driver); I'm not sure if the Astro takes in stereo PCM but it may be worth playing around with to see which works better given that the Z is capable of that kind of processing as well. If the DDL output sounds better ofc leave it there.

-The Astro A50 microphone is not a separate plug-in, so it's all handled through their own mixamp receiver that sends and receives audio through the optical cable. In my testing, my microphone absolutely does not work without What U Hear being enabled (which I don't like because sometimes Skype will not detect the microphone and default to What U Hear, so if I'm listening to quiet music while on a conference call, I've had others say, "What's that music I hear?". To your question though, "Listen to this device" is disabled in both the What U Hear as well as the Astro A50 microphone. Mic always works fine when the described issue happens though. 

Click to expand...

So you're bypassing the Z's microphone input and using the TOSlink in/out, and the Z is treating that as a digital in. "What U Hear" is basically Creative's workaround to Windows'...peculiarities...with audio input handling. Generally it should be set to "Listen to" and everything else not set to "Listen to" (or you can get the "hall of mirrors") but yes it can cause problems with applications that don't expect it (there are other, stand-alone, pro audio type apps that similarly spoof a device in order to workaround Windows that can be similarly problematic for things like Skype) - just tell those applications to look at the digital input where the Astro is (and tell Windows to use that digital input as the default device). If you disable "What U Hear" it will crush all output - more or less (on older Creative cards and in previous versions of Windows before they gutted MIDI and FM and such, you could still get sound via those avenues with "What U Hear" disabled because it drew from the wavetable sound; post-WASAPI things got more interesting when you want to deal with actual hardware sound).

-With Windows 8.1, this issue was not present.

Click to expand...

Not to be rude but honestly this sounds like the winning solution - everything was working hunky-dory until you changed a variable (in this case downgraded from 8.1 to 10) and then things stopped working. Logical process of elimination. Fielding all sorts of borderline implausible and fantastic scenarios just to excuse calling a turd a turd won't change that (and let's not even go down the road of "its more secure" mkay). Now, that having been said, Creative has probably one of the worst track records when it comes to keeping up with Microsoft and driver quality, and at <1 year after release I'd honestly say feel lucky the thing works at well - they historically just do not play the early adoption game very well. Some questions that I'd throw out though:

- If the Astro thing accepts analog inputs, have you tried those via the Z?
- If you have integrated audio with digital out, have you tried that? (or tried analog out, if the Astro thing accepts analog inputs)

If things are fixed with analog audio out via the Z, I'd say the issue is entirely on Creative's driver. If things are fixed with the integrated audio I'd say there's a good chance the issues is on Creative's driver, but since you want to introduce "hardware issues" into the equation I'll be fair and say there's an ever-so-slight chance of this being the case (you could always test the card in another system that runs Vista/7/8 and see if it works to confirm that), but again that doesn't seem to be a logical conclusion unless there's a plausible cause of a hardware issue ("it randomly just so happened to correlate with the exact moment I upgraded to Windows 10" is getting well into the realm of fantasy imho, now of course if its more like "my house suffered a direct lightning strike around the time I upgraded to Windows 10" that's an entirely different discussion); if the integrated audio causes similar problems, well...that leaves Windows 10...:rolleyes:

If you want to rule out the hardware bit, I'd say try the card elsewhere; trying another audio device in the Win10 PC would also get you another datapoint in troubleshooting (if, by some luck, you actually own a second, identical, SB Z, you could swap that - if it still doesn't work right, the hardware is likely not the problem; if it works great, sounds like its time to request an RMA on the bad one).

Thanks again for the reply. 
 
I also don't mean to be rude, but your insistence on Windows 10 being a downgrade and an obvious negative comparison to prior versions is off-putting. I respect that you know audio extremely well, so please respect that I know software engineering and OS development very well too. I have my reasons, and I must say that Windows 10 is definitely not a downgrade from Windows 8.1. That would be like trading in a 2016 Honda Pilot for a 2011 Ford Explorer simply because the aftermarket radio doesn't work with one of the connectors without the proper harness (and the manufacturer knows about it, they just haven't made the harness yet).
 
I cannot use analog audio as the Astro A50 requires optical for any audio signal conversion. No point in trying less. 
 
So far so good on the registry update limiting the max bitrate from Creative. I've used the headphones roughly 8 hours today without a hiccup yet. Will report back later.
 
As a final thought, I would encourage you to research the benefits of Windows 10 over prior versions. Whether it be software compatibility, driver compatibility, cross-device support, overall performance and up time, there are more reasons that I can count to make the upgrade. It's the most secure platform Windows has ever made for non enterprise use, and it blows the prior versions out of the water on straight performance benchmarks. But that's for another forum; I just think you're too closed minded about it without knowing the facts. If this registry tweak that Creative sent me works, it means that their SBZ simply can't handle the superior audio stream that Windows 10 is channeling through it. They need to add a limiter.
 
EDIT: Drat, the issue occurred again this morning. At least I got a full day out of it yesterday. Quick reboot resolved the issue as expected. 

syntaxinvalid said:

I also don't mean to be rude, but your insistence on Windows 10 being a downgrade and an obvious negative comparison to prior versions is off-putting. I respect that you know audio extremely well, so please respect that I know software engineering and OS development very well too. I have my reasons, and I must say that Windows 10 is definitely not a downgrade from Windows 8.1. That would be like trading in a 2016 Honda Pilot for a 2011 Ford Explorer simply because the aftermarket radio doesn't work with one of the connectors without the proper harness (and the manufacturer knows about it, they just haven't made the harness yet).

Click to expand...

I disagree with you - that doesn't mean you're right and I'm wrong (nor does it mean I have to stop talking because it doesn't comport with your world-view; I'm sorry that not everyone unanimously loves the product you love). I don't like car analogies when discussing non-automotive topics either, because they're generally always woefully inaccurate.

I cannot use analog audio as the Astro A50 requires optical for any audio signal conversion. No point in trying less. 

Click to expand...

Rats. Was thinking it may be a digital audio out issue that we could test for. If you have an ADC you could always try that, but there's no "SBX Headphone mix out" from the Z via the line-out (and don't go hooking that headphone amp up to something that expects a line level signal).

So far so good on the registry update limiting the max bitrate from Creative. I've used the headphones roughly 8 hours today without a hiccup yet. Will report back later.

Click to expand...

Good to hear.

EDIT: Drat, the issue occurred again this morning. At least I got a full day out of it yesterday. Quick reboot resolved the issue as expected.

Click to expand...

Bummer.

As a final thought, I would encourage you to research the benefits of Windows 10 over prior versions.

Click to expand...

I've done my due diligence on this - I'd encourage you to just stop now lest you be accused of astoturfing for a product that you're (claiming to be) directly involved in the development/production of (which is a no-no on Head-Fi; its a massive conflict of interest when you're trying to promote something that you're directly economically/professionally involved with). Bottom line is that you, nor anyone else at Microsoft, has been able to conclusively address the wide-ranging data collection and phoning home (often over unencrypted channels), and that's a gigantic question mark in terms of security and privacy (and there's a reason many governments and NGOs won't touch it with a ten foot pole, but go ahead and tell me I'm "closed minded" and "ignorant" again and throw some more astoturf down). Additionally, the forced "updates" and "upgrades" are completely unwelcome "features," especially when they include system-bricking driver updates, and overrides to the previous lifecycle policies. There's also the whole bit about it having catalyzed issues with your hardware (which is a not uncommon problem with Windows 10 - in fairness this has been true of ALL new Microsoft OS releases, especially with Creative hardware), which seems to completely escape you as an avenue of troubleshooting ("I refuse to give up Windows 10 (even when its causing problems for me) because I need to tell the world how great it is" is roughly what I've gotten out of your replies, along with a healthy dose of personal attacks and attempts to inject all sorts of astoturfing for Windows 10 into the discussion - I didn't bring up the debate about whether or not its "good" I simply pointed out that it's likely the culprit due to its newness (sorry if my humor was lost on you - we only have text here), and from there you've steered the discussion into "well as a developer of Windows 10 (and therefore the only legitimate and reputable font of knowledge related to anything regarding software or Windows), its the greatest OS ever made, and anyone who disagrees is a closed-minded, ignorant fool!").

Oh boy, what a can of worms that is. I wasn't aware that you were the only one allowed to write your opinion and that anybody who contests it is lesser than you. I also wasn't aware that my statement that I have friends who work for Microsoft somehow puts me as a direct involvement in the project, which it does not. I'm dropping the entire Windows discussion as this is not the place nor the audience for it.
 
For the record, TLDR.

syntaxinvalid said:

Oh boy, what a can of worms that is. I wasn't aware that you were the only one allowed to write your opinion and that anybody who contests it is lesser than you. I also wasn't aware that my statement that I have friends who work for Microsoft somehow puts me as a direct involvement in the project, which it does not. I'm dropping the entire Windows discussion as this is not the place nor the audience for it.

For the record, TLDR.

Click to expand...

Don't be so quick to run the for the moral high ground and hide behind smug dismissals - you're absolutely allowed to your own opinion, and nowhere have I said you're "lesser" or "inferior" to me for holding your views. I have, however, protested being called "closed minded" and "ignorant" simply because I feel differently about an issue than you do (and you'll notice I haven't made any personal attacks or comments about you as a person, and I'd appreciate the same courtesy in return). As far as reversing your tale on "no I'm not directly involved" - you first stated you were, as a professional OS developer, privy to pre-release pre-Alpha builds of the product from internal sources on the Windows development team and have worked with it/them, but now are backing off of that; I'm unsure what to think either way. You're also the one that raised the Windows 10 issue repeatedly - I made a joke (that apparently went over your head; this is nobody's fault) in response to your original question, and you continued to the revive the point (getting more insistent and more pushy about it each time); my only serious reason for bringing Windows 10 into the discussion was logical process of elimination (which I've stated multiple times). You seem chained to it as a platform, which limits your troubleshooting options, and instead of responding to other troubleshooting suggestions have continued down "the entire Windows discussion." Hopefully something pans out for a working solution for you in the future.

syntaxinvalid said:

Oh boy, what a can of worms that is. I wasn't aware that you were the only one allowed to write your opinion and that anybody who contests it is lesser than you. I also wasn't aware that my statement that I have friends who work for Microsoft somehow puts me as a direct involvement in the project, which it does not. I'm dropping the entire Windows discussion as this is not the place nor the audience for it.


 


For the record, TLDR.

Click to expand...

 


Don't sweat it, this guy is blowing smoke and nobody but he cares what you wrote

I agree with you though that W10 is much much better than W8.1 and this is coming from someone who worked for both the State Department and Lowe's HQ in IT Hardware who is now an Electrical Engineering student. This isn't even bringing up the fact W10 is free or the fact the audio stack was upgraded from W7.

Did a brief search, but didn't find any applicable info: looking for suggestions on whether purchasing a headphone amp (i.e. Schiit Magni Uber or similar) would be of any value with the Soundblaster Z.  I'm currently using Philips SHP9500's, but may upgrade to Fidelio X2's.  Neither are hard to drive, but more power can't hurt, right?  The Magni would likely be hooked up to the standard output in the back of the card rather than the amplified headphone output.  Is the Output Impedence of 22 Ohms a concern with 32 Ohm or 35 Ohm cans like the SHP9500 or Fidelio?
 
Thanks in advance,
 
Mike