Computer Output Recommendations?
Aug 7, 2013 at 4:06 PM Thread Starter Post #1 of 6
willcarroll

willcarroll

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I just got a pair of Sennheiser HD-280 Pros. I love them! They're comfortable, transparent, and sound nice. An obvious improvement over my Apple in-ear phones. I shortly discovered a small problem though. When using them with my computer the sound is thin, noisy, and lacks any bass. I only have a soundcard built into my motherboard, however it does output 24-bit, 192khz audio; so I assume that just means the amplifiers in it are crap? When I plug the headphones into the 1/4-inch out on my Clavinova, they sound great, plenty of crisp highs and lows. Even just my iPhone sounds quite nice.
 
The obvious way to fix this would be a headphone amplifier with a DAC, correct? Could anyone recommend one to me? I'd like something less than ~$120 that gets its audio via USB and has a nice, warm sound. I feel like this would really make my headphones shine when using them with my computer. Thanks!
 
Aug 7, 2013 at 8:50 PM Post #2 of 6
fiio e17 is ($139.99) and is a dac and headphone amp
 
or you could go with the fiio e07k(89.99),pretty much the same as the e17 just less power
 
these are portable also
 
Aug 8, 2013 at 2:14 AM Post #4 of 6
Quote:
willcarroll said:
I just got a pair of Sennheiser HD-280 Pros. I love them! They're comfortable, transparent, and sound nice. An obvious improvement over my Apple in-ear phones. I shortly discovered a small problem though. When using them with my computer the sound is thin, noisy, and lacks any bass. I only have a sound card built into my motherboard, however it does output 24-bit, 192khz audio; so I assume that just means the amplifiers in it are crap? When I plug the headphones into the 1/4-inch out on my Clavinova, they sound great, plenty of crisp highs and lows. Even just my iPhone sounds quite nice.
 
The obvious way to fix this would be a headphone amplifier with a DAC, correct? Could anyone recommend one to me? I'd like something less than ~$120 that gets its audio via USB and has a nice, warm sound. I feel like this would really make my headphones shine when using them with my computer. Thanks!
Click to expand...

Are you using a Win PC or Mac?
 
If Win PC, get the Asus Xonar DG (PCI) sound card, $30 and there is a $10 mail in rebate.
 
Aug 8, 2013 at 6:25 AM Post #5 of 6
The hd280 are said to be very uncomfortable lol
biggrin.gif

Everything is relative, I guess.
 
Soo, do you use your headphones as portables?
 
Aug 8, 2013 at 5:10 PM Post #6 of 6
Thanks! I think I'll probably go with both of those options. I'd like to have a better sound card, but a portable amp would be nice too.
 
Quote:
davidsh said:
The hd280 are said to be very uncomfortable lol
biggrin.gif

Everything is relative, I guess.
 
Soo, do you use your headphones as portables?
Click to expand...

Hm, I haven't that complaint about them. They're plenty soft, I rather like the pressure they have around my ears; it feels nice and snug. I'll certainly take them with me on road trips and vacations and such, but I doubt I'd be able to use them somewhere with extremely limited packing space.
 
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