[fusedpro]

I made a thread over at in the amp section, but figured it might be appropriate to ask here as well. Below is a shorter summary of what's going on.
 
 
 
Quote:

My music library consists of a lot of VBR MP3s. 192kbps is the lowest I have, with the majority being between that and 300kbps. I will be re-ripping a good chunk of my library to at least 320kbps, but am saving FLAC for only my favourite pieces.

 

Summary for those new to the thread --

 

I bought a Schiit Asgard from a user on these forums. I hooked it up to my Zune just to test things out -- I could hear sound, but things did not sound normal and I could hardly hear the vocals no matter how loud I cranked it. My main listening station will be from my computer, which has an HT Omega Striker soundcard in it. I will be using my speakers, Logitech Z-5500s about half of the time and my headphones the other half. I want to avoid switching out cables to do so, so I think an external DAC is the way to go (needs clarification). My soundcard has two digital outs: a coax out and optical out. Assuming this works the way I think it works, I could run the optical out to the DAC and from there to the speakers? Similarly, run a cable from the coax out on my soundcard to the DAC, then something from the DAC to the my amp for the headphones? (Obviously, the optical and coax can be switched for each device, I'm not sure if one is more advantageous over the other.) Again, clarification for all this would be much appreciated (will it work, is there any benefit from running my speakers through the DAC if it does, what cables will I need, etc...) and any extra help would not be discouraged.

 
Equipment --

1. HT Omega Striker (soundcard, click to zoom in to see connections)
2. Schiit Asgard (amp)
3. Sennheiser HD280 Pro (eventually HD598s)
4. Logitech Z-5500s
5. Zune HD

 
It isn't mentioned in the short summary above, but I tried to run the amp from my PC after the Zune to see if that helped anything. Long story short, it didn't (probably because I ran it though the line in?). As mentioned, I would like an easy solution so that I can use my speakers and headphones so I don't have to go to the back of my PC case and fiddle with the the wiring every time. Is a DAC what I'm looking for? If so, how would the connections go (speakers, amp, and headphones)? What types of cables will I need? Probably most importantly -- will a DAC fix the sound issue I was having with my amp and Zune HD?
 
If a DAC is the solution -- recommend away. I would like it pair well with what I have/intend to have now. I haven't quite decided on a price range, but $300 is probably my absolute limit with $150 or so being much preferred (although the DacMagic looks amazing..., seems a little weird spending more on the amp and DAC than the headphones).
 
If you have any other questions or don't understand what I am going for, feel free to ask. Thank you for your time and any assistance you can provide.

 

[TwoEars]

The Hillbilly Solution:
 

 

[Uncle Erik]

Are you sure there isn't something wrong with the amp? You should be getting vocals.

 

[fusedpro]

Quote:

Are you sure there isn't something wrong with the amp? You should be getting vocals.

That's where I am not sure. One possibility might be that my Zune HD doesn't really have enough power to make full use of the amp, but that doesn't really explain the fact that the instruments (guitars, drums, etc...) came in relatively fine.

 

[ProtegeManiac]

Doyou have a DVDplayer? Why not try that first with your amp, and use a pair of RCA cables first that you know worked well when the player was hooked up to the TV.

 

[zhunter]

The better way to detect errors on your chain is using Front Out which is probably the green port on your mainboard to the Asgard. If the problems persists, contact Jason at Schiit Audio for warranty. Make sure to enable the onboard audio in the bios setting, and use the latest driver.

 

[fusedpro]

Quote:

The better way to detect errors on your chain is using Front Out which is probably the green port on your mainboard to the Asgard. If the problems persists, contact Jason at Schiit Audio for warranty. Make sure to enable the onboard audio in the bios setting, and use the latest driver.

Could I use the front out on my already installed soundcard, just changing my speaker settings to 2 channel so everything gets directed there? I ask so I don't have to fiddle around with multiple audio drivers as Windows does not like that...
 

 

[3602]

That sounds very much like phase inversion, as in one of the two channels in your audio output is inverted. As most songs have their vocals in simple mono, an inverted phase cancels the vocals out. This is how they do it with Karaoke.

 

[fusedpro]

Quote:

That sounds very much like phase inversion, as in one of the two channels in your audio output is inverted. As most songs have their vocals in simple mono, an inverted phase cancels the vocals out. This is how they do it with Karaoke.

Interesting. Say this is the issue -- is it an amp thing or...?

 

[3602]

I don't know how the amp works and I don't know how you hooked it up. But if both the Zune and you computer yield the same results, there are two probable causes.
One. There is something wrong with your files. If you connected your headphones to the computer, or listen to the music through on-board speakers, can you hear the vocals normally?
Two. The amp. If it is indeed the amp, just how it reverses a channel is beyond me.
 
Good luck.

 

[fusedpro]

I have yet to run my amp through my computer so I guess I should just hold off on jumping to conclusions until then. I'll update this thread at that point.

 

[fusedpro]

Alright, I ran the amp through my soundcards FRONT line-out and directed it to use only two speakers, as suggested, and I got no response from the amp. No go there. I will, however, be going to a LAN party tomorrow, so I'll have plenty of computers to try there, hopefully something will come to light. In the meantime, bumping this thread back to the top for more suggestions and advice.

 

[zhunter]

So the problem could come from your sound card, not the amp, that's why I suggested you to test using your onboard sound first to make sure the Asgard is fine.
Quote:

Could I use the front out on my already installed soundcard, just changing my speaker settings to 2 channel so everything gets directed there? I ask so I don't have to fiddle around with multiple audio drivers as Windows does not like that...
 

 

 

[fusedpro]

Quote:

So the problem could come from your sound card, not the amp, that's why I suggested you to test using your onboard sound first to make sure the Asgard is fine.


 

I didn't have a chance to do that, but I did use my sister's laptop and ran things through her headphone out. The vocals and everything came through fine there (although things sounded weird still, I'm chalking that up to my headphones being lower end -- combined with the amp things just sound different). Judging from that, I'm guessing my amp is fine, I'll have a more definitive answer later tonight while I'm at the LAN party.