[TH7Moustache]

Hello and nice to meet you all

This is my first post after viewing the forum for a while, it's nice to finally join.

I was hoping somebody could help me as I'm quite new to technical audio equipment so please forgive me haha.

I have a custom PC with a Creative Sound Blaster Z SE soundcard which I plug my headphones into and it sound OK but a little lacking of umph, same goes with my Bookshelf Speakers connected through Optical.

I also have the Fiio A3 portable amp which I used and plugged directly into my motherboard audio port and this is ran through Realtek audio and it sounds 10 times better, so much more clarity with vocals and not harsh on the high end and it also has a nice clean thump in the low end.

My question is, usually are portable amps better than PC soundcards or does this just depend on how good the soundcard is for your PC?

The reason I'm asking is I'm looking to upgrade to an external amp for my current headphones and speakers OR upgrade my soundcard.

Thank you to anyone who has their two cents on this, sorry if this is a vague post and I understand if I need to research further into audio.

Cheers!

 

[PurpleAngel]

THE SBZ SE headphone jack has a 22-Ohm output impedance
I believe the A3's output impedance is around 1-Ohm.
So low impedance headphone plugged into the SBZ SE might get something like a slightly bloated bass or other sound issues.
If you plug the SBZ SE line-output, to the line-input on the A3, how is the sound?

 

[TH7Moustache]

Hey @PurpleAngel, really appreciate your reply.

I have plugged my headphones into the A3 headphone port and the A3 Aux In into the SBZ SE Port and the sound quality is actually better. Thank you for this.

I have a few further questions if that's OK? This method I'm using as mentioned, what is actually processing the audio and making it sound better? Would this be the A3 or the soundcard in my PC? I would imagine the A3, so I'm curious to know why when plugging my headphones into the A3 then soundcard it sounds better than the headphone jack on my motherboard when using the A3 as the bridge too? Is this just because it's an isolated soundcard vs a motherboard or the impedance on my headphones is better suited to the A3?

Second question is, going forward would you say it's better to upgrade to FiiO K7 from the A3 to run my headphones and also speakers through as I don't think the A3 can run speaker audio through, just headphones riiightt?

Once again I really appreciate the time you have taken to help me with this.

 

[PurpleAngel]

What headphones do you have or are planning on buying?
Connecting the A3 to speakers is not the best option.
Unless you need a sound card to process something like headphone surround sound, might as well just invest into an external (USB) DAC/amp.
Budget for an external DAC/amp?

 

[TH7Moustache]

@PurpleAngel That's what I thought, I'll just disregard the soundcard.

So, I currently have Sennheiser momentum 4 and they're OK but I would prefer to buy some new headphones, I was looking at the Beyerdynamic DT 990 PRO to give me some better sub bass and mids when I'm listening to my old Bass Mekanik CD's

In terms of budget so I'll spend up to £250-£300 I would say but this can go a bit higher if you have a decent recommendation, unless you recommend me putting more money into headphones and less on a DAC Amp

Would you say the FiiO K7 is a bit meh? Thought it looked OK for the price but hey what do I know lol.

Thanks again for your help.

 

[PurpleAngel]

What speakers are you using?

 

[TH7Moustache]

Hey @PurpleAngel
I'm using these ones https://www.newegg.com/p/19S-08CH-000T6?item=9SIB698K3U3427&source=region

I hope theyre OK though I know the brand isn't amazing.

 

[PurpleAngel]

Hey @PurpleAngel
I'm using these ones https://www.newegg.com/p/19S-08CH-000T6?item=9SIB698K3U3427&source=region

I hope there OK though I know the brand isn't amazing.

One option is to get a headphone amplifier with a line-output.
Connect the headphone amplifier to the line-outputs on the SBZ and connect the amplifier line-output to the SW206.

Or spend more cash and get something like the Topping DX3 Pro, replacing both the A3 and SBZ (which you can sell off).
Connect the DX3 Pro's line-output to the SW206

 

[TH7Moustache]

Ahh awesome! Thanks for the advice with this.

I'll go with the DX3 and come back to this thread when it's all setup and let you know