The JBLs look nice, I'm in Canada though, cheapest I can find them new is $400 for the pair

Thanks for the reply, that's what I thought, just wanted to make sure. I have an old 6.1 soundcard I can use, but I will also be shopping for some monitors!

Hello all,   I recently picked up a Xonar Essence STU for my PC and am so far impressed with it. I only use it for headphone use and it drives my Beyer Dynamic DT880 pros pretty well.   I managed to get a hold of some old Logitech Z5500 surround sound series speakers for my PC, but am having...

Ok thanks guys I think I will try the E09k since it is the easiest for me to pick up (I live in Toronto and can just buy it from a store) and then will report back for a verdict

^^^ well like I said the sound quality of the STU is great, I would just like it to be louder. If any other amps would be recommended other than the E09k I am all ears.

^^^Thanks for the replies... It's not so much that the STU sounds bad, it's great! But I would like it to be louder, even at full blast with the gain switch on it seems to not power the Dt880's 600 ohms as much as I would like. So I guess I just need an amp for volume?

I have the dt880 pros 600 ohm and the xonar essence STU and am looking for a headphone amp. I was looking at the Fiio E09k. Does it make sense to buy the E09k if I do not plan on buying the E17? Thanks

Ok thanks. Just so I know, what is the difference between a loop output and a preamp output? Google didn't yield much...

Ok thanks for the replies, didn't realize the difference between active/passive monitors.   @ProtegeManiac How will I know if a headphone amp has a preamp output? I'm guessing it will have an output on the back which reads "preout" like @PleasantSounds mentioned...   Also, I had the Fiio...

Hello,   I just purchased a xonar essence STU and am planning on purchasing some studio monitors (possibly Audioengine A5's) and a headphone amp (probably a fiio e09k) as well.   Here is the back of the STU:           The manual is saying this:         So is it suggesting that...

Yes I did, it is louder but not as loud as I expected with the Dt 880 600 ohms.

Hello,   I just recently purchased a set of Beyer DT 880 600ohm headphones and a Xonar Stu.   Having hooked them up to my comp I was expecting the volume level to be extreme, but I must say I am a bit underwhelmed by how the xonar stu powers these headphones. I am thinking I should purchase...

Hello,   I currently use my computer mainly for music composition. I use Cubase 6.   I am looking for a recommendation for a new sound card. My needs are:   a) I must be able to switch between my speaker monitors and my Logitech Z 5500's   b) Must have a headphone amp that can handle 600...

I'm about to upgrade my existing audio hardware and will be purchasing the following: Krk rokit 8 monitor speakers Krk 10s subwoofer Xonar essence one dac/amp Beyer dynamic 880dt pro headphones ( I compose music using cubase 6.5) I am wondering how exactly I would hook up the krk's (the...

I plug the the cord from the E9 into the "main out L/R" outputs of the Presonus? I thought that's where the monitors were plugged into...