Quote: Thank you for such a clear and straight forward explanation.   To the posters in this thread who are having problems with their output direct from their soundcard being much too loud at 100% with wasapi/asio; you guys are probably best off just using the windows volume mixer...

Quote: I like the style of the Fractal R3/R2 Design Define as well. They are quiet cases, so perfect for listening rooms. One of those cases was my second choice. I ended up going with the 690ii advanced, added some sound dampening and swapped out the stock fans for quiet gentle typhoons...

Quote: Um, ok, so now you're saying that the recommendation to put all software volume controls at 100% that we have seen posted over and over again on this forum is wrong? I thought lowering software volume controls meant throwing out bits? That's what previous posts in this thread have...

Try to find some old passive bookshelf speakers someone is throwing out. Often you can pick them up at a garage sale or on craigslist for dirt cheap. The same goes for an old receiver/stereo amplifier you can usually pick up for nothing. Pair those together and you have a great sounding used...

Quote: Quote: I think the hdp was designed more for high impedance headphones. Though nuforce claims it's good for iems too, I would imagine it's very difficult if not impossible to make a headphone amp that's compatible with everything from HD800s to extremely sensitive iems. As...

I've actually managed to convert a surprising number of the people I talk to. If nothing else I can explain the benefits of lossless rips over their 128kbps mp3s / 192kbps aac on their ipod that they are usually not even aware they are listening to. Quote: This is true. I don't bother...

I had the px200 for a while. They are great sounding closed portables, but it seems like Sennheiser designed them to break.   If you have a soldering iron you can replace the minijack and cable end with a more durable one by basically following these instructions...

yes, I've read several reviews that say the hdp is great with the 650s

Since it is a higher end laptop with a less restricted budget, I'm sure they took more care in properly shielding the line out from EMI. That alone would account for it sounding better than the typical line out on a cheap desktop/laptop mobo. They probably even used an upgraded headphone amp...

assuming you are running Windows Vista / 7: right click on volume icon in notification area > playback devices > right click speakers you don't want > disable.

How would you do that? The E5 doesn't have any digital input (other than mini usb which is for charging). It's just an amp/preamp, not a dac..

I just got mine from xoxide. Love it so far, goes great with hd555: http://www.xoxide.com/zmmic1.html They still have a pretty good price. Watch out for their shipping though, they don't list it on the buy page

ATH AD700

When I first got mine I found the headband was pretty uncomfortable. I don't notice it at all anymore though. I think you just need to give them some break in time to let them loosen up. I love the k701s too, couldn't bring myself to sell them

do you want stereo, 5.1 or 7.1? I already voiced my opinion on surround sound headsets in this thread: http://www.head-fi.org/forums/f46/be...eadset-472143/ I have the carcharias right now and I wouldn't recommend them. There really aren't many good choices sound quality wise in headsets...

the reason they don't have volume knobs is because they assume if you are buying reference monitors you will be using a preamp as a volume control..

Quote: Originally Posted by ManuLM I believe the daughter board can only be used with the ST, not the STX Quote: Originally Posted by ROBSCIX The H6 daughter board can only be used on the Essence ST. Not the STX as there is no pin header and it was never designed for...

It only works as an amp for portables (unless they have some kind of mod or digital usb output). The bithead comes with a stereo 3.5mm mini to mini cable for use with the ipod. With that connection you are using the dac inside the ipod and only amplifying the analog signal with the bithead.

the difference is $150 and a 5" driver vs a 2.75" driver. Obviously the bigger the driver the better the speaker will sound. At $350 the A5s probably offer a better value. The only reason to go with the A2s would be if you wanted really small speakers to save desk space/be portable/whatever or...

The impressions thread doesn't seem to distinguish between the two much as far as sound quality is concerned. They are pretty much the same thing other then the st is for legacy PCI slots and the stx pci-express. I am trying to decide on this at the moment too, and I am about to go with the stx...

you can only get so much and so accurate 3d positioning with (stereo) 2 channel headphones or speakers. If you've already got a soundblaster x-fi xtreme gamer card you probably don't need a separate amp. The headphone output on that card should be more than enough to drive your ad700. Using the...

You can also hold down control while you click to select multiple individual tracks at once.

Quote: Originally Posted by oohms Not to mention that the vast majority of "surround" headsets only have one driver per side, and the USB audio chip does something similar to CMSS 3D where it emulates 5.1. Yes, that's the difference between "virtual surround sound" and true...

It depends on the games you play. If you're playing games where positional audio is important (like counter strike and cod) then 5.1 is the way to go. In my opinion, even when using mixers like creative's x-fi cmss 3D virtual surround sound over stereo headphones just doesn't compare to true 5.1...

Does it have to have a mic? Surround sound 5.1, 7.1 or stereo? For 5.1 I recommend Zalman 5.1 Surround Sound though they don't have a mic.