Just bought it in black :) Should be here on Thursday, it has stock tubes which I'll try by themselves with my 598's before getting into some different ones :D

  Thanks for the reply! Would you recommend any particular tubes? I don't want to spend too much though :) I'm reading through this thread and seeing lots of options, but I'm not sure which one would be a good fit for my musical tastes and headphones.

Is the Aune T1 a good match for a pair of Sennheiser 598's? I probably will upgrade to different headphones at some point (most likely a closed pair) but I would like it to sound good for now at least. My music tastes are mostly rock, pretty much no classical or anything.

The Schiit Magni/Modi looks fairly good in this price range, is there anything better value? I'm in the UK so that could limit my choices, but don't be afraid to suggest anything as importing is always an option. I'll use it for music mainly, I do play games but I'm fairly casual so its no big...

Specifically this one http://epiphany-acoustics.co.uk/products-page/dacs/ehp-o2d-miniature-desktop-headphone-amplifier-with-usb-dac/ I'm roughly 50/50 on gaming and music. I could deal with positional audio being slightly less in games, if there was a significant increase in music. I'm sure...

:( That doesn't sound good. I unplugged the cable and put it back in, and it seems to have fixed it. I'll see if it happens again, if I does I'd just buy a new cable, right?     Edit: After listening to some music, it almost sounds better. Could be placebo though.

They have a problem where if I twist the cable in the 598's a little, the sound gets all messed up. (Can't really describe it) Should I be worried? Thanks

Hey, I'm about to buy a Titanium HD. From reading through this thread, this card is still the best for gaming? I was thinking of an Esscense ST/STX, but the I think the Titanium HD is nearly as good. Any advice before I buy this? Does the surround sound work well with Valve games? And does it...

Thanks! That's assuming nobody bids on it though... (I should probably stop talking ;))

Would i Fiio E9 be any good? Very good deal on eBay. E7+E9 for £50

Alright, before I buy this card, will I need any extra cables to hook up my mic and headphones? They both use normal sized connectors. I'll probably wait for the E12, but are there any other recommended amps? I've already looked at the 02, Magni and all of the Fiios. Thanks

And it's better at gaming? I'm sold :) Unfortuneatly the two amps you mentioned are really expensive here, almost twice as much as the sound card itself :/ I think I'll just buy the sound card now, and either buy a cheap amp or save up for one of those two.

Alright, thanks for the help everybody. I could get a Titanium HD for £60. I've heard they are better for gaming, but I'm worried about driver support. I'd guess the Essence is better for music? I don't play games all that seriously, and I'm on Skype most of the time, but I still wouldn't like...

Quote: Yeah, I can hopefully get it :) If I wanted to an external AMP, what would you recommend? Also, what plugin should I choose for Foobar? Bit confused :P

Yeah, I should be able to get the ST for around £80 on eBay. Should I be looking at external amp too? Schiit seem to be recommended, but I can't find them here. The 02 Amp is pretty pricey as well. Perhaps I should keep the £130 and sell the Sennheisers to upgrade to something even better? No...

Should I perhaps be looking at an Amp + Dac instead? Any suggestions for what to buy? I'm in the UK with around £130 to spend.

Okay, would it be worth it? I'll probably pick up the sound card second hand if I can find it. I use it around 50/50 for music and gaming. I guess I'm happy with my current setup, but I'm not overwhelmed in either games or music. Imaging in games is important to me, but the Essense uses Dolby...

At the moment I have it set to 2 channels with dolby headphone off. Amp is set to exciter and it is set to stereo in Windows. . I usually pick the headphones option in games. Is there anything else I should be doing?     Thanks

At the moment I have a Sennheiser 598 and a Xonar DG, I use my PC for probably equal parts gaming and listening to music. Anything I should consider buying? Maybe a new soundcard or something?

Alright, I'll experiment with Dolby and see if I like it or not :D

So you would recommened Dolby Headphone to be off? Also, do I need to change anything in the Windows sound settings?     Thanks

Turned the cable a bit, same volume on each side now. Phew. Thought they were broke.

1. My left earcup sounds louder than my right one. Is there any test to run for this? Is it normal? I really don't wan't to return them as apart from this they sound great.   2. What are the recommended settings for gaming and music with a Xonar DG? I have the unified drivers at the moment...

Quote:   Hmm. I think it'll be okay. Only electronic I really listen to is Ratatat, and they sounded okay on my old headset, so I think it should probably be fine. I'll EQ if I need to. :)     Thanks

Allright, thanks everybody. Going to buy the 598's later this week.