[seamon]

  Hello,
 
thansk for reply!
 
Is there a reason for the zxr? Or is the zxr generally the "better" card?
 
Thanks!
 
BR,
 
irii

With Stock op-amps, STX II is better but with Burson V5i, ZxR is better.

Only get the card if you plan to use them with speakers and headphones.

For just headphones, I would suggest going for a Mojo. Much cleaner sound, thrice as much resolving, bigger soundstage, just plain better. However, if you want more features such as 5.1 surround speaker setup, great recording mode etc, go for ZxR.
 
SQ wise, Mojo beats ZxR on all fronts except bass impact.
Feature wise, ZxR is the king.

 

[pauladisc]

  With Stock op-amps, STX II is better but with Burson V5i, ZxR is better.

Only get the card if you plan to use them with speakers and headphones.

For just headphones, I would suggest going for a Mojo. Much cleaner sound, thrice as much resolving, bigger soundstage, just plain better. However, if you want more features such as 5.1 surround speaker setup, great recording mode etc, go for ZxR.
 
SQ wise, Mojo beats ZxR on all fronts except bass impact.
Feature wise, ZxR is the king.
 

 
 
not if  you RCA output to a HEADPHONE AMP.
 
zxr 's headphone jack not good anyway

 

[pauladisc]

  With Stock op-amps, STX II is better but with Burson V5i, ZxR is better.

Only get the card if you plan to use them with speakers and headphones.

For just headphones, I would suggest going for a Mojo. Much cleaner sound, thrice as much resolving, bigger soundstage, just plain better. However, if you want more features such as 5.1 surround speaker setup, great recording mode etc, go for ZxR.
 
SQ wise, Mojo beats ZxR on all fronts except bass impact.
Feature wise, ZxR is the king.

 
 
those Burson V5i only effect RCA output.

 

[seamon]

Definitely did not know that. Thanks for sharing that.
I still think mojo is a better deal for just headphones

 

[irii]

Hello again,
 
i totally forgot to write that speakers are also planed... maybe a pair of KRK RP5 RoKit G3
 
Is the zxr also "good" enough for speaker usage?
 
Thanks in advance!
 
BR,
 
irii

 

[seamon]

  Hello again,
 
i totally forgot to write that speakers are also planed... maybe a pair of KRK RP5 RoKit G3
 
Is the zxr also "good" enough for speaker usage?
 
Thanks in advance!
 
BR,
 
irii

ZxR is great for speaker usage. However Burson V5i is almost a necessity. Without them, the bass sounds bloated. V5i really cleans up the bass.

 

[irii]

Delete

 

[irii]

Hello,
 
can I use the noise shild if I set the burson v5i in the zxr? (Short circut...)
 
Thanks!
 
BR,
 
irii

 

[seamon]

  Hello,
 
can I use the noise shild if I set the burson v5i in the zxr? (Short circut...)
 
Thanks!
 
BR,
 
irii

Yes

 

[Garzhad]

With Stock op-amps, STX II is better but with Burson V5i, ZxR is better.

Only get the card if you plan to use them with speakers and headphones.

For just headphones, I would suggest going for a Mojo. Much cleaner sound, thrice as much resolving, bigger soundstage, just plain better. However, if you want more features such as 5.1 surround speaker setup, great recording mode etc, go for ZxR.

SQ wise, Mojo beats ZxR on all fronts except bass impact.
Feature wise, ZxR is the king.

The features are why i'd still take the ZxR(and i might actually buy it this year considering theres no point in upgrading cpu/mobo at this point in time, maybe in 1-2years). That and I like some good bass(music-wise I mostly listen to hard rock, metal, EBM, industrial, aggrotech and 'epic' instrumental music from the likes of Two Steps From Hell)

Main use is headphones for gaming, where features like EAX5, SBX Surround, the beam-forming mic it comes with and all the other goodies more than make up for everything else. The fact it can support 7.1 Actual surround is nice for future proofing in case I ever want to, for a living room theatre or getting my own place where noise isnt as much of a concern.

Biggest dilemma is figuring out which set of cans I want. Sennheiser SE598's seem like they'd fit the bill but I wonder if theres anything similarly priced that works better. Basically looking for a general-purpose set of cans considering gaming is the focus, with movies and music secondary.

not if you RCA output to a HEADPHONE AMP.

zxr 's headphone jack not good anyway

those Burson V5i only effect RCA output.

Could you.... maybe explain this in simpler terms what you mean here?

 

[Elocai]

I think the Buffer Op Amps are not connected to the headphone output, but idk if the I/V OpAmps are not connected to it either. But both are connected to RCA so this would be the path to go, if you want to use all 4 OpAmps

tl13m said to try the Burson V5i SINGLE that go into the buffers, so it would make no sense, as the headphone out wouldn't benefit from that. But Burson V5i DUAL in I/V would change indeed the sound for headphone out. If you connect to RCA out you use Buffers and I/Vs so all 4 OpAmps would be used.

 

[Garzhad]

I think the Buffer Op Amps are not connected to the headphone output, but idk if the I/V OpAmps are not connected to it either. But both are connected to RCA so this would be the path to go, if you want to use all 4 OpAmps

tl13m said to try the Burson V5i SINGLE that go into the buffers, so it would make no sense, as the headphone out wouldn't benefit from that. But Burson V5i DUAL in I/V would change indeed the sound for headphone out. If you connect to RCA out you use Buffers and I/Vs so all 4 OpAmps would be used.

Okay. Well, most headphones use a headphone out, not RCA, so in that case changing the buffers is essentially pointless unless youre using the RCAs to connect to another amp or something, which considering the ZxR has a good one built in doesn't seem to make sense either.

Anyway, i'd like to pose a question to all the ZxR/STX 2 lovers here; how well does the bare/cheap op-amp modded ZxR/STX sound cards compare to dedicated DAC/amp setups like a Schiit stack? Is the stack worth the ~$300 price premium over the soundcard? Or are there other solutions that offer quality equal to or better than the modded soundcards for equal or cheaper price?

 

[Elocai]

Could you.... maybe explain this in simpler terms what you mean here?

I was refering to your question.

 

[nuxos]

After a very very long time i've took my time (it means less than 30 min lol) to install cheap op amp LT1028 and JRC 5532

Bass is indeed more controlled, and no longer bloated like it was before.

I should spend more time to listen carrefully and see if other thing have changed in a positive way or not, except the bass section.

 

[pauladisc]

Could you.... maybe explain this in simpler terms what you mean here?

the RCA out put can use output to speaker and headphone AMP.

the build in headphone jack of ZXR is no good for me (I got a AUNE S2 PANDA MKII AMP for my th500RP)

so if you wana prove some worth for ZXR better use it with headphone AMP but not the build in HEADPHONE JACK.