Will be the 3rd time buying new pads for a headphone that really isn't used too often. The quality is awful for what they cost.

Sorry to necro this thread.. I managed to superglue the left side of the headband last year, it's still holding up fine. The right side just broke completely off two days ago. I contacted Audio Technica and they do not have any parts for the ESW10JPN.   I might try super glue again.. And as a...

A very sad day for me   I broke my ESW10JPN while putting them away. The pivoting gimbal, just above the loudspeaker yoke, just shattered. It looks like the part can be unscrewed and maybe a new part can be added.   Question: Where does one find replacement parts for these? I can't find...

The question is about iTunes (AAC encoding). An mp3, even if it's using LAME and encoded at a high bit rate, sounds pretty bad to me. With AAC encoding I can't tell a difference above 160kbps and FLAC or ALAC.

After two years (almost exactly) my Forte started popping last night.    Has anyone successfully managed to fix this?  From the picture Quakky posted it doesn't look like a surface one could attach a heatsink to.  Is it a bad trace on the board or a cold solder perhaps?   I started...

Let me rephrase that... Use BIT-MATCHED playback in AUDIO CREATION MODE. There is a difference, and should be able to hear it (depending on your source recordings).  

Bit matched output in audio creation mode bypasses the x-fi chip I believe.. it is the best quality I've found for music (and most none-EAX games).  Give it a try it.   Quote:  

Are you using bit-matched output in audio creation mode?   Quote:  

I still use my Forte (LT1364 op amp) and I had it paired with a HD600 for some time without issue.  The amp is more than enough to power the headphones, maybe you should look at that op amp upgrade sooner than later?  From what I recall the opamp that came with the Forte was rather lifeless on...

Quote: Originally Posted by ROBSCIX I think for $500 you could go with a receiver/amp and set of bookshelf speakers then add a subwoofer at a later date. You have many options as you have a reasonable budget to start out with. The problem with that is bookshelf speakers aren't...

Quote: Originally Posted by ExploitedPixel It says the Forte has a headphone amp. Anybody know if they amp on the card is enough to push DT880s (250ohms)? Easily...

These drivers are fairly new and support the Prelude.

I'd recommend the Forte as well. I don't see any benefit to the Creative card listed above, aside the lower price perhaps. Also be aware you can use a PCI-E 1x card in larger slots and it will work fine.

It is an absolute improvement in quality, just having the on-board amp on the Forte does that.

I found the Forte's amp to sound better than the upgrade Zero. Maybe I got a bad Zero, as the reviews around here give it much more attention than I think it's worth.