Quote: What?   My ST definitely sends a Dolby Headphone signal over coax PCM when I toggle it on. The SPDIF dropdown menu only has the PCM and Dolby Digital Live options, but the Dolby Headphone checkbox still works on PCM - and definitely affects the PCM signal on my card.   I am...

I looked around a little for you, but can't find a Norwegian webshop that openly state they are willing to export anything. They still might - they just aren't saying.    You might want to send a mail to either of the biggest online retailers: - Komplett at kjopshjelp@komplett.no -...

I would think this is a very good combination.    I use the PC 360s with an Essence ST in my main rig, and an old pair of HD 555s with a DG on my old gaming machine. The 555s are very similar to the PC 360s, with the exact same drivers and very similar structure. I've switched a bit back and...

Quote: Grados cost just about exactly 3x as much in Norway as they do in the US. I just got a colleague to bring me a set of SR225is from New York - as I am not particularly willing to pay $630 for them.  

There's been a couple of discussions about the DG here (try search for my posts).   As far as I recall, a couple of us agreed that it was a good card for the money. Sound quality is decent, if not quite up to the Essence ST (which costs several times as much) and it has Dolby Headphone. The...

I'm happy I got it, hope you will be too. It's a lot of card for the money in my opinion.   (Been looking to get it since it was announced, but for some reason it was wildly overpriced in my sorry backwater excuse for a country until two weeks ago. The main importer is also the main online...

Somehow I doubt too many people here have that card, as it's the lowest-end Xonar. I have one, though, for my backup gaming rig, paired with slightly modded HD555s.    With headphones it's better than onboard sound and worse than an Essence ST (which is the only other Xonar I have heard)...

First impressions, as compared to Essence ST (both with HD555s w/ soundstage mod):   The control panel is a stripped version of the regular Xonar, as the card itself is lacking a lot of technologies. No Dolby Digital Live encoding, max sample rate 96 KHz, lower headphone amplifier gain...

I have a DG in the mail now, and expect to be able to give some impressions by the end of the week.   I do have an Essence ST, but it is in the shop together with my main rig (which has an unidentified hardware error) so I won't be able to do any actual comparisons to begin with.

Quote: The HD555 is quite a bit cheaper, is it within your range?  With a screwdriver and 5 minutes you can open them up, remove the sticky-back foam pad, and make them sound very nearly the same as the HD595s. They have the same drivers and almost the same internal structure.

Very very interesting pics of the PC 360 drivers. Many thanks, Mastermind! I'll probably try to do the same to mine, but will wait for a couple more people to do it first.   Also explains why I thought they sounded very similar to my modded 555s...

Quote: I thought the difference was huge, going from onboard to ST. It could of course be placebo effect, but I do hope I'm not actually that simple.  

Well, what kind of sound card would you be upgrading from?   I went from onboard audio (although decent for being onboard, with software Creative X-Fi) to the Essence ST and the difference brought tears to my eyes. That's with Sennheiser PC 360, which I imagine aren't all too different from...