You could also be getting noise from the computer itself.   I have a uDAC 3 and run it from linux on an Asus N56DP and it is stone dead silent on its own. 

  Take a look at the N56JR if you can find one still. GT760M, Core i7 QC CPU and 1080p screen. Microcenter has them for $999.

To be fair, they probably did you a favor by breaking so you didn't have to listen to them.

Glad you got it working! Yeah, PCLinuxOS may look like windows, but it's still very much linux underneath. Takes some adaptation. But honestly the control panel type stuff in linux is so much simpler and more clean than windows. I can't find **** in windows control panel half the time. Now...

So is there an audio control panel somewhere you can get to? Often it's under the little speaker under Gnome but I have not clue where it is in PCLinuxOS.  The OS won't pop up some windows-like "now loading driver" dialog because in linux it's usually already in place and all it does is make the...

So how exactly does it ignore it? Are you running Pulse Audio or what? Does it not show up in your audio control panel or does it show up and not do anything when selected? Does it show up in dmesg when you plug it in?

The DT660 are probably the cheapest fairly neutral headphones.

Agreed. Also note how various foam pads for grados affect the sound signature quite a bit as well. It's all about how close to the ear they are etc with foam non-sealing pads as opposed to the seal that they really don't make. Even foam pads tho, change over time, slowly seating the drivers...

Because feelz > realz

  I don't know what it is, but all the Sennheiser CXn00 series, where n is any number, seem dead sounding to me. Considering how nice my CX475 and CX275 sound I just don't get it.

Split the problem in half. Using just the e17 does it work? Then test the two together on another computer. Does that work? Do your headphones work with another source? Etc.

DT770 are head and shoulders above ATH-M50s. Go for it. Make sure and get a little amp if you're getting the 250 ohm ones.

I really like Pioneer CL 721 IEMs. They're inexpensive, tend to stay in your ear canal when active and have a slight boost in bass without being overbearing. Pretty clean sound for <$20 IEMs.   For cleaner, more even sound I like the various sennheiser CX275 and similar. Also can be found for...

Marketing? Profit margins? Taking advantage of the Placebo Effect?   The whole point behind the argument here is that if burn in does occur, and usually makes things sound better, then there should be ample evidence of it by now, through double blind tests, and / or measurement by scientific...

Generally the higher the impedence the cleaner the sound etc but the more amping it needs. I've only personally listened to the 250 ohm DT770s, so this is pretty much repeating what I've read elsewhere on this site. That said, the difference in sound isn't that big from the various impedences of...