Win Vista/7/8 have excellent audio protocol stacks, so I have been using the WASAPI exclusive plugin for foobar. However, I am downgrading to Windows 2000 after realizing there are unofficial updates for it post-support that date to 2012. After trying it out fully updated and tweaked, I...

Thanks. Rep goes to both of you. ;)

The specifications of my sound card (the Asus Xonar Essence STX) postulate a upper-maximum of 124dB. I take that to mean that if you are not using the built-in headphone amplifier to increase gain, 100% volume that is sourced via the sound card and is produced through the sound card only, i.e...

Does such a thing exist? By better I mean in terms of sound quality--as debatable and/or miniscule such phenomena may be--and in the sexiness of the interface. The visual mods for foobar2000 always either bloat it up or never work with the latest versions.

Setup: AKG Q701s ASUS Xonar Essence STX Windows 7 as my OS.   What I do:   -The latest version of foobar2000, with WASAPI, output set to 24-bit, replaygain disabled, and using the noise sharpening DSP @ 110% (foo_dsp_delta). -The latest version of Fidelizer; the "moderate"...

Quote: Well, local stores can be like that. Are you looking at Amazon USA? Prices in general are much higher in Canada. The lowest I can find from a seller on Amazon.ca for the AKG Q701s is $329 CDN. I don't know of many online sellers that ship to Canada where I might find a better...

Thanks for the replies. I think I'll get them, then.   I'm coming to these from the DT770s (pro, 250ohms version) because I'm getting tired of the muddiness, and they make me feel like I'm listening to music (imagine music as being white; a blank slate by default) that is being colored by...

Quote: Would the headphone amp built into the Asus Xonar Essence STX be sufficient?

I've read and watched a lot of reviews on these headphones. I liked everything described about them, and it seems they'd be right for me. However, it is always mentioned that these headphones are terrible for metal, hard rock, hip hop, etc. I'm not exactly sure in what way they mean. I presume...