I have not any problem with the sound provided by the Realtek ALC1220 audio codec on my mobo, the Asrock X570 Taichi. That said, it is doing only the DAC function. The piece of hardware that finally drives my headphones is the SMSL SP200 headphone amplifier.

It's been a while since I got these. Initially I did not like them much. I found their sound signature less vibrant than the average on my other cheap dynamic headphones back then. But boy, oh boy, as time has passed, these have become my favorite, especially after equalizing them a little. In...

I have tried quite a few options for getting surround sound with stereo headphones on my PC. All of them except one were software solutions. The only hardware device I have used for this purpose have been the external USB sound card Creative Sound Blaster X3, featuring Creative's Super X-FI...

You might try this in case you haven't yet. Uninstall everything you can think might be interfering in your issue. Then before installing Waves NX, make sure you have the Sabrent audio adapter connected and selected as the default audio playback device. Honestly, I do not think it will fix the...

Have you Equalizer APO and HeSuVi installed? These two together caused an issue like the one you describe when I had Waves NX installed. Other than that I cannot think of anything else, sorry.

And how does it work? Is the effect noticeable in games? For a short time I tried Atmos and DTS for headphones in Windows 10 long ago, but I did not find any of them noticeable enough back then. Perhaps it was an issue with my personal system, I don't know for sure.

From my experience, 2004 update of W10 has had an effect on audio settings. Prior to this update I had set a buffer of 512 samples on Waves NX app for Windows with no sound issues at all. Since the latest 2004 update of W10 I have had to lower the buffer to just 64 samples, because otherwise it...

I may have speak spoken too quick too soon. I have been enjoying a few songs from Dead can dance at high volume with Redscape for the last fifteen minutes or so and it certainly sounds very cool, man. I think some of the reviews out there mentioned that point. That you need to play whatever...

Is the head tracker you are talking about here? Is it not responding as you expected? I purchased the software. For the last few weeks I have been using it mainly for gaming (The sims 4 on Windows, not a game where positional audio matters much, that is a fact), but also while watching some...

Are you using the head tracker? As I am not playing anything Virtual Reality anytime soon, I am thinking of getting just the software without the HT, because it doubles the price. EDIT: That is why I wonder if it is worth paying twice as much for getting the head tracker.

As a fan of surround audio virtualization over headphones and user of Waves NX myself, Redscape looks promising. I did not know about it before, but now I will definitely try it. Thank you.

Personally I set my headphone amp volume to 12 o'clock and vary Windows volume if needed. It just works perfectly fine for me. You can try that procedure and then the other way around (fixing Windows volume to a certain level, just as you are doing till now, and vary your HF amp volume level as...

At first I did not like my HF 580. I thought they sounded darker and worse than my chi-fi dynamic headphones. But I kept using them and eventually I started to like their sound signature. They still are my everyday cans on the PC. I did not modify my HF 580 in any way.

So, what you are saying is that while gaming you are hearing gunfire in general much louder than footsteps. Is that? That is normal, I think. Have you tried configuring in-game sound options to your like? Perhaps you can increase footsteps volume and decrease gunfire's.

The M11 should output at least 195mW for a load of 32 Ohms connected to the 3.5 mm port, according to specs. https://www.fiio.com/m11_parameters That should be OK to drive properly enough the Phantom (~47 Ohms / ~93 dB). If I were you I would just try them with just the M11. If you do not like...

I have finally got the FiiO because it is much cheaper than the HifimeDIY. And it turns out that using an external DAC it is not a solution either in my case (at least it is not with the FiiO D03K, perhaps with other models it is; I do not know for sure). Remember I enjoy turning the DSP on...

@Chris Kaoss Thank you. It is definitely an interesting product and serves its purpose well. Besides, I could order one and get it really fast and with free shipping cost, since Amazon sells it in Spain. However, I wonder how its DAC compares to the PCM 1792A of the Essence STX or the Sabre...

Yeah, you are right about the unreliability of those graphs, I think. Those pages I linked above are like summaries intended for people like me, without much technical knowledge. However, there are extended measures and graphs of the STX on that website aimed at techies and professionals; and in...

Thank you, man. You have been very helpful. I am going to try the unified drivers. By the way, if I have not misunderstood the data shown in the following pages, in both normal and high gain modes the output impedance of the Essence STX is practically 0 Ohm. It is not until extra high gain...

@PurpleAngel That DAC is interesting and certainly economical. I did not know that website either. Thank you. Please excuse my ignorance about this matter. But how the final output impedance would be calculated in the configuration proposed? STX > optical > DAC > 3.5mm analog > FiiO E12 Does...

@PurpleAngel Thank you, man. All in all, since I will be upgrading the core of my PC in the not so distant future, I think I will pick up the AE-7 or AE-9. I've gathered most of my cans during the last two or three months and do not feel like getting more right now. Besides, I live in Spain...

Hello, I currently own a modest (both in number and value) collection of headphones, most of which have low impedance (32 to 60 ohm). The source is an Asus Xonar Essence STX sound card and the OS is Windows 8.1 Pro 64-bit. I like gaming, listening to music and watching movies with headphones...

Yes, I opted for Pro 82. I don't need a mic on the headphones and I prefer the more balanced sound signature of the Pro 82. In some 2-3 weeks I hope to receive them. Thank you once again for your help when I asked. :beerchug:

@BenF Thank you, man!

Hello everybody, Would you consider the Takstar Pro 82 to be an upgrade over the Takstar HD6000? I have the latter, but the Pro 82 are on sale in Aliexpress now. That is why I am asking.