[Reaper89]

Hi everyone,
 
I'm in the process of pricing up my first proper set of headphones and the bits to go with it and just wanting to check I'm not doing anything stupid before I start buying bits.
 
So far I've been using a set of surround sound speakers, but I’ll soon be moving and I wont be able to use them. My hope is to be able to get be able to get surround sound using the headphones and a soundcard. I mostly play RPG and FPS games, although I do listen to a bit of music as well (mostly rock/metal at the moment).
 
I'm reasonably happy with my headphone choice (Beyerdynamic DT990 PRO Headset - 250 OHM) and the soundcard (Asus Xonar DX). However I'm slightly unsure about the headphone amp, most of what I've read seems to suggest that to get the most out of the headphones I’ll need one.
 
After the headphones and soundcard I haven't got a huge amount left over but could probably stretch to £70ish. I've seen the FiiO E9 recommended but it seems to be discontinued. Would the Fiio A3 / E11K do as a substitute? Beyond that the main one I've noticed in my price range is the EHP-O2.
 
Thanks for your help

 

[Stillhart]

Try the Fiio E09k, it's the replacement for the E9.  

 

[Reaper89]

Thanks for the suggestion, unfortunately I can't find any in stock in the UK, so would be a case of ordering from US or HK which I'm hesitant to do (one to many run in with customs).

 

[PurpleAngel]

Hopefully you disabled the motherboard's on-board audio, in the BIOS, before you installed the sound card (Xonar DX) of the driver software.
 
The FiiO E11K can easily drive the 250-Ohm DT990,
or replace the Xonar DX with a Sound Blaster Z.
(personally I would go for the E11K)

 

[Reaper89]

Thanks for  the advice PurpleAngel, I'll get the E11k and see how things go

 

[cel4145]

Massdrop has the Objectve 2 amp for $70: https://www.massdrop.com/buy/massdrop-o2-amplifier. Not sure what shipping to the UK would add, but this is worth looking into. Good step up from anything else you could probably find with your budget.