Audigy2 +DT770/80 Driving Power Question?

[jbrukardt]

Good morning fellow head-fi'ers,

I am making my first venture into hi-fi headphones with my purchase of a pair of Beyerdynamic DT-770/80 cans that should be here on tuesday. I plan to use them for some music, but mostly gaming. Prior to this i succumbed to the 5.1 phenomenon and had some Gainward SoundXplosion 5.1 cans which had, umm, lacking sound quality. (although i must admit the positioning was great. Now to my question. Im running an audigy2 platinum (the original revision, not the ZS).

#1) Does that have the power to drive my new beyers and make them sound halfway decent without an amp (keep in mind im coming from a background of 5.1 and 10 dollar walmart headphones). Also, is there numbers any where as to what impedance the aud2 plat can drive nicely

#2) I just cant afford an amp right now, if the aud2 cant drive it properly how bad is is gonna sound (will it be worse than my 10 dollar headphones?)

#3) Which jack should i use on the aud2 plat to drive them, if it even make a difference. The front headphone jack, or the output in the rear on the card

Thanks for your help in advance, and i apologize for the newbish questions, as i said, my first venture into hi-fi

 

[GuOD]

they should sound fine.

I've used my beyers out of my irvier mp3 player. the only difference I notice is more bass using lineout+amp but it's probably a function of volume (on my mp3 player, inc volume --> dec bass boost

 

[jbrukardt]

Any ideas on my other questions? Just would be nice to know some details

 

[Mercuttio]

You might want to consider picking up a Bithead from www.headphone.com. It'll bypass your Audigy (which is a very boomy, bloated source that resamples badly) and it will bypass that. I think an Audigy and a 770 are probably a lousy combo. It should also drive your phones better.

 

[Crimson Tear]

They will definately sound better than $10 Walmart headphones, but will also improve a lot with an amp.

I'm not sure if it was the Audigy 2, but I read some posts a while ago claiming the off-card jacks sounded better. In the end it doesn't really matter as you can just switch jacks and see which one you think sounds better.

 

[jbrukardt]

Ok, thanks for the input guys, as to the bithead, somehow it doesnt seem like a good idea.

#1) "The Total Bithead operates on the go from four on-board AAA batteries which last at least 40 hours"

I dont feel like spending a hundred bucks on batteries a month

#2) Since it acts like its own sound card, i would lose EAX, which is very important to gaming in my opinion and thats also defeats my ability to use CMSS for good posisionality

Correct me if im wrong, but using a bithead makes no sense for my purposes

 

[Mercuttio]

Quote:

Originally Posted by jbrukardt Ok, thanks for the input guys, as to the bithead, somehow it doesnt seem like a good idea. #1) "The Total Bithead operates on the go from four on-board AAA batteries which last at least 40 hours" I dont feel like spending a hundred bucks on batteries a month #2) Since it acts like its own sound card, i would lose EAX, which is very important to gaming in my opinion and thats also defeats my ability to use CMSS for good posisionality Correct me if im wrong, but using a bithead makes no sense for my purposes

With headphones on, you're going to want as crisp and clear sound as you can get out of them. The Audigy IS a good gaming card. No question. But if you only want to hear things in stereo? It stinks. Basically, if you want high end listening, you want to get around the Audigy. As well, it does not take batteries when it's plugged into your computer's USB. That's all in the description of the amp.

I think basically, I'm getting at this: You're combining a source that is going to blow bass way out of proportion with subwoofers strapped directly to your head. It might not work well. The Bithead is a better, more balanced source than your Audigy.

 

[delphi]

you should drive them from the headphone port on the front, its a really really minimal amp, my sa3k are 70 ohms and that port can drive them ok. so they should be alright, since they are closed. but you really should look into getting an amp to open them up, i would recomend saving up for an amp. also spend some money for an x-fi extreme music, it can use the breakout box from the audigy 2 (thats what i'm using right now, optical out from an audigy2 box and xfi).

 

[jbrukardt]

Sound quality a lot better on the X-fi? I know its redesigned from the ground up, creative just turned me off with all their so called upgrades that were actually based on the exact same hardware.

 

[Mercuttio]

Quote:

Originally Posted by jbrukardt Sound quality a lot better on the X-fi? I know its redesigned from the ground up, creative just turned me off with all their so called upgrades that were actually based on the exact same hardware.

Yes, the X-fi is supposed to be much better, comparable to an EMU card. Sorry to be so pushy about the Audigy; the same thing happened to me here when I came in wondering about mine. It's a terrible sounding card, no question. The EAX, while simulating surround sound, distorts and processes sound so heavily that I had a very hard time listening to it with higher-end cans. It's also quite possible to combine an EMU 0404 and a Soundblaster in your computer by linking them up. You'll probably find information on that in the "Computers as Source" forum.

 

[jbrukardt]

Much thanks mercuttio, i really do appreciate your advice. Ill read up in "computers as a source" to check out some of my options, i didnt even realize that section of the forum existed

 

[jbrukardt]

woohooo, they're coming a day early. DHL is slow as heck, but at least theyre a day early