[derbigpr]

So, basically, I've had my Sennheiser HD558's for a few weeks now, and the longer I have them , more disappointed I am. I'm pretty sure the reason for all the fuss is the fact that I have an onboard sound card (realtec alc887) and a crappy amplifier inside Logitech Z2300 that I'm using to plug my headphones in.
 
The amp inside the Z2300 is powerful enough to run the Hd558's loud enough to make my ears hurt even when i turn the volume control to about 60%, but the sound itself is not energetic, and bass is really missing. Also, they sound really deep and mufled if I dont tweak the sound with equalizer... is that normal?
 
My friend told me that I should never use an equalizer because all it does is it distorts the sound, and that with good sound card and amp, I wont need equalizer. I'm able to get the mids and highs to sound good, but the bass is missing. The mids and high are overpowering low frequencies, and when i turn up the bass in equalizer, it sounds muffled and distorted, and it overpowers mids and high.
 
Also, 558's are suppose to have great soundstage and sound very open...but I honestly cannot hear any difference between them (in terms of wideness of soundstage and airiness of sound) and my old Sennheiser HD212pro, as the matter of fact, HD212's sound better with almost all types of music except classical and vocal, and even when listening to classical music, difference is not big, since i can again tweak the 212's with equalizer to sound almost identical to 558's.
 
So , basicaly, are my headphones really gonna benefit a lot if I get a proper sound card like Asus Xonar ST / STX and headphone amp, or some DAC+Amp like Fiio E7+E9 or Audinst HUD MX-1?  
 
What are 5 most important changes i'd get with getting a high quality sound card or DAC?
 

 

[Timestretch]

Have you tried plugging the headphone straight into the onboard sound card's output, rather than through the speakers? You might notice differences in clarity. Have you tried them through an A/V receiver or some other stereo equipment? Have you used them with an ipod or whatever else you have that can drive a headphone?  
  
Try some of that if you can. Each output you can find will probably sound at least a little different. Your speaker's headphone jack might not be the best output available to you, and that might be the weak part of your chain that is ruining/degrading the sound you get from your headphones. 

 

[derbigpr]

Quote:

Have you tried plugging the headphone straight into the onboard sound card's output, rather than through the speakers? You might notice differences in clarity. Have you tried them through an A/V receiver or some other stereo equipment? Have you used them with an ipod or whatever else you have that can drive a headphone?  
  
Try some of that if you can. Each output you can find will probably sound at least a little different. Your speaker's headphone jack might not be the best output available to you, and that might be the weak part of your chain that is ruining/degrading the sound you get from your headphones. 

 
Yes I have tried to plug them into sound card. Sounds seem a bit clearer , but theres even less bass, and the volume is low. At 100% headphones are still not even on my usual listening levels.  I also plugged them into Philips FW-M567 mini hi-fi system, but thats just bad in every way. Sound is muddy and volumes are low.
 
About that equalizer thing....is it true thats its best not to use it?
 

 

[tws1]

You sound like you are crying out for an amp of some sort, nothing you mentioned sounds sufficient for driving those headphones. You think the Logitech has a headphone amp, and isn't just routing the sound to the headphone socket?
 
Driving headphones to a certain volume is just the start, and in no way a sign of good SQ. The DAC and amplifier stage in any dedicated product will be infinitely better than a soundcard. Clarity, soundstage, separation, bass impact, balanced frequency spectrum etc. etc. are all much more important criteria, and soundcards generally do not deliver on these as well an external DAC and headphone amplifier will do.

So yeah, I would say an Essence ST(X) would be the way for you to go.

 

[zmd]

You might just not be used to balanced headphones, that's all. The HD558 are quite natural sounding to my ears, from a Xonar DS and even from my Clip+. Maybe a bit of HF roll-off but still, nothing as bad as you're experiencing. If you could try a DAC or even a decent soundcard, I'm sure you'd find they sound very good.

 

[Butter123]

Generally speaking, Sennheiser headphones and earphone will sound bad without burn in. They also require a dedicated headphone amp to make the best out of them. Your Z2300 headphone jack is not an amp, but only increasing the volume. Loudness does not mean properly amped.

 

[Renegade1988]

I've got the complete oppisite experience with my hd558, driving it with my onboard alc883. Using only high quality tracks it sounds great !!! But the best listning level is at full volume thru the headphone out so it definatly needs a amp.
 
Have you removed the foam on the inside ? This opens them up a lot !

 

[RiceEatin2010GT]

Not really telling you what to do but i ran HD 555's through a Asus xonar STX(headphone amp) and they sounded amazing.