Beyerdynamic DT 770 Pro 250 ohms, amp?

[tehgreatguy]

I am aware of fiio amps, but I will be using these for pc use almost all the time, maybe if If I feel comfortable wearing 200-280$ headphones on the street I will get a portable amp (if there are portable amps that can power the 250 ohms). Now for the pc use, will a regular intel hi def 7.1 on board audio card power 250ohms? or will I need to buy a better sound card? Because if the 7.1 cannot, I might just get the 80 ohm version instead.

 

[MattTCG]

If you want a soundcard for the beyers, a xonar dg would be plenty. The stx would be more than enough. True is though, a fiio e10 on high gain also does pretty well. 
 
I ran that hp off the stx and it handled it well. The fiio is much less than the stx and is really a decent dac/amp. I had reservations about the small size as well. It's just smaller than a pack of cigs. But I used some double sided tape and put it just on the side of my desk and it works out perfect. 

 

[tehgreatguy]

Quote:

If you want a soundcard for the beyers, a xonar dg would be plenty. The stx would be more than enough. True is though, a fiio e10 on high gain also does pretty well. 
 
I ran that hp off the stx and it handled it well. The fiio is much less than the stx and is really a decent dac/amp. I had reservations about the small size as well. It's just smaller than a pack of cigs. But I used some double sided tape and put it just on the side of my desk and it works out perfect. 

ye the xonar is super awesome, and will power any 250 ohm cans. But the question still stands, will a regular 7.1 hi-def stock intel SC power these?
 

 

[stv014]

Quote:

if there are portable amps that can power the 250 ohms

 
The FiiO E11 should be fine for this purpose.
 
Quote:

Now for the pc use, will a regular intel hi def 7.1 on board audio card power 250ohms? or will I need to buy a better sound card? Because if the 7.1 cannot, I might just get the 80 ohm version instead.

"Intel HD audio" does not really tell exactly what you have, as it is the actual (most commonly Realtek) codec chip and its implementation on the motherboard that matters. I have an ASUS motherboard with Realtek ALC887, so it may or may not be relevant for your machine, but I found that:
  - the rear jack is a line output only, and not really suitable for driving headphones (200+ Ohm output impedance, small coupling capacitors)
  - the front panel headphone jack has some amplification, but it can only output a maximum of about 1.2 Vrms, and has an output impedance of 77 Ohm (of which 75 was probably added by ASUS, and only 2 is in the Realtek chip according to its data sheet)
  - without modifying the front panel, there is audible noise and interference even with the DT770 Pro 250. I was able to fix this by making some changes to the front panel to eliminate ground loops
  - the Realtek chip has digital volume control, so reducing the volume does not reduce the absolute level of noise
It does not actually sound that bad (other than the above mentioned noise issue), but it does not allow for really loud sound; I find it enough for music with low dynamic range, but your mileage may vary. The maximum power is higher than with a decent portable player, but not that much higher. The 80 Ohm version would be somewhat louder, but also make the problems related to noise and high output impedance worse. In any case, I think the combination of Xonar DG + 250 Ohm is likely to be better than onboard + 80 Ohm.
 

 

[tehgreatguy]

Quote:

 
The FiiO E11 should be fine for this purpose.
 

"Intel HD audio" does not really tell exactly what you have, as it is the actual (most commonly Realtek) codec chip and its implementation on the motherboard that matters. I have an ASUS motherboard with Realtek ALC887, so it may or may not be relevant for your machine, but I found that:
  - the rear jack is a line output only, and not really suitable for driving headphones (200+ Ohm output impedance, small coupling capacitors)
  - the front panel headphone jack has some amplification, but it can only output a maximum of about 1.2 Vrms, and has an output impedance of 77 Ohm (of which 75 was probably added by ASUS, and only 2 is in the Realtek chip according to its data sheet)
  - without modifying the front panel, there is audible noise and interference even with the DT770 Pro 250. I was able to fix this by making some changes to the front panel to eliminate ground loops
  - the Realtek chip has digital volume control, so reducing the volume does not reduce the absolute level of noise
It does not actually sound that bad (other than the above mentioned noise issue), but it does not allow for really loud sound; I find it enough for music with low dynamic range, but your mileage may vary. The maximum power is higher than with a decent portable player, but not that much higher. The 80 Ohm version would be somewhat louder, but also make the problems related to noise and high output impedance worse. In any case, I think the combination of Xonar DG + 250 Ohm is likely to be better than onboard + 80 Ohm.
 

good call, and good reply. I was looking at the xonar line, might just got 1up and go for 7.1 line (5.1 is meh), But I am still thinking of the 80 ohm, dont know if my wallet can handle a new soundcard

 

[PurpleAngel]

Beyerdynamic DT770 Pro 80-Ohm with the Asus Xonar DG.

 

[stv014]

Quote:

good call, and good reply. I was looking at the xonar line, might just got 1up and go for 7.1 line (5.1 is meh)

Do you mean the D1, DX, D2, or D2X ? Those are not necessarily better for directly driving headphones (without an amplifier) - especially lower impedance ones - than the DG, as they have very high output impedance. Only the DG and ST/STX are advertised as having a built-in headphone amplifier, the others are marketed mainly for "home theater" application with multi-channel speaker setups.
If you stick with the onboard only, then the 80 Ohm headphone will be louder, but the 250 Ohm version might sound clearer. The former would be better suited for use with portable players, though.
 

 

[tehgreatguy]

The asus xence, was one of them, but now Im thinking the 770 pro 80-250, might have to much bass, now looking at the 880 250...sigh, such a hard choice