[Imyourzero]

As you can see by my sig, I'm in need of a headphone amp and my source could use an upgrade while I'm at it. We all know the Audigy 2 is superior to the "music" sound cards in games but lacks the audio quality of even the $24 Chaintech AV-710 for listening to music.

I'm just wondering what my better option is here...I can get the Bithead which would be an amp AND a source upgrade, but I wonder how much better the Bithead's sound card is when compared to my Audigy 2. Or, I could go with an AV-710 or 0404 and just get a seperate amp (probably something like a Headsave META42/PIMETA-based amp or a Porta Corda).

It is my thinking that something like the 0404 would provide better sound quality than the Bithead's onboard sound card, but I don't know that to be a fact. If the 0404 is better, I have to wonder how much better...and if the Bithead's convenience factor of being an all-in-one amp + sound card would outweigh the possible higher quality I'd get from an internal PC sound card and amp.

It's just that I've never used any of these products and I was hoping someone could comment on how the Bithead's sound card compares to something like an AV-710 or EMU 0404, and likewise how the amp portion compares to something like a META42 or PIMETA based amp.

Thoughts and opinions are welcome!

Oh, and sorry for posting this in 2 forums but this thread deals with amps and sound cards so I didn't know which forum was more appropriate.

 

[Distroyed]

The emu 0404 will be able to power your headphones by itself just fine. Get this card and eventually buy a decent amp when you can afford it.

 

[Imyourzero]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Distroyed The emu 0404 will be able to power your headphones by itself just fine. Get this card and eventually buy a decent amp when you can afford it.

I'm sure the 0404 would do fine with lower impedance headphones, but what about the 300-ohm Sennheisers? I haven't heard much about the line out on the 0404/1212M. Do these cards have an amp like the Audigy cards do, or is it just a straight signal? I've read on here that the AV-710 doesn't do well with some headphones and really benefits from an amp, and I was wondering if the EMU cards were the same way or if they were more powerful for driving high impedance devices.

 

[Mr.Radar]

I've heard that the EMU cards power high impeadence cans just fine but struggle with low-impeadence.

 

[Distroyed]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Mr.Radar I've heard that the EMU cards power high impeadence cans just fine but struggle with low-impeadence.

This is exactly the case. They power my hd650's with no problem, but are a solid 10-20dB lower with a pair of low impedance, crap Panasonics that I tried.

 

[yeeyy]

These are Line Level Output and not Headphone Output.

 

[Distroyed]

Quote:

Originally Posted by yeeyy These are Line Level Output and not Headphone Output.

Hence their ability to play with high impedance headphones nicer. Or were you getting at something else?