Dodgexander
New Head-Fier
- Joined
- Sep 22, 2007
- Posts
- 23
- Likes
- 10
Hi all, thanks in advance to anyone taking the time to reply.
I am looking to see if I can get an upgraded sound from my AKG K550s. For a while I had been using them connected directly via RCA to the sound card in my PC, the Asus Xonar HDAV. As I understand this card, unlike some other Xonar models doesn't have an integrated headphone amp. Still, I found the sound quality decent, but underwhelming. In fact compared to what I was using before (a plantronics gaming headset) they were quite the disappointment, I bought them based on reviews without trying them (first mistake) and found they were disappointing.
I am wondering If its possible to pick up a decent upgrade, ideally through a USB sound card if I can (so I can also use on my laptop) because I would also like a microphone input too, from what I can see, no DAC/Amp has a headphone input integrated?
I do own a DAC/Amp in a fiio E7 and it does add some warmth and bass to my K550s but I don't really like the idea of having to downsample all my music to 16bit 44.1 khz, will going from the E7 to an external sound card make my K550's sound better or worse? If worse, what DAC/Amp would I have to get to hear an improvement?
If it's the case that a Sound Card would be a downgrade compared to a DAC at the same price then I would be willing to use a different device for a headphone input (sadly my laptop's headphone jack is broken).
I have researched and understand the basics of headphone impedance, as I understand my K550s aren't too hard to drive and therefore sound best when equipped with a Amp outputting as close to 0hms as possible, I think the fiio e7 I have is a good match for this, even with my other Sennheiser Px100s. I also learnt that some sound cards, including integrated ones such as my laptop output high ohms output which can make easy to drive headphones sound worse. Is this true?
Are there any USB sound cards that fit my needs for good sounding music with a good low ohms headphone amp, but also with a headphone jack?
How would spending the same money on a sound card compare to buying a Dragonfly Black or Red for example?
Am I asking too much of the K550s and should just upgrade my headphones? To date the phones I enjoyed the most were my old Etymotic Research ER6i in ears that I used some years ago with my mp3 player, sadly they broke and haven't been able to replace them. I like base and warmth in sound, but it was the clarity, separation that made me love these,despite obvious lack of bass.
I am on a budget, but I would like to keep it around £150/$200/€180
Thanks for any help you can give!
I am looking to see if I can get an upgraded sound from my AKG K550s. For a while I had been using them connected directly via RCA to the sound card in my PC, the Asus Xonar HDAV. As I understand this card, unlike some other Xonar models doesn't have an integrated headphone amp. Still, I found the sound quality decent, but underwhelming. In fact compared to what I was using before (a plantronics gaming headset) they were quite the disappointment, I bought them based on reviews without trying them (first mistake) and found they were disappointing.
I am wondering If its possible to pick up a decent upgrade, ideally through a USB sound card if I can (so I can also use on my laptop) because I would also like a microphone input too, from what I can see, no DAC/Amp has a headphone input integrated?
I do own a DAC/Amp in a fiio E7 and it does add some warmth and bass to my K550s but I don't really like the idea of having to downsample all my music to 16bit 44.1 khz, will going from the E7 to an external sound card make my K550's sound better or worse? If worse, what DAC/Amp would I have to get to hear an improvement?
If it's the case that a Sound Card would be a downgrade compared to a DAC at the same price then I would be willing to use a different device for a headphone input (sadly my laptop's headphone jack is broken).
I have researched and understand the basics of headphone impedance, as I understand my K550s aren't too hard to drive and therefore sound best when equipped with a Amp outputting as close to 0hms as possible, I think the fiio e7 I have is a good match for this, even with my other Sennheiser Px100s. I also learnt that some sound cards, including integrated ones such as my laptop output high ohms output which can make easy to drive headphones sound worse. Is this true?
Are there any USB sound cards that fit my needs for good sounding music with a good low ohms headphone amp, but also with a headphone jack?
How would spending the same money on a sound card compare to buying a Dragonfly Black or Red for example?
Am I asking too much of the K550s and should just upgrade my headphones? To date the phones I enjoyed the most were my old Etymotic Research ER6i in ears that I used some years ago with my mp3 player, sadly they broke and haven't been able to replace them. I like base and warmth in sound, but it was the clarity, separation that made me love these,despite obvious lack of bass.
I am on a budget, but I would like to keep it around £150/$200/€180
Thanks for any help you can give!