[cuad]

I'm currently using a Corsair 650TX and it's mounted at the bottom of my case. A good PSU would definitely help, but what about its placement? Do you think there'd be a difference between a bottom mounted and top mounted PSU?
 
Also, I just bought a Fiio E7. Maybe I'll be able to hear a difference through it. If not, I will gladly take its portability over my Titanium HDs--nothing--and sell the HD.

 

[pro555]

Mine is top mounted. I can't comment on difference between top and bottom mount since I never have a bottom mount system. Do you know that the DAC chip on ST and Titanium HD are very best? Did you try switch different op-amps? For Essence ST, I use two opa2134 as pre-amp, and two OPA627BP for final amp. I am pretty satisfied with it. If your headphone is hard to drive, you can also get a headphone amp, let us know if Fiio E7 doing better than your sound card.

 

[RexAeterna]

don't worry op. not much difference really with newer onboard sound. you can notice a nice difference in clarity at least tho going dedicated route. biggest differences sound cards make is if your recording. onboard sound has crazy lantacy issues if trying to record music.

lot of newer soundcards are just for special DSP and built-in headamps. other then that you don't get much more difference really.

 

[cuad]

I've had my FiiO E7 for a day now. I can't tell if there's a difference in sound quality between it and my Titanium HD or ALC889. That, to me, means that there is none.
 
I want to use the Rightmark Audio Analyzer to see what my results are. Is there a tutorial out there or can someone write up how to use it? Here are the devices I've got: Fiio E7, Titanium HD, the Realtek ALC889 and I'll be using RX700s to listen since I've disowned the AD700s.

 

[pro555]

I just realize you have a $35 headphone. Maybe that is a bottleneck which means the on board card already drive it best. Keep in mind the source of the music and the headphone/speaker affect the sound most. Btw it is very difficult to make computer sound as good as dedicate/external device, since computers doing many tasks. I can tell Ipod touch sounds more dynamic and has better silent background than Essence ST. Save your money for a best headphone you can afford.

 

[jackmccabe]

He also has or had (not sure) the ad700's which are just as resolving as some much more expensive headphones.

 

[cuad]

I had AD700s, yes, but I didn't think they were as good as the RX700s, so maybe they weren't enough either. I have the AD700s packed up at the moment and ready to be shipped back to Amazon.
 
Keep in mind that I also listened to them through the Titanium HD--Creative's best sound card. The Titanium HD didn't make the AD700s or RX700s sound any better than my ALC889 could.
 
Earlier this morning I compared my Fiio E7 to my old SIIG Soundwave 7.1 PCI using my RX700s and music from Pandora. There was a clear difference, so I'm happy about that. I think I'm off to Fry's now to buy a y-splitter cable and a male to male 3.5mm jack so I can preform an RMAA test. Any objections?
 
EDIT: I can't even get rightmark to calibrate. Glad I didn't buy anything.

 

[xnor]

RexAeterna, regarding your onboard has latency (recording) issues comment: my laptop with some realtek chip works fine down to less than 10ms buffer delay.
 
cuad, RMAA is quite simple to calibrate. Actually, not much needs to be calibrated. What did you struggle with?
And a y-splitter and loopback cable cost what, maybe 10 bucks?

 

[cuad]

I get a nasty feedback loop. When I play the calibration sound the graph shows spikes after 1KHz, so I can't start the test.
 
11+ 10% taxes. Totally not worth it. Luckily the Titanium HD came with a stereo to RCA cable so I used that instead. My USB DAC (Fiio E7) has two headphone outs so I used that as the splitter.

 

[xnor]

Quote:

I get a nasty feedback loop. When I play the calibration sound the graph shows spikes after 1KHz, so I can't start the test.

Did you use [MME] in conjunction with 32-bit float bit depth? That's not a good idea.
 
Quick setup:
Right click speaker tray icon - playback devices - choose your device (usually 'speakers') - properties - advanced - set the format to 24/44100 or 16/44100 for example. Also check the other tabs, you don't want any 'Enhancements' or 'Microphone boost' etc. enabled.
Do the same for your recording device (usually 'line-in' or 'mic-in').
In RMAA, set the same devices for playback/recording and also set the same format. Try both DirectSound and MME for playback.
Press Playback/Recording (bottom left button), in the Windows Mixer reduce the master volume until RMAA displays at least -1.x dB to prevent clipping. Start test.

 

[cuad]

Yeah those are the steps I followed, but I get a feedback loop.

 

[bcasey25raptor]

i hear a massive difference between my laptops built in sound in my schools built in sound. if you don't notice a difference you must already have an amazing onboard sound. you might have saved some money my dear friend.

 

[xnor]

Quote:

Yeah those are the steps I followed, but I get a feedback loop.

Maybe you have 'Listen to this device' enabled for your line/mic-in (in the recording devices properties)?

 

[tom2011]

update to the latest drivers
 
use headphones you will notice deffrent

 

[cuad]

Ok guys, sometime this month I'm going to grab a pair of $150 Ultrasone Pro 550s. I don't see myself ever spending over $200 on a pair of headphones so if I don't hear any difference with the Ultrasones, that's it. I'm getting rid of my Fiio E7 and my Titanium HD.