[chiuming07]

regarding to the cheap Chaintech AV-710 ($23) & New Creative X-Fi Platinum($199), which one is better sound quality when pluging my HD650 headphone into headphone slot of the sound card?

Any way I can make HD650 sounds better beyond just using a sound card?

thanks

 

[003]

I believe the m-audio revolution 5.1 (not 7.1) has an amped line out, that would be good for your hd650.

 

[michaelconnor]

Can't speak for the X-fi, but regarding the Chaintech, it's virtue is the high-resolution DAC on the black line-out port. The other ports, including the headphone-out, are far from high-quality. If you want to use the good DAC, you'll need an amp to drive your phones.

 

[Razoramus]

the av-710 is unamped, it isn't made for headphones so unless you have an external amp, there is no comparison

the x-fi platinum has a mediocre amp same as the audigy2 cards, the x-fi elite pro would be much better

having an external amp would make your HD650 sound much better with any card

in regards to sound quality, i own the av-710 and have sampled the x-fi extreme music, they are both very good in the right settings (hi sample rate for av-710, audio creation mode with crystallizer off on the x-fi), i tested them on different speakers and can't say which is better, they are both very clear sounding and have good balance, you can't go wrong with either, if you're a gamer go with the x-fi extreme music, if you just want good sound quality the av-710 is great

i agree with 003, the revolution 5.1 would probably be the best choice for headphones without an external amp

 

[chiuming07]

regarding to the above user's advice which one are the best to use with HD650 headphone?

m-audio revolution 5.1 ($67)
Chaintech AV-710 ($23)
X-Fi ($199)

If I use Chaintech AV-710 (which has a very good DAC) do i still need a extra headphone amp? since from my understand what inside headphone amp is basically a DAC.

thanks again

 

[Razoramus]

the revolution 5.1 would be the best with headphones regarding sound quality and ability to drive the phones

a digital-to-analog converter (dac) is completely different from an amplifier (amp), the terms are somewhat self-explanatory, they both play very large roles in sound quality except the amp is crucial when it comes to driving headphones since headphones have no external power source which is where an external amp might come in

it is true the av-710's hi-sample rate line out has a good dac but it is unamped, you will absolutely need to amp it, believe me, i tried using headphones on it, horrible

 

[chiuming07]

if i use revolution 5.1, will an external amp make a big difference on sound quality on the HD650 ($305)

thanks

 

[Razoramus]

you might want to ask in the amplification section

 

[silvalis]

If you do buy an Xfi with the drive bay unit, don't plug your headphones into that. It's noisy compared to the jacks on the actual card. The elite pro's breakout box is better.

 

[Calanctus]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Razoramus the x-fi platinum has a mediocre amp same as the audigy2 cards, the x-fi elite pro would be much better

My experience was completely different. I owned both sound cards and used the same headphones (V7506) and tracks to test them. The Audigy2 cards had plenty of hiss, while the X-Fi Platinum had none. Music was simply far, far better thru the X-fi than thru the Audigy 2.

 

[Razoramus]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Calanctus My experience was completely different. I owned both sound cards and used the same headphones (V7506) and tracks to test them. The Audigy2 cards had plenty of hiss, while the X-Fi Platinum had none. Music was simply far, far better thru the X-fi than thru the Audigy 2.

the x-fi also has a much better architecture and sound chip, what i was referring to was the ability to drive headphones, which will be the same as the audigy2 because they use the same amps except for the elite pro which has much better amps, i'm not saying the audigy2 or x-fi (non elite pro) won't be able to drive headphones, just not well compared to better opamps, the sound quality is of course better on the x-fi

 

[Tachikoma]

Quote:

If I use Chaintech AV-710 (which has a very good DAC) do i still need a extra headphone amp? since from my understand what inside headphone amp is basically a DAC.

Urm, no, headphone amps don't have a DAC (digital to analogue convertor) inside them. They work by providing some extra current to the analogue signal in order to drive the headphones. Since you are using the HD650, I'd say that you probably need a cmoy at least, the revo 5.1's headphone out probably won't cut it.

 

[maarek99]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Calanctus My experience was completely different. I owned both sound cards and used the same headphones (V7506) and tracks to test them. The Audigy2 cards had plenty of hiss, while the X-Fi Platinum had none. Music was simply far, far better thru the X-fi than thru the Audigy 2.

Audigy 2 zs has hiss? Maybe you had left some inputs on.

 

[Razoramus]

Quote:

Originally Posted by maarek99 Audigy 2 zs has hiss? Maybe you had left some inputs on.

my audigy2 doesn't hiss either

 

[Calanctus]

Quote:

Originally Posted by maarek99 Audigy 2 zs has hiss? Maybe you had left some inputs on.

Do you mean as in input volumes off the recording section of the sounds control panel? I have plenty of these on right now on the X-Fi.