[doron360]

Hello,

I need to buy new gear because my Xonar Essense STX sound card is dying (makes loud white noise and high pitch tones every few days). I'm not entirely sure what I need to buy. My setup is a PC (gigabyte GA-MA770-UD3 motherboard) and three headphones:

HiFiMan HE-560 (planar magnetic, I mainly use those for comfort reasons)
AKG K240 DF (600ohm, requires lots of power, second most-used)
Ultrasone Pro 900

I really like my AKGs so I would like to buy something that can drive them very well.

I need a good headphones amp. Do I also need a DAC, or is there no significant improvement over the on-board sound card?
My budget is flexible. Somewhere between $200-500, depending on how noticeable the improvement is when spending more.

Thank you

 

[PurpleAngel]

I replaced my Essence STX with a an Audio-GD DAC/amp, currently the NFB-11.28.
http://www.audio-gd.com/Pro/Headphoneamp/NFN1128/NFB1128EN.htm

 

[doron360]

Is the NFB-11.28 powerful enough to drive my 600ohm headphones at a good volume? I also saw that the JDS Labs The Element is rather popular, how does it compare? Thanks

 

[FastAndClean]

NFB-11.28 is a lot more powerfull than Element, it will be enough for your Akg