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DAC/Amp or sound card for HD 598
Oct 31, 2016 at 4:02 PM Thread Starter Post #1 of 15
Resentic

Resentic

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I just grabbed myself a pair of Sennheiser HD 598 from Amazon after reading about them a bit. I am getting lots of mixed advice about whether or not I need a DAC/Amp for these headphones or if I should just get a sound card. 
 
I currently have a really outdated ALC889 onboard sound. I am using the headphones for about 50% music, 50% gaming.
 
My budget is about £70 max, what should I be buying?
 
Oct 31, 2016 at 4:16 PM Post #2 of 15
I think the Sound Blaster X-Fi HD is a good option for £80, it has a high quality DAC and the amp should be enough for the 598s.
If you want a more portable option, go with the dragonfly black which goes for £90 and pretty hard to beat in that price point.
If you absolutely must go with under £70, there are many budget options from smsl and fiio. Just depends on if you want a desktop amp with more power or want a weaker amp with more portability
 
Oct 31, 2016 at 5:13 PM Post #3 of 15
resentic said:
  I just grabbed myself a pair of Sennheiser HD 598 from Amazon after reading about them a bit. I am getting lots of mixed advice about whether or not I need a DAC/Amp for these headphones or if I should just get a sound card. 
 
I currently have a really outdated ALC889 on-board sound. I am using the headphones for about 50% music, 50% gaming.
 
My budget is about £70 max, what should I be buying?
Click to expand...

 
Creative Labs Sound Blaster Z sound card.
Nice CS4398 DAC chip, half way decent headphone amplifier and SBX Headphone surround sound (for FPS gaming).
Disable on-board audio, in the BIOS, before installing the SBX card and software.
 
Oct 31, 2016 at 5:46 PM Post #5 of 15
resentic said:
  What would the difference between the Sound Blaster X-Fi HD and the Sound Blaster Z?
Click to expand...

 
The SB-Z comes with the CS4398 DAC chip, fairly sure it's better then the DAC built into the X-Fi HD.
 
Oct 31, 2016 at 6:18 PM Post #7 of 15
purpleangel said:
   
The SB-Z comes with the CS4398 DAC chip, fairly sure it's better then the DAC built into the X-Fi HD.
Click to expand...

 
So you suggest going for the SB-Z soundcard over the external USB X-Fi HD. I don't really play FPS (apart from Overwatch) and mostly play games where positional audio doesn't matter as much. Would the X-Fi HD then be a better purchase?
 
Oct 31, 2016 at 7:16 PM Post #8 of 15
resentic said:
   
So you suggest going for the SB-Z sound card over the external USB X-Fi HD. I don't really play FPS (apart from Overwatch) and mostly play games where positional audio doesn't matter as much. Would the X-Fi HD then be a better purchase?
Click to expand...

 
If in general you have no need for sound card features.
You might be better off getting a USB-DAC/amp.
 
FiiO Q1
FiiO E10K
Schiit Fulla
 
Oct 31, 2016 at 9:39 PM Post #11 of 15
resentic said:
What would you suggest?
Click to expand...


The dragonfly black is one of the best portable amp/DAC combos in its price range, most certainly better than the fulla.

The fiio k5 is a really solid desktop option from fiio. It has a lot of power and a pretty good DAC

The fiio A5 is their best effort from the portable solutions with the most power and a muses DAC
 
Oct 31, 2016 at 9:52 PM Post #12 of 15
I will be buying a fiio A5 for myself. I already have a $300 matrix mstage hpa2 classic for my desktop but a portable amp (still can be used for desktop) with that kind of power and DAC is really impressive
 
Oct 31, 2016 at 9:54 PM Post #13 of 15
akg fanboy said:
The dragonfly black is one of the best portable amp/DAC combos in its price range, most certainly better than the fulla.

The fiio k5 is a really solid desktop option from fiio. It has a lot of power and a pretty good DAC

The fiio A5 is their best effort from the portable solutions with the most power and a muses DAC
Click to expand...

 
Isn't the fiio k5 for docking their audio players? Either way, the dragonfly black is looking pretty good to me as I would be able to use it with my macbook also.
 
Oct 31, 2016 at 10:40 PM Post #14 of 15
resentic said:
Isn't the fiio k5 for docking their audio players? Either way, the dragonfly black is looking pretty good to me as I would be able to use it with my macbook also.
Click to expand...


I apologize I completely dun goofed myself. Muses is an opamp not a DAC.

The k5 is a dock that can be used as a standalone. It is cheap because most people would have already purchased a fiio player, it is also the most powerful of them all listed (a5 being the most powerful portable)

The dragonfly is a solid option with a really great ESS sabre DAC
 
Oct 31, 2016 at 10:43 PM Post #15 of 15
akg fanboy said:
I apologize I completely dun goofed myself. Muses is an opamp not a DAC.

The k5 is a dock that can be used as a standalone. It is cheap because most people would have already purchased a fiio player, it is also the most powrrful of them all listed (a5 being the most powerful portable)

The dragonfly is a solid option with a really great ESS sabre DAC
Click to expand...

 
No worries, thanks for all the help :)
 
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