[razorpakk]

I'm about to sell my Fiio X1 and e11k as I only use them in front of my computer;
right now I have a Soundblaster Zx but It sounds like a downgrade even compared to the Fiio stack.
 
What should I do with about 250$ to spend? I'm tempted by the Xonar Essence STXII as I feel that cheap Shiit stacks or the usual O2/odac combo would just not be worth the trouble compared to the straightforward experience of a sound card (I also often swap between X2s and speakers).
 
But since sound quality is the ultimate goal I'm open to any suggestion...
 
P.S. Leaning towards the Aune T1mkII 

 

[PurpleAngel]

Make sure your on-board audio, in the BIOS, is disabled.
 
Plug the E11K directly into the SB-Zx's front speaker jack and set SB-Zx to "2-channel" & "Speaker" output.
Should give you some nice sounding music or good sound for any other 2-channel audio source (internet video?)
 
With the 30-Ohm Philips Fidelio X2, the E11K's less then 1-Ohm output impedance, is better for driving 30-Ohm headphones, then any headphone amplifier built into any sound card.

 

[razorpakk]

  Make sure your on-board audio, in the BIOS, is disabled.
 
Plug the E11K directly into the SB-Zx's front speaker jack and set SB-Zx to "2-channel" & "Speaker" output.
Should give you some nice sounding music or good sound for any other 2-channel audio source (internet video?)
 
With the 30-Ohm Philips Fidelio X2, the E11K's less then 1-Ohm output impedance, is better for driving 30-Ohm headphones, then any headphone amplifier built into any sound card.

It does sound cleaner, thanks.
 
So you think spending 250$ on "anything" to imporove the x2s would just be "wasted"?

 

[PurpleAngel]

  It does sound cleaner, thanks.
 
So you think spending 250$ on "anything" to improve the x2s would just be "wasted"?

 
I guess there would be a better DAC, then what is build into the SB-Zx.
You could get an external DAC with an optical input and connect it to the SB-Zx's optical output port and connect the E11K to the external DAC.
This would allow you to use all the SB-Zx's features (like SBX headphone surround sound), with whatever headphones (X2) are connected to the E11K.
 
The Asus Xonar Essence STX or STX II would have a better DAC chip, then the SB-Zx.
but the STX/STX II headphone output has a 10-Ohm impedance, which is still fairly low, but technically the E11K is a better amp for driving 30-Ohm headphones.
 
For the price of an Essence STX II, I would try to steer you towards a Audio-GD NFB-15 external DAC amp, about 177 GBP + shipping (30 GBP).
The NFB-15 comes with dual WM8741 DAC chips and it's headphone output impedance is only 2-Ohms
http://www.audio-gd.com/Pro/Headphoneamp/NFB1532/NFB15.32EN.htm
 
But the SB-Zx and E11K is a good value for what you get.
Is this setup just for music? or movies? and gaming?

 

[razorpakk]

I would say it's even between music and gaming as I don't bother using the headphones for movies, I'll check what you've just posted (even if in the last few hours with the 11k set up as you suggested I'm feeling pretty much satisfied)!

 

[PurpleAngel]

  I would say it's even between music and gaming as I don't bother using the headphones for movies, I'll check what you've just posted (even if in the last few hours with the 11k set up as you suggested I'm feeling pretty much satisfied)!

 
The Sound Blaster Zx's CS4398 DAC chip is a fairly good chip.
So maybe hold off for at least several months for any kind of upgrade.