Do the Chaintech AV-710 & E-MU 0404/1212m cards NEED an amp?

[Imyourzero]

I'm looking into getting one of these cards (particularly the 0404) and I am under the impression that they do not have an onboard amp like the Audigy cards do. Is that correct? If so, would I absolutely need an external amp or are these cards cabable of driving headphones? I will mainly be using low-z headphones like Grados, but I didn't know if that would make a difference or not. If the bottom line is that I'll need an amp with any of these cards then that will help me make a decision. For some reason I thought that there were people on here that were using headphones right from the line out of some of these cards.

 

[DevilDog]

The audigys don't have an onboard amp, either. I'm not sure what the output is, but both of them are designed to have a line out that is supposed to go to an amp or powered speakers.
I don't think you'd do any better power-wise with an audigy over an emu. Some people connect them directly to low z headphones but you're not going to get the max benefit unless you use an amp.

 

[breez]

I think Audigys do have opamps at the output stage.

Chaintech AV-710 doesn't have one and will benefit from an amp.

 

[lan]

When I tried Grados with my emu, the volume was just borderline loud enough. To me it was ok but I like to listen with less volume than other people. When I say borderline, I mean that songs with high dynamic range compression are always loud enough but things that are not, may need more. I think it would be possible to live without an amp but getting one later down the road is good idea.

 

[MD1032]

I know the AV-710 (which I am in the middle of aquiring) has line-out, so I hope it will pair well wiht my new amp.

 

[tiberian]

yes, the emu wasn't even able to drive a pair of etys er4p decently.