[AzNwiLD0]

Oh my wallet (not even a college student yet). I recently got a pair of Sennheiser HD485s. It was on the premise that I needed good headphones that didn't need an amp. It will be mainly used with my computer, and whatever portable music player that will replace the first generation mp3 cd player I have. I wanted headphones that would sound nice, but not overreach it's source.

The headphones haven't arrived but I'm already worrying. I'm currently on a computer with the onboard Nvidia Nforce2 sound chipset. This is then connected with my z560s. According to the forums I have commited sins beyond my comprehensibility. If the best source I have are high quality mp3s, is it worth upgrading to an actual soundcard, possibly one with a headphone jack (if the z560s don't do the job) like the SB Audigy 2 ZS Platinum? I'll probably get an actual soundcard on my next dad-sponsored computer but if it's a world of difference, I can empty my wallet and buy one now. Thanks

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[technobarbie]

Don't worry. I currently have the 485's with that same chipset. I'm also using Audigy 2ZS and was told in the future I might look into the EMU 0404, since it's a better soundcard for Audio. I don't play games so that is not a problem. The EMU runs around $100 USD.

 

[jagorev]

I suggest the Turtle Beach Audio Advantage Micro, for $28 from Amazon. It will sound better than your existing soundcard and provide plenty of amplification for headphones (the 485 isn't very demanding anyway).

 

[that_aznpride101]

You can get Chaintech AV-720 for around $25 @ Newegg.com

 

[sgrossklass]

The AV-710 would require an amp though (PA23V2 should do fine). For an inexpensive sound card that'll do a decent job driving cans and sounds a lot better than the usual Realtek stuff you'll typically find in conjunction with Soundstorm audio, check out the SB Live! 24-Bit.

 

[legcramp]

Onboard Realtek AC97 here.. I can bust max out the volume and it will have enough volume for a good listen.. on my Audigy 2 ZS, putting it on max would make my ears bleed... other than that teh Audigy 2 sounds better but onboard is fine too.

 

[AzNwiLD0]

I've been reading about the Creative X-Fi series and how it upsamples the music with the Crystalizer gimmick. This would give it an advantage over the AV-710 if it were any good. Anyone have any experience with the products? Can you vouch that it actually does something and more than just a treble and bass boost?

 

[HypnoLobster]

Quote:

Originally Posted by AzNwiLD0 I've been reading about the Creative X-Fi series and how it upsamples the music with the Crystalizer gimmick. This would give it an advantage over the AV-710 if it were any good. Anyone have any experience with the products? Can you vouch that it actually does something and more than just a treble and bass boost?

It sounds horrible. Gross overuse of treble boost.

 

[sgrossklass]

As outlined in the Digit-Life article on the X-Fi, the Crystalizer is a multiband compressor which includes some bass and highs boost. You don't want to use that.

 

[AzNwiLD0]

Looks like a AV-710 for me, hooked up to my logitech z560 for the amp. I am a gamer, but I'll just have to do without EAX. I'll have to start learning how to get foobar working, I'll miss Winamp, which I used for a good 8+ years now.

 

[legcramp]

Whta amp? Those logitech's. which I own.. 2 sets.. the z-5500's and z-680's. Thier headphone jacks does not amp anything... it makes them sound worst . The jack on the speakers east up clarity and bass response... making them sound like wal mart headphones... AND the volume is LOWER.. you have to set the volume knob on the speakers to max to get a decent volume out of them... AND if for some reason you knock off the headphone jack on them while thier volume is maxed... it gonna blow the house down!! lol.. get a real amp.

 

[sgrossklass]

Yup, it is generally not recommended to use the headphone jacks of doubtful quality found on multimedia speaker systems, and for good reason.

BTW, EAX up to 2.0 should be supported through Sensaura or QSound (software emulation) on the AV-710, depending on the driver version. (If you can't get QSound to work, grab an older driver version with Sensaura.) Oh, and nobody says you couldn't continue to use your onboard audio for gaming (the Soundstorm audio seems to perform rather well here). Leave the speakers there, and dedicate the AV-710 to music. Setting up the card for bit-perfect playback was only discussed recently here.
However, the AV-710 won't be able to drive cans directly, not via the (much preferred) alt out. It should be possible to find a decent used pre-built Cmoy via the FS/FT forum, cost about $30..40 or thereabouts.

Foobar2k is rather nice, sure, but you can also get bit-perfect audio output with Winamp - there may not be a good kernel streaming plugin, but there is a nice ASIO plugin which then in turn can be used in conjunction with ASIO4All. (Both can be configured in finite time. For ASIO4All you can even get a manual.) I'd also grab the Shibatch Super Equalizer DSP plugin. Something that exists for Foobar2k (0.8.3) but not Winamp is a plugin to use a Dolby Headphone DLL, vice versa you can't get a Line-In input plugin for Foobar (which, unfortunately, is something I'm relying on for listening to live sources with EQ on).

 

[AzNwiLD0]

Headphones arrived and I'm quite happy. But I'm wondering how much better they could sound. Current source is the nforce2 motherboard, with it's AC97 chip. These are hooked up to my Logitech z-560s. I'm trying to decide between a AV-710 + cmoy amp vs. a Turtle Beach Audio Advantage Micro. Is the TBAAM not a big improvement over the nforce2? Is the AV-710 and cmoy amp better enough than the TBAAM to justify paying $70 instead of 30$?



EDIT: I just tried the HD485s on my little cd player and also directly to the soundcard (perfectly loud). Yes, the headphone jack on the z560 is ridiculously crappy.