[s4yJaiPau]

Hello everyone.  I'm saving up for what I think would be a really good setup.  But I was wondering...
The Asus Xonar ST claims to power up to 600 ohms, and many say 600 ohms is hard to drive. 

Would the ST be perfectly fine for the DT990 600ohms? Or would it be more i guess. efficient? to get the 250 ohms version.

Lemme know please!  Not really pro at audio or anything
Oh yea, and if you wish, suggestions on other headphones around that range?  I listen to mostly EDM, and seen reviews that the DT990s are the bassier cans of the higher end DT series.

 

 

[Tjj226 Angel]

Hello everyone.  I'm saving up for what I think would be a really good setup.  But I was wondering...

The Asus Xonar ST claims to power up to 600 ohms, and many say 600 ohms is hard to drive. 


Would the ST be perfectly fine for the DT990 600ohms? Or would it be more i guess. efficient? to get the 250 ohms version.


Lemme know please!  Not really pro at audio or anything

Oh yea, and if you wish, suggestions on other headphones around that range?  I listen to mostly EDM, and seen reviews that the DT990s are the bassier cans of the higher end DT series.


 

First off, go with the essence stx. It shouldn't cost more, and it is slightly better. Second, you should be able to drive those headphones with that sound card just fine , but be prepared to have to get something like an O2 dac headphone amp.

 

[s4yJaiPau]

Quote:

First off, go with the essence stx. It shouldn't cost more, and it is slightly better. Second, those headphones only have 250 ohms of impedance. Third, you should be able to drive those headphones with that sound card just fine

hm..people said the clocking on ST was faster and the ST was better (its likea 10 USD difference on amazon).
There are two types of DT990s
Dt990 Pros only in 250 ohm
and DT990 Premiums wit 3 version (32, 250, and 600ohm)
like i said, The card says it can support 600ohms, but would i not get the full potential of the headphones if i get the dt990 premium 600 ohm?

 

[PurpleAngel]

Quote:

Hello everyone.  I'm saving up for what I think would be a really good setup.  But I was wondering...
The Asus Xonar ST claims to power up to 600 ohms, and many say 600 ohms is hard to drive. 
Would the ST be perfectly fine for the DT990 600ohms? Or would it be more i guess. efficient? to get the 250 ohms version.
Lemme know please!  Not really pro at audio or anything
Oh yea, and if you wish, suggestions on other headphones around that range?  I listen to mostly EDM, and seen reviews that the DT990s are the bassier cans of the higher end DT series.

Asus Xonar DX or D1 sound card and the new Schiit Magni headphone amplifier.

 

[Tjj226 Angel]

hm..people said the clocking on ST was faster and the ST was better (its likea 10 USD difference on amazon).

There are two types of DT990s

Dt990 Pros only in 250 ohm

and DT990 Premiums wit 3 version (32, 250, and 600ohm)

like i said, The card says it can support 600ohms, but would i not get the full potential of the headphones if i get the dt990 premium 600 ohm?

Yeah I edited my response. I realized you were talking about the premiums and not the pros.

As for the sound cards, let me put it this way. I listened to them both, i bought the stx. . To me the only difference was that the stx was a TAD warmer, but that was about it.

Also, the worst thing that can happen when trying to amp your headphones is that they sound quiet, and you have to spend a bit more on dedicated sound components. It isn't like they will sound all that different even if the card produces a few ohms under the 600 mark.

 

[s4yJaiPau]

How about a USB DAC? around the $200 range.  Would that be better than a PCI soundcard?

 

[cib24]

I don' think the ASUS Xonar Essence ST/STX can successfully power 600 ohm headphones either. I have an ST and Beyerdynamic DT 880s and need to use the 300-600 Ohm (+18db) setting to power my 250 ohm headphones properly. This is the highest setting. Otherwise they sound a bit flat and lifeless even though on the highest setting my volume goes from 45 down to 25.
 

 

[s4yJaiPau]

Quote:

I don' think the ASUS Xonar Essence ST/STX can successfully power 600 ohm headphones either. I have an ST and Beyerdynamic DT 880s and need to use the 300-600 Ohm (+18db) setting to power my 250 ohm headphones properly. This is the highest setting. Otherwise they sound a bit flat and lifeless even though on the highest setting my volume goes from 45 down to 25.
 

:/ so what do you recommend I should do?  I really dont like my onboard SC, and I thought routing the onboard to a pioneer receiver would improve a little, but the receiver makes my cans sound dark. :/
any sub 200 USB DACs that will go well with the DT990 Premium (idk what version yet now )?

 

[davidsh]

Quote:

:/ so what do you recommend I should do?  I really dont like my onboard SC, and I thought routing the onboard to a pioneer receiver would improve a little, but the receiver makes my cans sound dark. :/
any sub 200 USB DACs that will go well with the DT990 Premium (idk what version yet now )?

 
Will you use the sound card solely for music? I would say, you should get the 250 ohm version. Nothing to lose, really. More ohms aren't necessarily better.
 
Personally I have bought a fiio e17, which is both a dac and an amplifier. I think it does a decent job powering my dt-880 250 ohms. Not excellent, but nothing seems to be underpowered.

 

[cib24]

Honestly, the difference between the 600 ohm and 250 ohm is likely to be very minute. Look at Mad Lust Envy's opinion on the DT990 600 ohm vs 250 ohm.
 
http://www.head-fi.org/t/534479/mad-lust-envys-headphone-gaming-guide-updated-11-12-12-sennheiser-hd650-added
 
I would go ahead with your purhcase of the ASUS Xonar Essence ST/STX and pick up the DT 990 250 ohm and run them on the level 3 amp setting (+18db) like I do. My DT880s didn't sound bad running on the level 2 setting (+12db 64 ohm - 300 ohm) but they really woke up when I began using the level 3 setting and I think the amp powers them perfectly now, if not slightly overpowered (but then just turn the volume down slightly). If you really want the 600 ohm version then you are going to need to buy a proper desktop amp to drive them if you want to get the best out of them. The ST can probably do it but you will still be missing out on a bit.

 

[dark1evil2]

i did own xonar st with dt990 600ohm
although it drive them good but no way near their full potential especially in the bass department
i recommend that you get the 250ohm version from what i hear there's little difference between 250ohm and 600ohm

 

[s4yJaiPau]

Quote:

 
Will you use the sound card solely for music? I would say, you should get the 250 ohm version. Nothing to lose, really. More ohms aren't necessarily better.
 
Personally I have bought a fiio e17, which is both a dac and an amplifier. I think it does a decent job powering my dt-880 250 ohms. Not excellent, but nothing seems to be underpowered.

music and movies probably.

 

[chewy4]

Quote:

I don' think the ASUS Xonar Essence ST/STX can successfully power 600 ohm headphones either. I have an ST and Beyerdynamic DT 880s and need to use the 300-600 Ohm (+18db) setting to power my 250 ohm headphones properly. This is the highest setting. Otherwise they sound a bit flat and lifeless even though on the highest setting my volume goes from 45 down to 25.
 

The different Ohm settings only change the gain... The way they sound between different settings is literally only a volume difference.
 
Like others have said you should just get the 250 Ohm version to be safe.

 

[HamilcarBarca]

Quote:

Hello everyone.  I'm saving up for what I think would be a really good setup.  But I was wondering...
The Asus Xonar ST claims to power up to 600 ohms, and many say 600 ohms is hard to drive. 

 
Because efficient headphones are much easier to drive than inefficient ones, it's not enough information to say it can power something based on its impedance (600 Ohms); it needs to specify how much power it can deliver into 600 Ohms (or, alternatively, current.) You can find at least some requirements for the DT 990 on Beyerdynamic's site to compare with the Xonar's capabilities.
 
The O2's creator said Beyerdynamic's 600-Ohm models were power-hungry and used them as a design test (and said is worked with them.) Another poster on Head-Fi, whose opinion I tend to trust, said they were quite efficient.

 

[s4yJaiPau]

So I guess im aiming to go Xonar Essence ST and the BeyerDynamic DT990 Premium 250 ohm edition.

unless some knows a better setup, for around that price (again i listen to mainly edm), lemme know!!!