[Muldeberg]

Hey folks. Is it worth buying the fiio e10k for my dt 770's (80 ohm)?

I'm currently plugging them into my sound blaster Z. They sound OK, but I've heard that the fiio e10k can make a huge difference.

The fiio e10k is going to cost me ~90 USD. Would it be worth it? Or would you do it?

Btw. It's for 50% gaming and 50% music.

 

[PurpleAngel]

Hey folks. Is it worth buying the fiio e10k for my dt 770's (80 ohm)?
I'm currently plugging them into my sound blaster Z. They sound OK, but I've heard that the fiio e10k can make a huge difference.
The fiio e10k is going to cost me ~90 USD. Would it be worth it? Or would you do it?
Btw. It's for 50% gaming and 50% music.

My best guess, the FiiO E10K will not drive the DT770 (80-Ohm) any better then the SB-Z card.
Me, I would sell off the DT770 and put the whole audio budget for better headphones.

 

[Muldeberg]

So what headphones would you recommend instead of the dt 770? Lets just say the budget is around 1000 dollars

 

[PurpleAngel]

Currently my preferred headphone is the Beyerdynamic T90
(I own the DT770/DT880/DT990 & T70 & T90)

 

[Muldeberg]

They look nice, but if I buy expensive headphones like that shouldn't I upgrade my soundcard aswell? Appreciate the help

 

[PurpleAngel]

They look nice, but if I buy expensive headphones like that shouldn't I upgrade my soundcard aswell? Appreciate the help

The SB-Z card can fairly decently drive 250-Ohm Beyer headphones (T90)
(I own the SB-Z card)
Currently I use an Audio-GD NFB-11.28 DAC/amp ($380 total, shipped to your door) drive them.
http://www.audio-gd.com/Pro/Headphoneamp/NFN1128/NFB1128EN.htm

So you can use the SB-Z to drive them and take your time on buying a DAC/amp.

 

[Muldeberg]

Sounds tempting, all I need to know is if the T90's are good for FPS games. (CSGO, Overwatch, rainbow six etc.)

 

[PurpleAngel]

Sounds tempting, all I need to know is if the T90's are good for FPS games. (CSGO, Overwatch, rainbow six etc.)

The Beyer DT770/DT880/DT990 are considered fairly good for FPS gaming, by reputation.
I'm not into FPS gaming, just play a lot of C & C Generals.
But you can post the question in this thread
https://www.head-fi.org/threads/mad...17-sennheiser-game-one-added.534479/page-2649

 

[Muldeberg]

Fair enough, you've been a great help and I appreciate it. Have a great day!

 

[onevstheworld]

The Soundblaster Z's output impedance is pretty high (22 ohms). If using the 1/8th rule of thumb, it is best paired with a HP with greater than 176 ohms impedance.
So you could make a case for an external amp (or the T90 @250 ohms will work too).

 

[PurpleAngel]

The Soundblaster Z's output impedance is pretty high (22 ohms). If using the 1/8th rule of thumb, it is best paired with a HP with greater than 176 ohms impedance.
So you could make a case for an external amp (or the T90 @250 ohms will work too).

I've plugged lower impedance (32-Ohm- 60-Ohm) Ohm headphones into the SB-Z's headphone jack (22-Ohm output impedance ) and the impedance is not really a big issue.
(I do prefer to use my NFB-11.28, that has an output impedance of 2-Ohms, with lower Ohm headphones)

 

[Muldeberg]

So I need to find an amp with an impedance output of 10 or lower for my dt 770 80 ohm?

 

[PurpleAngel]

So I need to find an amp with an impedance output of 10 or lower for my dt 770 80 ohm?

Technically you would want the output impedance of the source (amp) to be 8 times less then the impedance of the headphones, for good damping control.
So your on the right track for understanding the impedance issue.
But the DT770's 80-Ohm diaphragm is based on the same diaphragm used in the 250-Ohm and 600-Ohm models (DT770).
So plugging the 80-Ohm DT770 into the SB-Z's 22-Ohm headphone jack is not really an "impedance" issue.

 

[Muldeberg]

Alright, just trying to understand. Thanks for the help once again, I'll try to get my hands in some T90. Kinda hard to find in danish webshops for some odd reason.

 

[Muldeberg]

I just checked up on my motherboards (asus z170 pro gaming) built in soundcard, and it has an output impedance of only 2 ohm and can drive headphones up to 300 ohm. So now I'm conflicted, if I should just go with that or use my SB-Z. Because I actually don't use any of SB-Z's software feature's anyway.
What would you use?