[cel4145]

Nono, sorry I wrote that wrong.

Basically due to the whole 600ohm-amp-thing in the SB-Z I could barely stand 20% volume before it became way to loud (SB-Z doesnt let you change amp. gain). And so when the sound card had a fit it output an extremely loud constant beeping at 100% which pretty much wrecked my headphones, which is why im skeptical about trying another SB-Z.

The sound quality however were quite pleasing using a pre-set EQ and Creatives "Crystalizer", but I guess in theory that makes the sound output "software based" rather than "hardware based", which is from what I understand not something audophiles "approve" of.

So yea, thats why im looking for something else than the SB-Z.

OK. I didn't realize you had started a new thread (usually better not to start a new thread like this).

Since you liked some of the DSP on the Soundblaster Z, seems you would like the STX better than the E10K because of the DSP it has. There are quite a few DSP settings you could experiment with. But it's impossible for anyone to predict whether or not you would find the DSP on the STX as likable as the Soundblaster since that is purely a personal preference thing. Regardless, this would seem to rule out the E10K.

Meanwhile, since you were happy with the Z except for the volume issue and the fact that it practically exploded on you, the STX is considered a better soundcard overall.

As for the low output impedance match previously discussed by others, since the STX improves on the Soundblaster in that regard (even though the E10K is optimal), and you were fine with the Soundblaster sound, then I wouldn't worry about that factor given the other considerations.

 

[PurpleAngel]

  The whole "impedance" thing is ohm, right? Cause ST lets you change the amp. gain, if that's what decides the impedance output? http://www.guru3d.com/miraserver/images/2009/stx/mainhp.jpg
And doesn't the STs "shield" block electrical noise?
I do use Foobar2k with .flac files, although some of them has some static jitter, I guess whoever did them didn't do it properly, heh.
I live in Denmark, only one retailer has E10K. The ST price however is as low as it gets.

Impedance is rated in Ohms.
 
The Essence STX comes with a 10-Ohm output impedance, the E10K output impedance is less then 1-Ohm.
It's recommended to have the headphones impedance to be at least 8 times the impedance of the source (amplifier)
So for headphones like the 32-Ohm CALs, having an amplifier with an output impedance of 4-ohms or less, is recommended
(I've plugged several 32-ohm headphones into my Essence STX and they sounded fine)
 
Upping the STX's gain setting increases the headphone amplifier's starting voltage.
The higher the impedance (Ohms) of the headphones, the more voltage is needed to over come the headphone's impedance.
 
Guess it's possible you might have some less then perfect FLAC files.
Easy enough to buy used audio CDs (16-bit/44.1k) and make your own FLAC audio files (16-bit/44.1k).
 
Denmark.....does that mean you spend a lot of time listening to Aqua while playing with your Legos?

 

[Juusuhako]

   
This is not a subjective opinion based on what I've felt when using STX. What I've said is what careful measurements and some basic applied physics yield.
 
(Damping factor: The ratio of the load's impedance to the amp's output impedance)
 
Basically, when the damping factor is low, the amp interacts with the headphone in an unwanted manner. The more the headphone impedance varies, the more the resulting frequency response differ from the intended.
 
http://www.innerfidelity.com/images/CreativeAurvanaLive2.pdf
If you take a close look at the impedance plot of your headphone, you'll see that it goes up to 40 Ohm in the bass and up to 42-3 Ohms around 3Khz. When paired with an amp with high output impedance, the frequencies of those peaks in the impedance plot are driven with more voltage than the rest of the spectrum. The amp colours the sound of the headphone.
 
If you want to read more about the topic this article can enlight some concepts
http://www.innerfidelity.com/content/meridian-explorer-case-study-effects-output-impedance
 
That's why STX is good for higher impedance headphones but not that great with low impedance ones.
 
SoundBlaster Z has an output impedance well over 20 Ohm (then its worse than STX from a strict 'damping factor' point of view). I think SoundBlaster ZXR should be similar to Xonar STX.
 
As billybob_jcv stated, the '600 Ohm amp' thing is just a marketing technique, nothing more. Real life is significantly more complex, if you want to know if a certain amp is capable of driving certain 600 Ohm headphone the only way is by doing some math.
 
Fiio E10k has a very low output impedance (1 Ohm ) so it will remain completely neutral/flat for all loads.
 
Unless you have a pretty noisy sound card right now, you won't get a whole new experience adding one of these devices.
The safer way of improving the experience significantly at this point is spending your money in high quality recordings and/or saving for better headphones.
 
Best Luck!

I cant really afford any more "high end" that those Aurvana 2, and I really enjoyed them anyway. So, unless I go by software-optimization I probably wont benefit too much, so I guess I have to look into a sound card. Right now I use onboard .
 

OK. I didn't realize you had started a new thread (usually better not to start a new thread like this).

Since you liked some of the DSP on the Soundblaster Z, seems you would like the STX better than the E10K because of the DSP it has. There are quite a few DSP settings you could experiment with. But it's impossible for anyone to predict whether or not you would find the DSP on the STX as likable as the Soundblaster since that is purely a personal preference thing. Regardless, this would seem to rule out the E10K.

Meanwhile, since you were happy with the Z except for the volume issue and the fact that it practically exploded on you, the STX is considered a better soundcard overall.

As for the low output impedance match previously discussed by others, since the STX improves on the Soundblaster in that regard (even though the E10K is optimal), and you were fine with the Soundblaster sound, then I wouldn't worry about that factor given the other considerations.

Alright, sounds good, I'll keep a lookout on those ST/STXs. If for some crazy reason I'll start missing Crystalizer I guess I should consider the ZXR.
 

  Impedance is rated in Ohms.
 
The Essence STX comes with a 10-Ohm output impedance, the E10K output impedance is less then 1-Ohm.
It's recommended to have the headphones impedance to be at least 8 times the impedance of the source (amplifier)
So for headphones like the 32-Ohm CALs, having an amplifier with an output impedance of 4-ohms or less, is recommended
(I've plugged several 32-ohm headphones into my Essence STX and they sounded fine)
 
Upping the STX's gain setting increases the headphone amplifier's starting voltage.
The higher the impedance (Ohms) of the headphones, the more voltage is needed to over come the headphone's impedance.
 
Guess it's possible you might have some less then perfect FLAC files.
Easy enough to buy used audio CDs (16-bit/44.1k) and make your own FLAC audio files (16-bit/44.1k).
 
Denmark.....does that mean you spend a lot of time listening to Aqua while playing with your Legos?

I have no idea how to make .flac. The music I have thats in .flac is korean pop, and I dont think I've bought a CD since...7-8 years ago. Those .flac files I just found online.
 
And no, I dont.
Im not even sure Aqua is active anymore, and lego? I was never really into that (Legoland is probably the least fun theme park I've been in).

 

[PurpleAngel]

I have no idea how to make .flac. The music I have that's in .flac is Korean pop, and I don't think I've bought a CD since...7-8 years ago. Those FLAC files I just found online. And no, I don't.
I'm not even sure Aqua is active anymore, and lego? I was never really into that (Legoland is probably the least fun theme park I've been in).

 
I think Lego's and Aqua are about the only two things we in the USA know about, when it comes to Denmark, so there is nothing else to can joke around about with Danish people.
I once took my 4 year old nephews to Legoland (San Diego), it's is fairly boring for anyone older then 12.
 
I believe the free program Foobar2000, can make FLAC audio files, from music CDs

 

[Juusuhako]

   
I think Lego's and Aqua are about the only two things we in the USA know about, when it comes to Denmark, so there is nothing else to can joke around about with Danish people.
I once took my 4 year old nephews to Legoland (San Diego), it's is fairly boring for anyone older then 12.
 
I believe the free program Foobar2000, can make FLAC audio files, from music CDs

I dont own the the CDs. Korean import (with import duty) isnt cheap im afraid.
 
Dont forget Viggo Mortensen from Lotr, hes half danish. Oh, and Mads Mikkelsen, the bad guy from that James Bond movie with all the poker.
Theres probably more, just not on the top of my head, other than were listed as the happiest people on earth, lol.

 

[billybob_jcv]

What? We know much more about Denmark than just Legos and Aqua!

There's this:




And this:




Solvang, CA is right up the road from me:




And of course:




And finally, to (sort of) bring us back on topic...




I say hurrah for Denmark!

PS: I was also going to post some pics of the Copenhagen Carnival, but this is a family friendly site...

 

[Me x3]

What? We know much more about Denmark than just Legos and Aqua!

There's this:

Those cookies are my favourites!
 
Don't forget these:

(DALI Epicon)

 

[Juusuhako]

I've looked at my onboard audio (just for curiositys sake) and wondered if someone could say anything about it? (specs-wise if its any good/bad). Thing is I found a used DX for $37 and wondered if its worth picking up and if I should expect a difference.
 
The chip/codec is a "VIA VT2021" and has "108dB SNR". The specs I found: http://www.via.com.tw/en/products/audio/codecs/vt2021/

 

[cel4145]

The Xonar DX does not have a headphone amp. Best used coupled with one. Pair it with the Objective 2 amp, and it would sound very good.

 

[Juusuhako]

The Xonar DX does not have a headphone amp. Best used coupled with one. Pair it with the Objective 2 amp, and it would sound very good.

But doesnt AMPs have their own EQ, or would I still be able to use a pre-set EQ from the DX?

 

[MrKommander]

Amps are just there to give headphones more power if needed (when headphones have high impedance) and good Amps doesn't alter the sound at all despice hearing it louder

 

[Juusuhako]

Amps are just there to give headphones more power if needed (when headphones have high impedance) and good Amps doesn't alter the sound at all despice hearing it louder

So an amp. is only needed if you dont get enough volume from your sound card? An amp. doesnt improve the overall sound quality? (Aurvana Live 2 having 32ohms)

 

[cel4145]

Best way to understand this is that headphones need a headphone amp like passive speakers need a speaker amp. Most portable devices (e.g. phones, DAPs, tablets) and computer soundcards have some kind of headphone amp built in. The Xonar DX does not. A DAC by itself does not. The power coming out of them is not designed to drive headphones, but rather to be hooked up to an external amplifier.

 

[SleathX1]

If you use one of the popular music playback software apps (VLC, Foobar, even WMP) there are many plug-ins to apply whatever effects you wish.

I'm not saying to buy the E10K, I'm just saying that if you are using this for music, then I wouldn't make the decision based on software.

I was just going to say this! xD
 
But my biggest point on this topic is that with the soundcard, you might have to deal with internal electric interference. With a totally external DAC and amp, you will not have to worry about any interference. 
The E10K has a more powerful output and can deal with higher impedance headphones. Since your headphones are 37 Ohms, the low gain switch will work best.

The only pro for the Asus card is that is has software, but you can use any software with the E10K as well.
 
So my recommendation is the E10K, it's cheaper and should sound better.

 

[Juusuhako]

Best way to understand this is that headphones need a headphone amp like passive speakers need a speaker amp. Most portable devices (e.g. phones, DAPs, tablets) and computer soundcards have some kind of headphone amp built in. The Xonar DX does not. A DAC by itself does not. The power coming out of them is not designed to drive headphones, but rather to be hooked up to an external amplifier.

  I was just going to say this! xD
 
But my biggest point on this topic is that with the soundcard, you might have to deal with internal electric interference. With a totally external DAC and amp, you will not have to worry about any interference. 
The E10K has a more powerful output and can deal with higher impedance headphones. Since your headphones are 37 Ohms, the low gain switch will work best.

The only pro for the Asus card is that is has software, but you can use any software with the E10K as well.
 
So my recommendation is the E10K, it's cheaper and should sound better.

edit: the DX is cheaper than E10K here.
Hm, theres so much stuff about audio, almost tirering for a non-audiophile ...
 
While E10K seems tempting I dont like that (from what I read) FiiO uses a "flat" EQ. The pre-set one I used to use on Xfi/SBZ was called "Pop" and it really, for some reason, made everything more "clear".
 
And ST is just expensive and probably not best suited for my pair of headphones, as it is not exactly "high end" as such.
 
DX would've been perfect if it had an amp. The amps. I can find for cheap prices are:
Behringer HA 400 MicroAmp
Behringer MA400 Micromon
Supreme HAP-4
 
The slightly more expensive ones are:
SoundMAGIC A10
SM Pro Audio Nano Patch+
FiiO E11K 
 
This not knowing if they are all actual amps., but they are listed under "amplifiers" though. Does anyone of these seem worth anything? And does STANDALONE amps. also use their own EQs?