[Brenthor]

Hi all,

The title says it all. I have a set of Massdrop HD 6xx coming and I'm going to be using them mostly on my desktop for music/movies/(Single player) gaming

I've got a Sound Blaster Z sound card and I understand that it's got a decent DAC but not a great amp so I want to upgrade to get the most out of the headphones, however I want to retain the SBX options (Possibly, see below)

So I know that I need an amp. I'm thinking the O2, which I can grab in a few weeks. That said, is it compatible with SBX? Because I still want the surround for movies and games. That said, I am willing to buy Spatial Sound Card from Steam (But I am unsure if this will give me surround, or as good as SBX surround, with my SBZ card and an amp)

I've tried to research, and I apologize if this topic has been done to death, but I want to get the best out of my new headphones for music (obviously in stereo with all processing disabled) and for gaming and movies (With spacial surround, either SSC or SBX) but I need to know i the O2 will be enough, or if I also need to buy a DAC so I can run optical through the SBZ (or, if I can forego it, and just get an amp and run SSC through steam for the same results)

What are your thoughts?

And thank you, this site has been wonderful in the past for answering obtuse audiophile questions and I really appreciate it.

 

[Dulalala]

That said, is it compatible with SBX? Because I still want the surround for movies and games.

Using an amp will be compatible with your DSP, so will using optical. Just make sure you set it to line out when you connect it to the amp.

but I need to know i the O2 will be enough

O2 will be enough, but you could get a DAC too if you really wanted too. Wouldn't really hurt anything but your wallet.

 

[Brenthor]

Thanks!

I've read places that using the line out screws with the virtual surround since it tricks the card into thinking you're using speakers instead of cans so there's a bit of a built in latency. Since I'll mostly be using this for gaming/movies, the surround option on SBX is what I want to retain here. Is there anyway to use the line in while shutting off the onboard amp to the Sound Blaster Z?

If not, I doubt this will work for what I want and I may just go Schiit stack and use something like SSC for virtual surround, or just plug in via optical and keep using SBX. It really is a shame that there doesn't seem to be a way to turn off the onboard amp on this card. Seems like a really pointless oversight. I was really hoping to avoid spending another $220 CAD on a Modi 2 Uber.

 

[Dulalala]

I've read places that using the line out screws with the virtual surround since it tricks the card into thinking you're using speakers instead of cans so there's a bit of a built in latency. Since I'll mostly be using this for gaming/movies, the surround option on SBX is what I want to retain here. Is there anyway to use the line in while shutting off the onboard amp to the Sound Blaster Z?

I’m not sure what you mean by using the line in to shut off the onboard amp? Line in is for an input signal from something like a microphone.

I highly doubt there’d be any noticeable latency out of a line out either unless it was intentional? Maybe @PurpleAngel can help out here.