[babzyou]

So I'm new here and I already have a Sennheiser 363d. I'm thinking about getting the Sennheiser HD800 one of these days and I have a lot of questions. I know quite a bit about computer but not a lot about audio. I heard that the HD800 are good but it has a 1/4 inch cable so how can connect it to my pc? Should I get a new sound card or dac? What can I do without sacrificing performance? Is there anything I need to know about the HD800? Price is really not much of a worry but nothing too expensive. Thanks.

 

[MomijiTMO]

All I can say is that the HD800 would be a poor choice if you have no desire to upgrade the rest of your audio chain. You'd have to commit to spending a bit of cash on a nice DAC and headphone amp to get the HD800s to sound good

 

[PurpleAngel]

Quote:

So I'm new here and I already have a Sennheiser 363d. I'm thinking about getting the Sennheiser HD800 one of these days and I have a lot of questions. I know quite a bit about computer but not a lot about audio. I heard that the HD800 are good but it has a 1/4 inch cable so how can connect it to my pc? Should I get a new sound card or DAC? What can I do without sacrificing performance? Is there anything I need to know about the HD800? Price is really not much of a worry but nothing too expensive. Thanks.

I'm assuming your currently using on-board audio with the PC?
Is the PC used for music? movies? gaming?
 
Grado make a nice 1/4 female to 1/8 male 6" long adapter cable, make it easy to plug the HD800 into 3.5mm jacks.
 
A sound card like the Asus Xonar Essence STX comes with a 1/4" headphone jack.
 
You can try asking on these threads about what is a good amplifier (and DAC?) to use with the HD800.
http://www.head-fi.org/t/650510/the-new-hd800-appreciation-thread
http://www.head-fi.org/t/398829/the-sennheiser-hd-800-the-first-listen-the-first-review

 

[babzyou]

Quote:

I'm assuming your currently using on-board audio with the PC?
Is the PC used for music? movies? gaming?
 
Grado make a nice 1/4 female to 1/8 male 6" long adapter cable, make it easy to plug the HD800 into 3.5mm jacks.
 
A sound card like the Asus Xonar Essence STX comes with a 1/4" headphone jack.
 
You can try asking on these threads about what is a good amplifier (and DAC?) to use with the HD800.
http://www.head-fi.org/t/650510/the-new-hd800-appreciation-thread
http://www.head-fi.org/t/398829/the-sennheiser-hd-800-the-first-listen-the-first-review

Yes I am currently using the on-board audio and I don't mind getting a new sound card or DAC but is it better to get a sound card or DAC then a 1/4 to 1/8 adapter.

 

[PurpleAngel]

Quote:

Yes I am currently using the on-board audio and I don't mind getting a new sound card or DAC but is it better to get a sound card or DAC then a 1/4 to 1/8 adapter.

If all your really into is music, then going external might be a better choice.
With external audio hardware, any electrical noise inside the computer case will not effect the audio quality.
(if there is electrical noise inside the computer).
With external you can spend hundreds of dollars ($300, $500, $1000, etc.), for a DAC and amp, for some great audio quality.
 
 
If you need Headphone Surround Sound for games or movies, it's better to get an internal sound card.
The most you can really spend for internal sound card is $250.
 
If you get an external DAC with S/PDIF (optical or coaxial) input and your motherboard has a matching S/PDIF connector,
then you can go all external and still be able to use the motherboard's built in audio features.
 
You can also go with a cheaper sound card $50-$100 (with built in DAC chip) and get an external headphone amplifier to connect to it.
 
Between 1/4" or 1/8", it makes no difference for audio quality, use an adapter or not.

 

[asgiov]

Asus Xonar Essence STX is a good place to start, IMO.
 http://www.amazon.com/PCI-Express-XONAR-ESSENCE-STX-90-YAA0C0-0UAN00Z/dp/B001OV789U/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1374889404&sr=8-1&keywords=asus+xonar+essence+stx
 
It's got Dolby Headphone too.. for gaming.