BrockSamson
New Head-Fier
- Joined
- Dec 26, 2014
- Posts
- 30
- Likes
- 10
I bought some Sennheiser HD 598 headphones for the purpose of having positional audio in games. I'm temporarily using the Realtek ALC887 on my motherboard. It sounds good already but I want to utilize them to their full potential. Thanks to those comparison videos on youtube I believe that I want a Soundblaster Z series of card in order to get SBX surround ( I did not like Dolby Headphone and although CMSS 3D was the best it seems unavailable in current cards). I've been doing lots of reading and research and think I have some good options here but I want to make sure I'm not making any mistakes and get some subjective opinions on what the best choice will be.
- Z standalone + 1/4" adapter cable ($90): Basic and cheapest option but it might be everything I need. The adapter cable is so that I don't stress the headphone jack with a long heavy fixed adapter.
- ZxR standalone ($185): The ACM and daughter card are worthless to me but it does have a better dac/amp and a more convenient 1/4" jack. Will the difference be noticeable though?
- Z + Schiit Stack v2 ($270-370): If I understand correctly I can get the basic Z for the SBX surround and would then have to use optical to the Modi 2 (Optical or Uber version) and then on to the Magni 2 (either version would work but I'd get whatever matched the finish on the DAC so it looks nice). I'd also get a volume knob that I assume doesn't suck like the ACM does (right?). Not very portable, however, and is might be overkill. -Edit- I've also started reading that using the optical out like this can cause a delay which defeats the purpose of this setup to begin with. Not sure if anyone has more info on this potential issue. -Edit-
- Something else entirely?
What I'm not really sure about is how big of a difference there is between these options. If the ZxR or Z+Stack2 is worth it than I can get that but if the difference is just 5% better quality for 3-4x the price then it probably doesn't make sense. I'll use these for many hours each day so I can justify something nice but apart from occasional Spotify or Digitally Imported streaming it will mostly be for gaming and I'm not sure that this will benefit as much as movies and more serious music would. I've also read about the higher output impedance of the Z and ZxR and Sennheiser being more sensitive to this so that is giving me some doubts and making me afraid about buying the wrong thing so I'm not sure what to do.
I also have one other complication that MIGHT be relevant. I like the HD 598 enough that I think I want to pick up some other headphones for work. Something equally comfortable with velour pads, a little more bass, and a closed design for around $150-300. Maybe a DT-880, maybe something else, maybe just forget it and get better IEMs than the $25 ones I'm using now. In the end if I did get headphones though I would probably need a dac/amp for them. The Schiit Stack v2 Uber would be perfect since I could use it for both setups but I don't think I want to bring it to work and back every day. I could get two separate setups and dedicate them to their own locations, which is fine if that's the best option, but at the same time if I could find something more portable that would work for both setups it might save some money and allow me to get better headphones or something. I haven't seen anything that would do this but maybe I'm just not aware of it since I'm new.
Any thoughts or suggestions are much appreciated!
- Z standalone + 1/4" adapter cable ($90): Basic and cheapest option but it might be everything I need. The adapter cable is so that I don't stress the headphone jack with a long heavy fixed adapter.
- ZxR standalone ($185): The ACM and daughter card are worthless to me but it does have a better dac/amp and a more convenient 1/4" jack. Will the difference be noticeable though?
- Z + Schiit Stack v2 ($270-370): If I understand correctly I can get the basic Z for the SBX surround and would then have to use optical to the Modi 2 (Optical or Uber version) and then on to the Magni 2 (either version would work but I'd get whatever matched the finish on the DAC so it looks nice). I'd also get a volume knob that I assume doesn't suck like the ACM does (right?). Not very portable, however, and is might be overkill. -Edit- I've also started reading that using the optical out like this can cause a delay which defeats the purpose of this setup to begin with. Not sure if anyone has more info on this potential issue. -Edit-
- Something else entirely?
What I'm not really sure about is how big of a difference there is between these options. If the ZxR or Z+Stack2 is worth it than I can get that but if the difference is just 5% better quality for 3-4x the price then it probably doesn't make sense. I'll use these for many hours each day so I can justify something nice but apart from occasional Spotify or Digitally Imported streaming it will mostly be for gaming and I'm not sure that this will benefit as much as movies and more serious music would. I've also read about the higher output impedance of the Z and ZxR and Sennheiser being more sensitive to this so that is giving me some doubts and making me afraid about buying the wrong thing so I'm not sure what to do.
I also have one other complication that MIGHT be relevant. I like the HD 598 enough that I think I want to pick up some other headphones for work. Something equally comfortable with velour pads, a little more bass, and a closed design for around $150-300. Maybe a DT-880, maybe something else, maybe just forget it and get better IEMs than the $25 ones I'm using now. In the end if I did get headphones though I would probably need a dac/amp for them. The Schiit Stack v2 Uber would be perfect since I could use it for both setups but I don't think I want to bring it to work and back every day. I could get two separate setups and dedicate them to their own locations, which is fine if that's the best option, but at the same time if I could find something more portable that would work for both setups it might save some money and allow me to get better headphones or something. I haven't seen anything that would do this but maybe I'm just not aware of it since I'm new.
Any thoughts or suggestions are much appreciated!
