[or231]

I have the Sennheiser HD 598 and use a asus xonar d1 , I want to buy Headphone amplifier or new dac to improve my headphones .
first I will buy only one of theam ,amp or dac and I need you to tell me what is better to buy at first.  I have 150 dollars +- .
From what I read the Objective2 and ODAC is good amp and dac
Then I think to buy the Objective2 or ODAC but I read that I wont be able to use ODAC without a amp like Objective2.
thanks for help and sorry for my bad english

 

[stv014]

Your sound card already has a good DAC - comparable to the ODAC, but it has basically only a line output. So, I would buy an amplifier (not necessarily an expensive one, the HD598 is not that hard to drive, you just need something with preferably low output impedance), but an external DAC would only be useful if the sound is noisy because of interference from the computer. The O2 amplifier is fine (use it at the default low gain), however, there are alternatives that could also work well with the HD598 and cost less.

 

[Magiv9]

Xonar stx!
Had it with my hd598 for year and a half and am pleased with it.

 

[or231]

Quote:

Your sound card already has a good DAC - comparable to the ODAC, but it has basically only a line output. So, I would buy an amplifier (not necessarily an expensive one, the HD598 is not that hard to drive, you just need something with preferably low output impedance), but an external DAC would only be useful if the sound is noisy because of interference from the computer. The O2 amplifier is fine (use it at the default low gain), however, there are alternatives that could also work well with the HD598 and cost less.

 
what the other alternatives that will be good ?
 
you sure that after I buy amp I wont need to buy the ODAC or other DAC ,that not improve ?

 
If I will buy the o2 I need to connect the the o2 to the asus d1 with 3.5 to 3.5 cable ?
I also want to buy the V-MODA M-80 I will need to set low gain ?
 
where you recommend me to buy the o2 because I see that mayflower electronics ,Epiphany Acoustics,JDS Labs sells it.
And Thanks you for the help 

 

[stv014]

Quote:

what the other alternatives that will be good ?

 
You could check some of the FiiO amplifiers, the Schiit Magni (which seems to be popular), and maybe JDS Labs' cMoyBB. Having said that, the O2 is a safe choice that should also work well with other headphones (ranging from sensitive IEMs to high impedance full size ones) in the future, and is reasonably priced.
 
Quote:

you sure that after I buy amp I wont need to buy the ODAC or other DAC ,that not improve ?

 
According to my tests, the Xonar D1 performs fairly well when used as a DAC, and is overall similar to the available measurements of the ODAC. Of course, the performance of a sound card depends on the PC it is used in, but if it does not have any real noticeable problems (like interference noise), and the software is configured correctly, it should be fine.
 
Quote:

Originally Posted by or231 /img/forum/go_quote.gif
 
If I will buy the o2 I need to connect the the o2 to the asus d1 with 3.5 to 3.5 cable ?
I also want to buy the V-MODA M-80 I will need to set low gain ?

 
Yes, you need a 3.5 to 3.5 cable, and connect it to the front channel (not front panel) output of the card.
Low (2.5x) gain should be set for almost all headphones because the O2 cannot handle the full scale output of the Xonar D1 at 6.5x gain without clipping. If you do set high gain (which should only really be useful with some hard to drive headphones, to get the last few dB of output from the amplifier), you need to reduce the volume on the sound card to avoid distortion.
 
Quote:

Originally Posted by or231 /img/forum/go_quote.gif
 
where you recommend me to buy the o2 because I see that mayflower electronics ,Epiphany Acoustics,JDS Labs sells it.

 
It is basically the same everywhere, except for aesthetics and some customization options (like gain settings).