[Valhallatier]

I just bought the Audio Technica's AD2000x, loved the coloration it does to my music, but there's sumthin wrong with it...
Now i pair these with Xonar STX sound card, the good thing is that it add more bass, the bad thing is that its kinda loose, my guess is that because the soundcard output impedance is too high (damping factor and stuff) and there's like a peak somewhere in the lower midrange that sometimes 'pops' out that fatigues me, BUT its not grain!
now i dont really know what i should be getting,  more tight bass? more upper midrange? neutral everything?
im lost

 

[PurpleAngel]

  I just bought the Audio Technica's AD2000x, loved the coloration it does to my music, but there's sumthin wrong with it...
Now i pair these with Xonar STX sound card, the good thing is that it add more bass, the bad thing is that its kinda loose, my guess is that because the sound card output impedance is too high (damping factor and stuff) and there's like a peak somewhere in the lower midrange that sometimes 'pops' out that fatigues me, BUT its not grain!
now i dont really know what i should be getting,  more tight bass? more upper midrange? neutral everything?
im lost

 
I'm guessing the STX's 10-Ohm output impedance is giving the 40-Ohm AD2000X a bloated bass (louder, less detail)
 
Did you disable the motherboard's on-board audio? in the BIOS
Did you put the STX's headphone output gain to the lowest setting (< 64-Ohms).
Try the Unified Xonar Drivers
http://maxedtech.com/asus-xonar-unified-drivers/
 
If this setup is more for music, get a FiiO E11K headphone amplifier ($60) and connect it to the STX'S line-output (RCAs), plug AD2000X into E11K.
The E11K has a headphone output impedance of less then 1-Ohm
The STX can not send headphone surround sound thru the line-output on the STX, but as music is only 2-channel stereo, it does not matter.

 

[Head Injury]

The output impedance won't be adding a whole lot of bass. The AD2000's impedance curve is too small. It's a boost of only about 0.35 dB at its peak; do the same in an EQ and you'll see how little it really is.
 
It's definitely not ideal, though. The low damping factor might roll off the bass and increase distortion. I've never found any solid facts about how audible poor damping factor is, but a factor of 8 is recommended (that's impedance divided by output impedance). Try the E11K if you're concerned, but it probably won't sound much different. It does have an optional bass boost circuit to give you more oomph.
 
The STX is neutral otherwise, as are most amps. Don't go chasing colored amps. Just try a free EQ plugin if you can, see if you can adjust the sound to something you like more.

 

[Valhallatier]

   
I'm guessing the STX's 10-Ohm output impedance is giving the 40-Ohm AD2000X a bloated bass (louder, less detail)
 
Did you disable the motherboard's on-board audio? in the BIOS
Did you put the STX's headphone output gain to the lowest setting (< 64-Ohms).
Try the Unified Xonar Drivers
http://maxedtech.com/asus-xonar-unified-drivers/
 
If this setup is more for music, get a FiiO E11K headphone amplifier ($60) and connect it to the STX'S line-output (RCAs), plug AD2000X into E11K.
The E11K has a headphone output impedance of less then 1-Ohm
The STX can not send headphone surround sound thru the line-output on the STX, but as music is only 2-channel stereo, it does not matter.

yep i already done all that

  The output impedance won't be adding a whole lot of bass. The AD2000's impedance curve is too small. It's a boost of only about 0.35 dB at its peak; do the same in an EQ and you'll see how little it really is.
 
It's definitely not ideal, though. The low damping factor might roll off the bass and increase distortion. I've never found any solid facts about how audible poor damping factor is, but a factor of 8 is recommended (that's impedance divided by output impedance). Try the E11K if you're concerned, but it probably won't sound much different. It does have an optional bass boost circuit to give you more oomph.
 
The STX is neutral otherwise, as are most amps. Don't go chasing colored amps. Just try a free EQ plugin if you can, see if you can adjust the sound to something you like more.

in my experience, poor damping factor makes the driver 'wobbly' like it moves itself and you can feel it!

 

[Valhallatier]

i searched E11K , it says the new model, and i dont see any RCA outputs/inputs...?

 

[PurpleAngel]

  i searched E11K , it says the new model, and I don't see any RCA outputs/inputs...?

 
The E11K only comes with a 3.5mm stereo jack input.
So you just need to get an RCA (red/white) to 3.5mm (1/8") mini-stereo jack cable.