Help with new Headphones
Oct 24, 2011 at 7:46 PM Thread Starter Post #1 of 27
faverodefavero

faverodefavero

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Hi, (my first post here)

I have bought a pair of HIFiMan HE-5LE headphones and would like some help deciding which one of my soundcards is better for it. I got a 'HT Omega Claro Halo' and an 'ASUS Xonar Essence STX'.
Now, to decide which should I use with my new pair I want, please, your pro-help in knowing how each of the cards will be on driving my HE-5LE.
I would like to, please, know how many power each boosts trough their internal headphone amplfier (the same on booth, from Texas Instruments), please. I think, maybe, Essence STX delivers more power since it has a directly Power Supply Molex conector only to drive the Headphone Amplifier in it. I don't know how does the Claro Halo powers up its Amplifier.
I could not find any information about the exact power driven trough each soundcard's headphone out on each impendense level, would be really glad if anyone could help me with it, again, please.

So, sorry about the wall of text above and the big number of questions, but I really would like some insights, tips and info about all that and, specialy, what card to choose for my new pair of Cans! Thanks.

PS: I was wondering if any of these cards can deliver enough power to drive an electrostatic pair of headphones. If not, how many more power would be needed for it. Please.
 
Oct 24, 2011 at 8:51 PM Post #3 of 27
The answer is almost certainly not enough.
 
Those Hifiman orthos are notoriously hard to drive, and I see very little chance that an onboard sound card is going to deliver the kind of muscle that will make them sound decent.
 
Some claim that the ASUS is able to handle anything, but my tendency would be to use the digital out on one of those cards to a decent DAC/AMP or else use the analog out of either to a more solid amp.
 
I would recommend a low-output impedance high current solid state amp, but that's another whole discussion.
 
As to your electrostatic question, they demand entirely different types of amp.  The answer is definitely no.
 
Oct 27, 2011 at 10:00 PM Post #6 of 27
Orthos and electostatics are completely different.
 
Stax amps won't work for anything other than electrostatics, which require a strong current running through them aside from the one that carries the signal.  It means that electrostatics will only work from an energizer, but an energizer won't work for any other kind of headphone.
 
Oct 27, 2011 at 10:23 PM Post #7 of 27


Quote:
faverodefavero said:
Hi, (my first post here)
I have bought a pair of HIFiMan HE-5LE headphones and would like some help deciding which one of my soundcards is better for it. I got a 'HT Omega Claro Halo' and an 'ASUS Xonar Essence STX'.
Now, to decide which should I use with my new pair I want, please, your pro-help in knowing how each of the cards will be on driving my HE-5LE.
I would like to, please, know how many power each boosts trough their internal headphone amplfier (the same on booth, from Texas Instruments), please. I think, maybe, Essence STX delivers more power since it has a directly Power Supply Molex conector only to drive the Headphone Amplifier in it. I don't know how does the Claro Halo powers up its Amplifier.
I could not find any information about the exact power driven trough each soundcard's headphone out on each impendense level, would be really glad if anyone could help me with it, again, please.
So, sorry about the wall of text above and the big number of questions, but I really would like some insights, tips and info about all that and, specialy, what card to choose for my new pair of Cans! Thanks.
PS: I was wondering if any of these cards can deliver enough power to drive an electrostatic pair of headphones. If not, how many more power would be needed for it. Please.
Click to expand...

Both the cards drive up to 600 Ohm cans. I own the HT Omega Claro Halo and can testify that the quality of the amp is about the quality of maybe up to a $200 dedicated amp. For an Ortho however, you almost certainly want to have a dedicated amp. Sorry, the HT Omega is good, it just won't stand up to a good head amp. Especially for Orthos. Even if they could give enough volume on the cans, they would give no control. BTW the sound quality and amp between the two, from what I've read are very similar, the difference is the DAC which some say the STX is a bit better, I really don't know DACs well enough to give you an answer.
 
As for the electrostat question, no, electrostat amps only work with electrostat cans, they have an extremely high output and won't work with anything else and + you know... the cables connecting them are even different...
 
 
Oct 27, 2011 at 10:27 PM Post #8 of 27
And on top of all of that, the SRD-6 isn't even a standalone Stax amp. It's a transformer box that requires input from a speaker amp. Fortunately, you can find plenty of old receivers that will do the job.
 
If anything, I think that's one of the big barriers to entry with electrostatics; while conventional dynamics and orthos can run from most headphone inputs to some extent (though you may want a more powerful amp to get the most out of some offerings), electrostatics REQUIRE specialized amplifiers or energizers. You have to budget for the whole system as a result, and the amplifier side can easily cost as much as the headphone.
 
Still, if the electrostatic sound turns out to be for you, it's worth it. Can't do without my Stax Lambda now.
 
Oct 27, 2011 at 11:27 PM Post #9 of 27
Thank you so much! The HE-5LE arrived and I did some tests: Has far as I can tell the ASUS Xonar Essence STX did much better with the HE-5LE, providing more volume power at low impendence (up to 64Ohms) settings to the cans than the Halo at high impendence settings (more than 32Ohms). Tough, even so, I have to set the volume of my ASUS to around 55% to get enough sound power and clarity (not loud, still, my old AKG K702 used only 30% to get things really loud) and thing really just get loud when I get to ~75% or more of it's volume output (blowing your ears out if gets around 87% or more). So I guess the Essence STX is really THAT powerfull, it is driving quite well my new pair of HE-5LEs. Even so, I'll probably some EF5 HP amplifiers from HiFiMan, so that I don't have to use such high volume when using my phones (since my speakers, the Infrasonic BLOW5D, don't even use 40% of the soundcard's volume to get things really loud, so I'm kind of afraid to blow them off with a sundden 70% volume bass kick if I forget to get the volume down when changing sound sources). Which would be better, please, for the HE-5LEs, the EF5 or the DarkVoice (La Figaro) 3322 Headphone Amplifiers?
 
THANKS for the great help guys!
 
Oct 27, 2011 at 11:33 PM Post #10 of 27
You can increase the gain setting, you know. The impedance specs they supply for each gain setting are meaningless. You probably should, to ensure you have enough headroom for quiet recordings with loud peaks, otherwise you might encounter clipping. Distortion increases with higher gain settings, but if you have on only the High setting it should remain inaudible.
 
It's highly unlikely you'll blow your speakers by just doubling the volume. You can set the gain to High and keep the volume around 30%, then when you switch to the RCA outs for your speakers you won't have the volume so high, if you're that concerned.
 
The sound card isn't really optimal for those headphones, not because it doesn't have enough power (which as you see it does!) but because it has a high output impedance that might result in electrical damping issues. I wouldn't worry too much about it, but if you're ever going to upgrade make sure the amp you buy has a low output impedance (preferably around 1 ohm, or lower).
 
Oct 27, 2011 at 11:44 PM Post #11 of 27
Well thanks! Now, if anyone could tell me which, the HiFiMan EF5 or the DarkVoice (La Figaro) 3322 Headphone Amplifier, would be better for these HE-5LE I would be really glad. Also, would you mind to explain more about the acoustic electrical damping issues and the audiable differences it causes on my case? Again, thanks
 
Oct 27, 2011 at 11:54 PM Post #12 of 27
The higher output impedance is relative to load impedance (the headphones), the less electrical damping you get. Basically, the drivers won't always stop moving when they're supposed to stop moving. I believe it tends to manifest itself as bass roll off and otherwise loose sounding bass.
 
Me, I wouldn't get either of those amps. I'm patently against tube amps and the audible distortion they add. You might want to look at the Yulong D100, which has low output impedance and plenty of power, not to mention a DAC that's even better than the sound card. Or if you're interested in DIY or are able to buy one prebuilt, search around for the Objective2 amp.
 
Oct 27, 2011 at 11:55 PM Post #13 of 27
Darkvoice, specs:
 
_Output power 1Watt...
 
Those this mean it doesn't have enough power to drive the HE-5LE properly (the cans manual states that it needs at least 2watt trough it's output to work right). 
 
 
 
Oct 27, 2011 at 11:57 PM Post #14 of 27
The HE-5LE needs nothing near 2W. Assuming it has the same requirements (impedance and sensitivity) as the HE-5, it only needs 200mW to ensure plenty of headroom. 2W would be 120dB, close to the threshold of pain.
 
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