[Mad Lust Envy]

The Xonar STX. So the headphone out is amplified, although maybe it doesn't matter if I set it to normal gain.

The STX has a very good internal amp, but yeah, just get a 3.5mm to RCA cable, and run it from the hpo to the Asgard.

 

[chewy4]

Quote:

The STX has a very good internal amp, but yeah, just get a 3.5mm to RCA cable, and run it from the hpo to the Asgard.

The STX's amp doesn't match well with he HE-400 in my experience. It's better for higher impedence headphones I think.
 
The headphone out to RCA for some reason has much less volume than just from the RCA when hooked up to the Asgard... but I'm pretty sure it sounds just as good.

 

[Mad Lust Envy]

The HE-400 is a planar magnetic. They are basically output impedance proof, where the frequency response isn't altered, so the STX doesn't have negative effects on the HE-400.

That's an issue with DYNAMIC headphones.

 

[Thankful1]

I recently picked up a pair of HD 598's bc I wanted something w/ great soundstage and mids as a complement to my HD 25's.  Can anyone tell me how the HE 400's and 598's stack up against each other?  Is there anything that the 598's do better than the 400's?  My original plan was to eventually get a full-size closed set for bass oriented music (not the 598's strong suit), but it looks like I could possibly get two birds stoned at once with the HE-400's.

 

[Mad Lust Envy]

Owned both. The HD598 has forward mids, the HE-400's mids are more natural sounding, if ever so slightly recessed. The HD598 has a larger soundstage by a bit, but the HE-400's soundstage is more holographic, like more 3 dimensional and speaker like. The HE-400 beats the HD598 in bass texture, impact, and slam by considerable margin. The HE-400's sound has more weight to it.

 

[Madmollusk]

Quote:

Owned both. The HD598 has forward mids, the HE-400's mids are more natural sounding, if ever so slightly recessed. The HD598 has a larger soundstage by a bit, but the HE-400's soundstage is more holographic, like more 3 dimensional and speaker like. The HE-400 beats the HD598 in bass texture, impact, and slam by considerable margin. The HE-400's sound has more weight to it.

 
     +1

 

[chewy4]

Quote:

The HE-400 is a planar magnetic. They are basically output impedance proof, where the frequency response isn't altered, so the STX doesn't have negative effects on the HE-400.
That's an issue with DYNAMIC headphones.

Eh, I can tell a big difference for whatever reason. If it's not the impedance I'm not sure what it is, maybe more power with less gain? 

 

[Mad Lust Envy]

I'm willing to bet it's the fact that the Asgard has a warmer, smoother sound. That has nothng to do with technicalities, just a preferences towards the Asgard's sound signature, not the STX. Same as me preferring the NFB5 to the E17.

 

[chewy4]

Quote:

I'm willing to bet it's the fact that the Asgard has a warmer, smoother sound. That has nothng to do with technicalities, just a preferences towards the Asgard's sound signature, not the STX.

I feel like the biggest difference is a wider sound with a better soundstage... Maybe that is just a different sound signature messing with my head, but at any rate I really like it.

 

[RushNerd]

Quote:

I recently picked up a pair of HD 598's bc I wanted something w/ great soundstage and mids as a complement to my HD 25's.  Can anyone tell me how the HE 400's and 598's stack up against each other?  Is there anything that the 598's do better than the 400's?  My original plan was to eventually get a full-size closed set for bass oriented music (not the 598's strong suit), but it looks like I could possibly get two birds stoned at once with the HE-400's.

I already did this comparison, but with the higher up 650 (which they are more on level with). Bass oriented music is the 400's strong set, it just does it very well, world apart from a 598. the 400's are like a less colored senn with excellent low end response and lots of high-treble information.
Quote:

I'm willing to bet it's the fact that the Asgard has a warmer, smoother sound. 

That's pretty much what it sounds like. I can't help but think there is a better amp  out there for the 400's. Or maybe I should just give into speaker taps.

 

[Mad Lust Envy]

Well, the Asgard has more power than the STX, and more power does alter soundstage. Again, nothing wrong with the STX's output impedance with the HE-400. You prefer the more powerful Asgard. Nothing wrong with that. Again, just use that cable I mentioned, so you can reap the benefits of the STX's DAC, and the Asgard's amping. Obviously, only attach the Asgard to the hpo when you game. Dunno if you have a dac to hook up to the Asgard when you're not gaming. The STX wasn't meant to be used with external amps, because it already has a pretty potent amp.

 

[chewy4]

Quote:

Well, the Asgard has more power than the STX, and more power does alter soundstage. Again, nothing wrong with the STX's output impedance with the HE-400. You prefer the more powerful Asgard. Nothing wrong with that. Again, just use that cable I mentioned, so you can reap the benefits of the STX's DAC, and the Asgard's amping.

They actually have the same amount of power if the STX is set on very high gain I believe. 7Vrms on the STX and 20 V P-P on the Asgard, which translate to just about the same thing. 
 
You sure having less impedance isn't allowing more power to be delivered? I've never heard of planars being impedance proof until now.

 

[Mad Lust Envy]

HE-400







M50 (which has a similar impedance to the HE400)

That's with 600ohm output impedance. The STX has just 10ohm output impedance, so it's even flatter than the graph. Again, it will not affect the HE-400's signature. The Asgard has the better amp, that is all.

 

[chewy4]

Not the signature, but the amount of power going into it, no? 
 
I mean Schiit advises against using the Valhalla with it because of its output impedance.

 

[Mad Lust Envy]

Sigh, there are many factors. No two amps from different companies sound exactly the same. You prefer the Asgard, leave it at that. Just use it.