[calist3r]

OK, thanks for the clear answer!

 

[Shike]

Head Injury, I'd suggest taking a look at this:
 
http://www.stereophile.com/content/asus-xonar-essence-ststx-soundcards-measurements
 
The STX headphone out has an output impedance of 10ohms.  This could definitely cause coloration on certain headphones as I'm sure you know.  I would say the STX has a competent digital section though - running a line-out to a better amp could potentially reduce FR variation based on headphone impedance (depending on the ones used of course).

 

[Torontoraccoon]

Quote:

as long as it's not modern mainstream dubstep all you listen to

Hey! Thats all I listen too! And im saving up for them Stax 009's.
 
Sad face

 

[Head Injury]

Quote:

Head Injury, I'd suggest taking a look at this:
 
http://www.stereophile.com/content/asus-xonar-essence-ststx-soundcards-measurements
 
The STX headphone out has an output impedance of 10ohms.  This could definitely cause coloration on certain headphones as I'm sure you know.  I would say the STX has a competent digital section though - running a line-out to a better amp could potentially reduce FR variation based on headphone impedance (depending on the ones used of course).

I'm well aware, as I thought you would know. I've been championing the card for a while, and regularly recommend people don't buy it if they're using low impedance headphones, HD558/598 in particular.
 
But we're talking about the HD600 here, which has a 300 ohm impedance. And my LCD-2 has a perfectly flat impedance curve. No studies to my knowledge have shown damping factor to be a significant issue in headphones beyond colorations caused by impedance curves. This is why I mentioned in post #8 that he should buy something else if he's going to use BA IEMs.
 
We're also talking about a card the OP already has. There's no point in upgrading now, even if it means avoiding the output impedance. Headphones are still going to make a much larger differences in 99% of all cases.

 

[Willakan]

 
Quote:

So, I take it that the Xonar is good enough to show what the HD600 actually sounds like. Am I right?
 
BTW, I just noticed that you use the mighty LCD2. Does your Xonar drive it well?

The Essence's onboard amp will drive a high-impedance load like the HD600s with aplomb.
Buy one and ignore/laugh heartily then ignore anyone who talks about swapping opamps. Alternatively, you can pretend to believe them then shove your newly purchased opamps up his/her nose. Either will work.

 

[ChipnDalebowl]

You wouldn't catch me wasting a lot of money on pop music. Its already mastered to sound good through low to mid-fi systems. Get something basic and enjoy the music.

 

[calist3r]

I feel genuinely guilty that this topic is now about "How well the xonar essence STX can drive HD-600?", despite it being in the sound science forum.
 
I do appreciate all your replies, though.
 
EDIT:thanks to the poster above me, my feelings of guilt has subsided.

 

[Prog Rock Man]

Quote:

You wouldn't catch me wasting a lot of money on pop music. Its already mastered to sound good through low to mid-fi systems. Get something basic and enjoy the music.

x2. Pop is just not mastered like say classical. It also has a youth market that can hear higher in the FQ range.

 

[Somnambulist]

You can always go insane searching the Steve Hoffman forums for every single modern release to see if it's worth ripping the CD you bought, or 'finding' a FLAC version of the vinyl (which was mastered differently by someone else) to get the best sounding version. I wouldn't know anything about doing crazy time-consuming work like that though... *cough*.

 

[jrisreal]

Quote:

I'm now using a mid-fi headphones (srh840)+xonar essence STX  
 
 
 

Whut!  You think the SRH840's are mid-fi?!  Things are great, IMO.  I have the 940's which are pretty similar...perfect for production/studio work.

 

[Edoardo]

I believe you already own an Hi-Fi system, which IMHO can handle also much more challenging music/recordings than the ones you are currently listening to.
Yeah, maybe some audiophile maniacs could disagree with this statement.
 
Do you want to upgrade? Fine, but IMHO with those recordings and given the quality of your current system, you'd be likely to hear "differences", rather than real improvements.
 
Everything IMHO of course...! 

 

[vrln]

While many feel differently, I have to say my experience has been very straightforward. To answer your question, most definately yes. Actually modern compressed music benefits a lot from gear that is slightly warm (PS Audio PWD, NFB gear, R2R chips, discrete output stages etc). It takes off the edge. With my Hegel DAC I can listen to top 40 stuff for hours, which I could never do on mass market cheap gear (just too bright and painful). Interestingly in my experience older music recorded with valves sound good on extremely neutral-to-bright gear like the Benchmark. What is completely unlistenable on that kind of gear is top 40 stuff.
 
Just listening to Dr Dre on my system actually, never sounded better Most of the time I listen to "audiophile" music though. There the gains of of course the biggest.

 

[calist3r]

I just pull the trigger on the HD600 about a few days ago. So far, I'm quite pleased with the results.
 
To my surprise, I can hear immediate improvements in most of my anime soundtracks. This genre of music tend to be fast and energetic with so many stuff happens in the background.
 
While my SRH840 definitely sounds like it is struggling to separate all the details and keeping up with the music, the HD600 has no such problems because it's fast enough to keep up with the music while maintain constant level of details and separation throughout the entire track. ("Crow Song" from Angel beats soundtrack, and Don't Say Lazy from K-on! sounded much much better with these)
 
As for those top40 tracks... well, most of my music is not in the top40 because I'm more into different styles of rock rather than pop or RnB music. As this is not a review, I will just wrap up and say that most of my music sounds less congested and more fun and involving now. I don't know how to explain it but this headphones can capture the "personality" of each music quite well.
 
This could very well be the end of my short-lived journey, only time will tell!
 
Now, let's get back to the topic.
 
For some reasons, anime soundtracks seemed to get the most love from Japanese recording studios as they have the biggest improvements from what I have heard so far. The other songs just sounded a bit different here and there. Most of them are just new "Open" sound signature, though. But I can say that all of my music sounds exactly like what I want to hear now.
 
Overall, this"upgrade"is worth it to me because it adds significant improvements to many of my favorite tracks, while still very forgiving.(To my ears, of course, Phew!)

 

[Zeroblade]

You may want to toy around with getting the HD 600s amped off a nicer amp now - something like the FiiO E9 would be pretty good, and reasonably-priced too. From what I heard, it can drive them decently. While many recommend tubes to go with the 600/650, I find that they're an unnecessary complication for those who aren't particularly looking for that "tube sound". But do give vacuum tube amps a try if you like - just that solid state is really the way to go for no-frills setups, which I assume is what you're looking for.
 
(Off-topic) Also, since you mentioned anime OSTs, you've flipped my switch - lemme dump a shortlist of some anime with really great soundtracks I highly recommend you have a listen to:
 

1. Cowboy Bebop (lots of jazz, quite a lot of other genres in the mix)
2. .hack//SIGN (a mix of ethnic, classical, and a little techno)
3. ARIA the Animation, Natural, and Origination (I can't describe it other than relaxing - mainly mandolin and piano)
4. Baccano! (early 90s jazzy stuff)
5. Darker than BLACK (also mainly jazz with a little rock)
6. Neon Genesis Evangelion (mainly classical)
7. Panty & Stocking with Garterbelt (very hiphoppy, overblown bass club music stuff, but it's really good)
8. Sora no Woto (orchestral; some of the best I've heard)
9. The Disappearance of Suzumiya Haruhi (mainly classical - even includes the Gymnopedies and Gnossiennes by Erik Satie!)
10. Ikoku Meiro no Croisée (similar to Aria, with a lot of woodwind, string, and piano)
11. Magical Girl Madoka☆Magica (a little ethnic, a little classical, but overall very somber in nature)
12. Yosuga no Sora (mainly classical)
13. Angel Beats! (lots of experimental stuff, but mainly electronic-based)

 

[Llloyd]

yes it's worth it, even with loudness war and all that nonsense with all the money that goes into popular artists there is some pretttty nicely engineered stuff that gets released.