[Daal]

Hello,
 
Since I am moving in with someone soon, headphones are mandatory for the silence factor. I'm pretty sure I need closed headphones but open headphones are probably fine.
 
I have owned equipment such as the Emu 0404, Little Dot mkiii amp and a pair of HD595 headphones. I sold these items and moved on to Audioengine A5 speakers but now I'm switching back to headphones once again.
 
My current PCI-E soundcard is the ASUS Essence STX: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16829132010&Tpk=ASUS%20Essence%20STX
 
I have not bought the Sennheiser HD650's yet.
 
Is it powerful enough for the Sennheiser HD650's: http://www.amazon.com/Sennheiser-HD-650-Headphones/dp/B00018MSNI/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1329788149&sr=8-1
 
I would like to still have my Audio Engines plugged into the soundcard so I can switch between the two whenever I choose.
 
Thanks alot.

 

[mikeaj]

That's a PCI Express sound card, not a PCI (unless you mean the Essence ST and not the STX).  ST and STX put out up to 7V (rms; sine wave), which would be definitely uncomfortably loud with HD 650s unless the music is very quiet, well below 0 dBFS.

 

[Daal]

I built my PC from scratch I know it's a PCI-E, I was just letting people know it's PCI (in general)
 
Well that's fine, So yes they are powerful enough? I have my audio on my PC right now on 10/100 So yes I know what you mean.

 

[olegausany]

I love my HD650 from headphones out of my STX using foobar2000 with ASIO out

 

[audiofreak81]

I'm using the 650's with the xonar essence stx also. If you really want to give your card a boost you should replace the op-amps with 3 of these. http://www.ebay.com/itm/DUAL-SOIC-LME49990-DIP8-ADAPTER-/190641930863?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item2c6325026f#ht_1039wt_1396  or 3 of these  http://www.ebay.com/itm/National-Semiconductor-LME49860-dual-high-performance-high-fidelity-audio-opamp-/250937610793?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item3a6d0c1229#ht_680wt_1139

 

[PurpleAngel]

The Senn HD650 are 300-Ohm headphones
The Essence STX's sweet spot is headphones in the 150-Ohm to 600-Ohm range, so 300-Ohms is just right.
Foobar works great for music with my Essence STX.
Adding the three LME49860NAs worked for me.
The LME49990NAs are my next planned upgrade.
 
There are some third party Xonar drivers, the "Unified Xonar Drivers" at Brainbit.

 

[fabio-fi]

It will go loud enough, but will not drive the 650's to its full potential. 

 

[stv014]

Quote:

It will go loud enough, but will not drive the 650's to its full potential. 

Why exactly ?
Edit: of course "full potential" is something that can never be reached, because there is always room for another 0.0001% or smaller improvement. The question is whether it is "good enough" for the money to be better spent on another headphone for a real, audible upgrade - if it is not, there must be an actual reason (that can be proven) why.
 

 

[ROBSCIX]

Quote:

Why exactly ?
Edit: of course "full potential" is something that can never be reached, because there is always room for another 0.0001% or smaller improvement. The question is whether it is "good enough" for the money to be better spent on another headphone for a real, audible upgrade - if it is not, there must be an actual reason (that can be proven) why.
 

There are a few guys around here that use the STX with the HD650's and they give good feedback.  You can of course use the STX as a DAC and connect to an external head-amp.