[przemek]

Hi,
 
I recently got a pair of Sennheiser Momentum headphones. This is my first audiophile piece of equipment and I've been trying to educate myself on audio equipment over the last week. From what I understand, I do not necessarily need an amp to drive these headphones since their impedance is so low; however, having a proper sound-card will help in getting better sound quality (less noise, better response etc...). Because the headphone cord is too short to make it to the back of my computer I've been plugging it into my Logitech G110 keyboard. This is a USB keyboard so I assume that the DAC/Amp are built into the keyboard. 
 
Would it be fair to assume that the quality of the DAC/Amp in the keyboard is garbage? Even worse than on-board sound? If so, I suppose I should pick up something like a Asus Xonar DX and an extension cable for the headphones; thoughts?
 
Thanks in advance.

 

[LinkPro]

It is designed for headsets and communication purposes so it may not have the best sound quality. Worse than onboard or not I don't know but you will most likely be better off with a USB DAC/amp than a soundcard, since you can connect it via the front panel USB so your headphones can reach it without the need of an extension cable. Something like an E17 will do well with the Momentum.

 

[przemek]

Hi,
 
Ya I agree that the external DAC is probably the way to go. Just out of curiosity I tried plugging my headphones into some other jacks I have on my computer. The front jack was complete garbage, so much background noise from the computer. I also tried plugging it into my monitor but I got lots of baseline noise: not sure if I'm using the right term here. It wasn't noise like I got from my front panel but just steady static when no sound was playing. Must be the noise from the monitor. Oddly enough out of those three the keyboard the the cleanest sound: the least amount of noise. 
 
I'll look into getting the E17. Thanks for your advice.