[Refleax]

Hello Head-Fi!

I require some help in buying a soundcard for my PC since I am still using onboard and the quality is quite bad.

Which soundcard would you recommend? My budget is around 400 Euros including headphones.
 
I use my pc to listen to music (Ambient, Indie, DNB, Dubstep, Techno and some good old classic rock), movies and gaming.

The ASUS range looks very promising but I’m unsure as to which one should I buy, I also use headphones which I connect with the Z5500 (5.1 Logitech) control pad.

For headphones I was thinking of buying the Beyerdynamic DT990 PRO (250 OHM).

Please give me some suggestions as to how I can get the best sound out of my Z5500 and headphones ?

Thanks,
Refleax

 

 

[trog]

If you go to serious speaker/hifi/music forums like AVS, PC speakers 5.1 are about the last stuff suggested for decent quality music listening and the best way is to go for proper speakers with good quality driver/tweeter design If upgrading speakers is out of the question get cans and use that for music 

 

[Refleax]

The z5500 is good enough for now. I'm just looking for a soundcard/ headphone upgrade that pair good with the Z5500

 

[Refleax]

Could someone give me some suggestions please
 
Thanks!

 

[ROBSCIX]

What features do you want?

 

[PurpleAngel]

Save a few Euros
 
Asus Xonar DG (PCI), comes with a half-way decent headphone amplifier rated to 150-Ohms.
Comes with Dolby Headphone, good for movies and games.
USA price is equal to 23 Euros.
You can plug the Asus DG to the Z5500 using a digital optical cable
 
Sennheiser HD-558 (50-Ohm) open headphone
Current price in the USA is equal to 112 Euros
 
Total is way under you budget
 
The Beyerdynamic DT990 Pro 250-Ohm is nice, but needs a sound card that more expensive.

 

[Refleax]

Should I go for the ASUS Xonar ST and connect my z5500 via optical  ?
 
This option should be better since it has a 600 OHM amp that drives the beyer much better
 
Would my z5500 sound better if I buy the ASUS D2X and connect it via 6CH (3.5 jacks) ?
 
I have around 400 euros budget and do not mind spending a few to get great sound from my headphones and speakers.
 
 
 

 

[Optimus Praim]

I have the Z5500 connected to a D2X..
The sound is a little bit fuller when connected to analog outputs...
But the difference is minimal..
After i got myself some monitor speakers and connected them to the headphone output i use the z5500 via optical and i am satisfied...
Now i have both my monitor speakers and my z5500 connected to the souncard and i enjoy both of them without changing the cables all the time..
I think D2X is an overkill for you but it has one great advantage over the DS,DG and DX models..
It has EMI shield which means that you won't hear any electronic interference from your speakers or your headphones..
DX,DS and DG suffers from this...

 

[PurpleAngel]

Quote:

Should I go for the ASUS Xonar ST and connect my z5500 via optical  ?
This option should be better since it has a 600 OHM amp that drives the beyer much better
Would my z5500 sound better if I buy the ASUS D2X and connect it via 6CH (3.5 jacks) ?
I have around 400 euros budget and do not mind spending a few to get great sound from my headphones and speakers.

The Essence STX is PCI-Express, so it has more future value and is cheaper then the Essence ST (PCI).
The Asus D2X does not come with a dedicated headphone amplifier.
In some ways it's better to run digital optical to the Z5500
The insides of the computer case has electrical noise that analog (wave) can pick up.
So doing the Digital to Analog Conversion outside the computer cuts down on electrical noise.
 
 

 

[Refleax]

Thanks for the input
 
From what I understand is that the ST handles jitter better but is only PCI which might be a problem with future motherboards. It can also support the daughter board which the STX does not.
 
Also if I get the ST. Would it be better if I connect the beyer headphones directly with the soundcard instead of the z5500 control pad.
 
I am not sure how good the z5500 amplifies headphones (if it can do that)

 

[Optimus Praim]

The z5500 headphone out of the control pad sucks big time..
Never use it cause it's too low and it degrades the sound quality..
Always straight from the soundcard..

 

[PurpleAngel]

Quote:

Thanks for the input
From what I understand is that the ST handles jitter better but is only PCI which might be a problem with future motherboards. It can also support the daughter board which the STX does not.
Also if I get the ST. Would it be better if I connect the beyer headphones directly with the soundcard instead of the z5500 control pad.
I am not sure how good the z5500 amplifies headphones (if it can do that)

The Asus HDAV 1.3 H6 daughter board starts at $65
You can replace from 6 to 9 op-amps (operational amplifiers) on the H6 for really great sound, $30 for six LME49860NA op-amps.
Technically the ST is slightly better the the STX
 
So you spending an extra $100 (or more) for the ST & H6 package, if you had speakers that did not have digital input, that would be worth it.
Personally I would just get the STX and use a digital connection, easier and cheaper.
 
The Beyerdynamic DT990 250-Ohm headphone might not work with the Z-5500 headphone jack, headphones in the 25 to 80-Ohm range should have no problem.
I'm also guess you could not use all headphone features (like Dolby Headphone) using that jack.
 
It's better to use the Essence(s) headphone jack, it's rated up to 600-Ohms and the headphone amplifier chip is well liked.
 

 
 
 

 

[CardasHD650]

I have the same set up and I've used all the main sound cards - the best one for 5.1 is the [size=x-small]Creative Titanium HD without a doubt.[/size]
 
[size=x-small]Regards,[/size]
[size=x-small]M[/size]

 

[PurpleAngel]

Creative Labs is coming out with a new sound card, hopefully any day now.
It's the Recon3D (SB1350) PCI-Express, comes with a headphone amplifier rated up to 600-Ohms
Should cost around $100.

 

[Refleax]

I have had some very bad experiences with the creative XFI.
 
Still tempted to wait a few more days and check out some reviews to see how it rates against the ST/STX.
 
Any announced features which improved over the st/stx?
 
What about the release date?