[Mad Lust Envy]

That would bypass your soundcard's dac yes. Thing is, your soundcard may not output surround or other features to the optical out, making it effectively something you won't need as your own dac already does stereo in the same manner.

I assume you want virtual surround? If not, just use your Benchmark dac through usb, though perhaps the Benchmark dac may do better through optical than usb which may be why it sounds better for you. Either way, the signal is digital and only processed by the DAC you own, not the soundcard.

 

[PurpleAngel]

Question.
I have a desktop PC, with a soundcard. its an ASUS DG PCI.
I also run a benchmark DAC USB unit coupled to a Violectric V200 amp.
So would i be best to run toslink from the benchmark to the optical in on the soundcard .... (so this would bypass all soundcard DAC right ? )
or just run the usb cable from the benchmark to the usb of the PC.
i've actually tried both, and it seems games, well BF V in particularly sound better via the toslink ..
no need to go via the internal PC sound card at all ? thanks.

Correct, the Xonar DG's optical (digital) port bypasses the DG's DAC (Digital to Analog Converter) function.
You have the Benchmark DAC1 USB?
The Xonar DG has optical output, not optical input.
So we can assume you meant to say your connecting the DG optical output port to the DAC1's optical input port?
And running analog connection from the DAC1's RCA or balanced output, to the RCA or balanced input on the Violectric V200?

I would have assumed the USB connection would sound best?

The Xonar DG can send processed Dolby Headphone (5.1) thru it's optical port.
A USB (PC to DAC) connection bupasses the sound card's features (like headphone surround sound), so you basically using stereo (2.0) audio.

 

[Mad Lust Envy]

Correct, the Xonar DG's optical (digital) port bypasses the DG's DAC (Digital to Analog Converter) function.
You have the Benchmark DAC1 USB?
The Xonar DG has optical output, not optical input.
So we can assume you meant to say your connecting the DG optical output port to the DAC1's optical input port?
And running analog connection from the DAC1's RCA or balanced output, to the RCA or balanced input on the Violectric V200?

I would have assumed the USB connection would sound best?

The Xonar DG can send processed Dolby Headphone (5.1) thru it's optical port.
A USB (PC to DAC) connection bupasses the sound card's features (like headphone surround sound), so you basically using stereo (2.0) audio.

So it's like the Xonar U3 that sends surround info through the optical out. That's cool. Asus was way ahead of the times.

 

[wmf]

thanks for the replies.
yes i have the benchmark DAC1 USB.
sorry yes optical out on the soundcard,.. and just RCAs from benchmark to V200 amp.
ill do some more listening and comparing, but initial findings were i found the toslink optical sounded better, that was just in PC games,
so ill try some music as well...and i guess running the toslink into the soundcard, allows other features to keep active, such as virtual
surround etc.
so would i benefit at all in upgrading the soundcard to a newer creative soundcard like the AE5. ?
i guess if it was purely just for music, id just go USB from benchmark to USB on the PC...

 

[Drizz1e]

A question for you Switch owners:

I am aware that the Switch doesn't support Dolby Headphone (I think Dolby Pro Logic II is supported?) and has no optical input. I use an HDMI audio extractor that allows me to connect the console to the mixamp via optical and the HDMI cable is connected to an HDMI switch with my PS3, 360 and PS4. What I don't know is if I'm actually getting surround or processed stereo. When I go to the audio settings and select "surround sound" the test tone only plays through the left and right speakers. When I select "automatic" it does play in all "speakers" but nothing sounds like it's coming from the rear. Is there a way to get actual virtual surround or am I stuck with processed stereo?

 

[Mad Lust Envy]

thanks for the replies.
yes i have the benchmark DAC1 USB.
sorry yes optical out on the soundcard,.. and just RCAs from benchmark to V200 amp.
ill do some more listening and comparing, but initial findings were i found the toslink optical sounded better, that was just in PC games,
so ill try some music as well...and i guess running the toslink into the soundcard, allows other features to keep active, such as virtual
surround etc.
so would i benefit at all in upgrading the soundcard to a newer creative soundcard like the AE5. ?
i guess if it was purely just for music, id just go USB from benchmark to USB on the PC...

Other than a newer soundcard or something maybe sending a higher bitrate signal (32bit/384khz?) or something perhaps not capable by the soundcard you have, there is no improvement to be made, as everything you're sending to the Benchmark dac is digital. Unless you have a signal problem, which I doubt you're getting.

The improvements would come from a new headphone, dac, or amp, and the ones you have are pretty damn good as is, so I don't think you need to change anything. I'd recommend a headphone change long before any other. That's the real area of noticeable improvement.

The Switch only does 5.1 as LPCM, so you cant get surround from it other than receivers that can convert that to surround. No virtual surround dsps at the moment can turn pcm to proper surround.

 

[Carwen]

Just read the review of the Creative SXFI Air. They definitely sound what i'm looking for.

I'm looking for a pair of headphones for mostly immersive purposes (Playing Battlefield V, Doom, etc and Action movies).
Would you recommend the Air or another pair if within the same budget or slightly above?

Thanks for the very comprehensive list.

 

[Mad Lust Envy]

TheAir is a fine choice if you're mainly playing on PC. Just remember to get the full SXFI utilization, it's PC only. All others will emulate a stereo setup in front of you instead.

 

[PurpleAngel]

So it's like the Xonar U3 that sends surround info through the optical out. That's cool. Asus was way ahead of the times.

I think Asus has cut back on supporting Dolby Headphone in sound cards.
The last Asus Xonar DG software update was 2015 and listed Dolby Headphone, I know the DG now also offers Sonic Studio.
I'm not into FPS gaming, so I like to use a USB connection, between my Windows 10 PC my DX7s DAC and use Cyber-link PowerDVD 17 which has built in Headphone surround sound processing, for movies.

 

[wmf]

"Other than a newer soundcard or something maybe sending a higher bitrate signal (32bit/384khz?) or something perhaps not capable by the soundcard you have, there is no improvement to be made, as everything you're sending to the Benchmark dac is digital. Unless you have a signal problem, which I doubt you're getting.

The improvements would come from a new headphone, dac, or amp, and the ones you have are pretty damn good as is, so I don't think you need to change anything. I'd recommend a headphone change long before any other. That's the real area of noticeable improvement."

Actually the creative soundblaster AE-5 soundcard, does 32bit/384khz, so it might be pretty good ...
with virtual surround 7.1

Yes, it seems the DT 1990 Pros, are the next iteration of the DT990s which i have. Might look at the DT 1990s down the track as an alternate pair, but not
if they are too similar to the DT990s ?
If i were just into music, i wouldnt worry at all, obviously about the soundcard.. USB from benchmark DAC to USB on the PC.

so, when ive got the benchmark DACU USB plugged into the optical out on the soundcard.... in games, in general, i am hearing the work of the benchmark DAC
and nothing related to the DAC onboard the internal soundcard.. right? i think it had been mentioned that it will bypass it.

 

[Mad Lust Envy]

Yes. The DAC is only receiving 0s and 1s from the soundcard, so unless it's sending out errors, you are fine. I know nothing about the DT1990, sorry.

 

[wmf]

thanks and appreciated.
the soundcard infact is just acting as a transport for the benchmark DAC signal to whatever, such as the pc games. or music ?

 

[Mad Lust Envy]

Everything. Though of course if you wanna use the usb of the Benchmark then switch audio device on the computer sound settings.

 

[TONEDEPTH]

helo my name is panos and i am from greece and i am interesting to buy headphones for gaming and edm sound

Budget 400 - 600 EUROS MAX

Source/Amp SOUNDBLASTER AE-5

the headphones will be used ( Primarily for gaming and listening to music)


Preferred music genre(s) which i like is trance-psytrance- house, techno, progressive house and etc)

What options i have in that budget ?? of 400 - 600 euros max

at this moment i am using hyper cloud ii and sentheizer game zero and i want to upgrade into something better

what choices i have in the budget of 400 - 600 EUROS MAX

 

[Mad Lust Envy]

helo my name is panos and i am from greece and i am interesting to buy headphones for gaming and edm sound

Budget 400 - 600 EUROS MAX

Source/Amp SOUNDBLASTER AE-5

the headphones will be used ( Primarily for gaming and listening to music)


Preferred music genre(s) which i like is trance-psytrance- house, techno, progressive house and etc)

What options i have in that budget ?? of 400 - 600 euros max

at this moment i am using hyper cloud ii and sentheizer game zero and i want to upgrade into something better

what choices i have in the budget of 400 - 600 EUROS MAX

I don't know if Drop (Massdrop) ships to EU, but Edition XX is DOPE for those needs.

https://drop.com/buy/massdrop-x-hifiman-edition-xx-headphones

If not, I apologize. I don't really know any in that price range that I'd recommend today asides from that.