[Alisaur]

So, I recently just purchased a Magni 3 Along with some DT 990s (250) and for the DAC, I'm using a Xonar DX.

So, the thing is, they sound amazing and all, but is it normal to be able to max out the Magni on Lo? I mean, they certainly get kinda loud, but just barely. Is that normal? Now, I know that Hi is also an option, but even on that one, I am able to turn the knob to the 3 o'clock position on the Magni and it'll be loud but again, not ear popping loud.

On the Xonar settings, I have playback volume set to 75 (default) (Windows is at 90). Which leads me to one more question. I read that dB levels should not exceed 0, but with the default Xonar playback setting, they seem to hit +10 dB constantly, is this alright? I mean I don't get any distortion, so I'm assuming that's normal?

Sorry for the noob questions, I'm just new to all this, and the previous 'gaming' headset that I had for the past 5 years (Astro A50) was blow out your ears loud if you cranked it up. I would appreciate any insight or tips you guys have to offer

 

[ProtegeManiac]

So, the thing is, they sound amazing and all, but is it normal to be able to max out the Magni on Lo? I mean, they certainly get kinda loud, but just barely. Is that normal? Now, I know that Hi is also an option, but even on that one, I am able to turn the knob to the 3 o'clock position on the Magni and it'll be loud but again, not ear popping loud.

High Gain might not be high enough but for that headphone unless the gain is too low you I would expect you should be at ear splitting levels before you hit the 3:00 position. It could have something to do with the input signal voltage.

On the Xonar settings, I have playback volume set to 75 (default) (Windows is at 90). Which leads me to one more question. I read that dB levels should not exceed 0, but with the default Xonar playback setting, they seem to hit +10 dB constantly, is this alright? I mean I don't get any distortion, so I'm assuming that's normal?

Set it to 100/100 on Windows and the soundcard volume control and use only the 2v line output from the soundcard.

 

[Alisaur]

Set it to 100/100 on Windows and the soundcard volume control and use only the 2v line output from the soundcard.

I'll try setting it 100/100 on Windows and Xonar, but as for using the 2v line output, how do I go about doing this?

 

[ProtegeManiac]

I'll try setting it 100/100 on Windows and Xonar, but as for using the 2v line output, how do I go about doing this?

The FL/FR line output on the Xonar is around 2volts. Use that instead of the headphone output. The real difference between that and the output on a DAC or CDP is that if you tweaked the volume levels in software it will be affected, unlike some DACs that will disable OS control either because Windows just disables it on SPDIF output or USB drivers will tell Windows to (ie some DAC-HPamps don't have their own volume controls so those don't tell Windows to do that).