[Monsterzero]

Do you even read what I post?

I'll try one more time.

PCI-E card = Excellent SQ, headphone amp could have been more powerful, interference problems
Integrated = Decent SQ, worse headphone amp, no interference problems.

Youre getting solid advice from two respected members here...Perhaps you dont like what youre hearing them say,but it is still solid advice from guys who know their stuff.

I will toss my .02 into the fray as I have similar set-ups and products.

First I would dump the Beyer 990s.If youre dead-set against a valve amp then the 990 isnt a great choice.
I would go with either a Schiit stack and add in the Wyrd or their new(and apparently excellent)Eitr to help with the noise.Or you can try a Chord Mojo and ask Schiit if the Eitr is compatible.the Mojo is def warmer(and a better product IMO)than the Magni/Modi.

For headphones Id look into the Meze 99 Classic or HE-400s or 400i,or even a used HE-500(if you have good amping)...All are good choices for metal(metal is the majority of what I listen to).
FWIW I agree with your opinion of the X2s mids.

 

[ProtegeManiac]

Do you even read what I post?

I'll try one more time.

PCI-E card = Excellent SQ, headphone amp could have been more powerful, interference problems
Integrated = Decent SQ, worse headphone amp, no interference problems.

I did. In fact, I quoted it.

OK, let me try to elaborate. Again.

If you need the soundcard's DSP features over what the motherboard has, then just keep using it in the meantime for games.
If you prefer not having the noise in there, then use the integrated circuit, even if it might have less power, for games - at least it won't have that noise.
Either way, it's games - THD+N doesn't have to be hi-fi levels low since your attention span will be on the game's visuals and objectives, unlike if you're just listening to music and doing nothing else. Hell, the cooling system on that PC adds enough to the noise floor to begin with.

If we enthusiastically recommend you buy a DAC and HPamp, we cannot guarantee that there will be no noise. If you want to buy, then buy, but again I reiterate there is good reason why people here aren't enthusiastically telling you to go and blow money on those, if you'd still hook them up to the same PC. I've seen too many people who were told "try an external unit," didn't solve the problem, came back here raging against everybody. So basically, I'm saying you can try that, but this is why people aren't aggressively suggesting you just blow money on that; at the very least, be prepared to just have to use a separate music server in case the noise still goes through the external units.

 

[6u4rdi4n]

The advice is fair enough, I just didn't get why. But if what they are trying to say is that the noise could leak through USB or even optical for that matter, then sure. Could always just amp the analog out from the motherboard, but the sound quality isn't at the same level as the ZxR is, even if it doesn't have the same interference issues.

The Meze 99 Classic is impossible to find here. Buying from another country is always an option, but I'm not a fan of buying things like that from abroad.

The HE-400s and 400i seems interesting. I'll see what I can find.

And as I said in the first post: The ZxR is sold. I don't have it any more.

When you say the cooling system adds to the noise floor, how? I'm genuinely interested.

 

[007shark76]

Noise can be a big issue for some people depending on equipment which is why companies such as iFi has so many products to combat the problem. I personally use an iFi iSilencer and iPurifier in my system. I don't think I really need them now. But with one DAC that I was using, I could hear a high pitch whine every time I moved the mouse.

 

[ProtegeManiac]

When you say the cooling system adds to the noise floor, how? I'm genuinely interested.

Take a dB meter, use it in the room where the computer is. Then run the computer. chances are they'll read about 30dB minimum, and even with a relatively low noise PC, with it running it's not unusual to get around 45dB of ambient noise from where your head is when sitting there.

 

[6u4rdi4n]

Take a dB meter, use it in the room where the computer is. Then run the computer. chances are they'll read about 30dB minimum, and even with a relatively low noise PC, with it running it's not unusual to get around 45dB of ambient noise from where your head is when sitting there.

Ahh, you're talking ambient noise. I thought you were talking noise as in circuit interference. Well, that's not an issue.

 

[domsch1988]

I'm really not wanting to turn this whole circle here, but why should a dedicated "Listening" PC sound better than a multi purpose one?
I get that, years ago, PC's might have had problems with both tasks, but i don't see any reason why browsing or even gaming on a PC should influence the sound quality in any way?
Yes, you should set everything up properly. Only install what you need, no bs drivers, Buy the right parts (A PC can be dead silent while powerful these days) and position it under the desk or even better, a bit away from where you sit.
Apart from that, a dedicated PC and a multi purpose one do the exact same thing to play audio (provided the same audio hardware). And interference has nothing to do with games.

 

[ProtegeManiac]

I'm really not wanting to turn this whole circle here, but why should a dedicated "Listening" PC sound better than a multi purpose one?
I get that, years ago, PC's might have had problems with both tasks, but i don't see any reason why browsing or even gaming on a PC should influence the sound quality in any way?
Yes, you should set everything up properly. Only install what you need, no bs drivers, Buy the right parts (A PC can be dead silent while powerful these days) and position it under the desk or even better, a bit away from where you sit.
Apart from that, a dedicated PC and a multi purpose one do the exact same thing to play audio (provided the same audio hardware). And interference has nothing to do with games.

First problem: noise. On a gaming computer you have the cooling system, plus the risk of coil whine.

Second, when you have a higher noise floor to start with, these actually matter less for dedicated listening. Browsing and gaming do not by themselves make it a worse music system apart from how the cooling system and coil whine can add to the noise floor, but the listener's attention span is divided anyway. it's not that doing those actitivities make it worse, it's worse to begin with, but with those activities, the ways in which a gaming PC is inferior for critical, dedicated music listening will not matter as much because the listener's attention span is divided anyway.

Do this experiment. Use your headphone with and without an amp, make sure the volume settings are roughly equal using a dB meter and a 1000hz test tone. Play a game. Can you notice MP3 gunfire SFX sounding better with an amp?

 

[domsch1988]

First problem: noise. On a gaming computer you have the cooling system, plus the risk of coil whine.

Second, when you have a higher noise floor to start with, these actually matter less for dedicated listening. Browsing and gaming do not by themselves make it a worse music system apart from how the cooling system and coil whine can add to the noise floor, but the listener's attention span is divided anyway. it's not that doing those actitivities make it worse, it's worse to begin with, but with those activities, the ways in which a gaming PC is inferior for critical, dedicated music listening will not matter as much because the listener's attention span is divided anyway.

Do this experiment. Use your headphone with and without an amp, make sure the volume settings are roughly equal using a dB meter and a 1000hz test tone. Play a game. Can you notice MP3 gunfire SFX sounding better with an amp?

Well, yes, gaming WHILE listening to music draws your attention from the music. Obviously. But this wasn't the argument. The argument was, that a multipurpose/gaming pc won't sound as good as a dedicated machine. Which, in my opinion, is wrong.
I've had no coil wine in PC's for probably 10 years or so. And even a dedicated music pc needs cooling.

I agree that you have to do some planing though. My CPU is water cooled with a single low noise fan at 5V. My Graphics Card was specifically picked for it's cooler. I don't overclock my PC and have a Power Supply that shuts it's fan off on lower loads (since it's 800 Watts, that's even the case while gamin). All of that is housed in a fractal design define case with some sound deadening material.
Even sitting right next to it, with your ear on the side you can't tell wether it's running or not. The Intel NUC in my living room is certainly louder.

But then again, that's irrelevent to sound quality. The sound quality your PC puts out does not vary from gaming to dedicated. Making your listening environment quiet and paying attention to your music is something you have to take care of. But that's the case regardless of what source/PC you use.

 

[6u4rdi4n]

I can get a used Schiit magni 2 uber for ~$113. A new one costs ~$250. Should I just go for it? Or would a Rega Ear (mk1) for a little bit more be a better choice?

 

[ProtegeManiac]

Well, yes, gaming WHILE listening to music draws your attention from the music. Obviously. But this wasn't the argument. The argument was, that a multipurpose/gaming pc won't sound as good as a dedicated machine. Which, in my opinion, is wrong.
I've had no coil wine in PC's for probably 10 years or so.
----
But then again, that's irrelevent to sound quality. The sound quality your PC puts out does not vary from gaming to dedicated. Making your listening environment quiet and paying attention to your music is something you have to take care of. But that's the case regardless of what source/PC you use.

Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaand that's not what I was saying. I never said that by default the signal it will output is automatically inferior, save for getting coil whine, but there's still the higher noise floor.

And even if you haven't had coil whine for the last ten years, you are not everybody. Other people have been encountering that. And whether it's coil whine or not, the OP has encountered noise with his soundcard.

At the same time, even the quietest PC still has unnecessary noise adding to the ambient noise. Maybe it isn't as loud, but it still adds to that. Browsing? Just typing while browsing this forum adds to the noise, especially with the popularity of mechanical keyboards and how non-mechanicals on laptops now are kind of like the Macbook 12. I was just on the phone, and while my Lenovo isn't as loud as the Macbook 12, I was told it was really noisy.

And even a dedicated music pc needs cooling.

1. Of course PCs all need cooling. Some just don't need fans.
http://www.streacom.com/
http://ipc.msi.com/product/pages/ipc/MS-9A69.html
https://www.raspberrypi.org/


2. It doesn't have to be a "PC" either.

Look Ma, no fans!

I agree that you have to do some planing though. My CPU is water cooled with a single low noise fan at 5V. My Graphics Card was specifically picked for it's cooler. I don't overclock my PC and have a Power Supply that shuts it's fan off on lower loads (since it's 800 Watts, that's even the case while gamin). All of that is housed in a fractal design define case with some sound deadening material.
Even sitting right next to it, with your ear on the side you can't tell wether it's running or not. The Intel NUC in my living room is certainly louder.

1. Your NUC isn't fanless and given the tiny space it's not exactly cooled by a Thermalright Macho.

2. Some people overclock because it's a gaming PC. The added 5fps or so can be more important to some more than ultra quiet operation, which can be had with something else. Like a smartphone one already owns.

 

[6u4rdi4n]

And we have refrigerators and freezers. And there's other people living nearby, so can't have the windows open because then I could hear them living.

Everything makes sounds and noises.

 

[ProtegeManiac]

And we have refrigerators and freezers. And there's other people living nearby, so can't have the windows open because then I could hear them living.

You don't exactly have your listening area in the kitchen right next to the fridge, unlike a PC in the same room. And as much as walls aren't perfect, you still have some of those, unless you live in a straw house. And yet even those who lie in straw houses have the next house farther away than shared walls on an NYC brownstone.

Also, you don't have to do a Hitler and jump right into using a Final Solution on the Noisy Neighbours Question. You can just do it the Tokugawa way - isolation.

No plain windows, probably has some kind of lining around the door seams.

 

[6u4rdi4n]

Yes, of course. Where else?

Any ways, bought the Magni 2 Über. Good deal considering the pricing in my country.

Still need a DAC and some new headphones. I guess a Schiit DAC would be a safe match?

 

[buke9]

That would be a safe bet and will match nicely also.