[Tortilla]

I currently own a pair of 668Bs which I use through a Creative Sound Blaster X-fi HD (USB one, though using it on a desktop).
 
And boy are they hissy on highs. And I believe that the Sound Blaster might be part of the problem. The highs can really be annoying, and cymbal sounds for example come forward too much. I tried fixing that with EQ but that kind of messes with other sounds, and I can only EQ on my player (Foobar 2k) because the SB drivers don't come with an EQ. Meaning the highs continue to kill my ears through sounds not coming out of Foobar.
I also heard about burn-in but some say it does nothing.
 
Because of this, I came here to get advice on a good but not too expensive soundcard to pair up with the 668Bs which will fit their sound and impedance (heard too much impedance can be bad for the 668B's 56 ohms). EAX or some sort of emulation of it is required as I play quite a few games.
 
Yeah, I'm not too good with all that stuff, but I really want some decent sound and I don't have much money to throw around.

 

[Tortilla]

Anyone? Don't know if bumping is allowed in here.

 

[ssrock64]

It's perfectly fine to bump, just don't overdo it. I am not qualified to answer your question because I haven't had a Superlux in my possession for a long time.

 

[PurpleAngel]

Quote:

I currently own a pair of 668Bs which I use through a Creative Sound Blaster X-fi HD (USB one, though using it on a desktop).
And boy are they hissy on highs. And I believe that the Sound Blaster might be part of the problem. The highs can really be annoying, and cymbal sounds for example come forward too much. I tried fixing that with EQ but that kind of messes with other sounds, and I can only EQ on my player (Foobar 2k) because the SB drivers don't come with an EQ. Meaning the highs continue to kill my ears through sounds not coming out of Foobar.
I also heard about burn-in but some say it does nothing.
Because of this, I came here to get advice on a good but not too expensive sound card to pair up with the 668Bs which will fit their sound and impedance (heard too much impedance can be bad for the 668B's 56 ohms). EAX or some sort of emulation of it is required as I play quite a few games.
Yeah, I'm not too good with all that stuff, but I really want some decent sound and I don't have much money to throw around.

Refurb Creative X-Fi Titanium (non-HD) PCI-E sound card, $49.99
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16829102043
 
Impedance.
With the Superlux HD668B, is not worth spending (a lot of) cash to over coming impedance issues with $48 (HD668B) headphones.

 

[Tortilla]

Quote:

Refurb Creative X-Fi Titanium (non-HD) PCI-E sound card, $49.99

How would the Xonar DX compare with the Titanium? Asking because here in France the non-HD Titanium is kind of hard to find and refurbs for it probably can't be bought anywhere that ships to Europe.

 

[PurpleAngel]

Quote:

How would the Xonar DX compare with the Titanium? Asking because here in France the non-HD Titanium is kind of hard to find and refurbs for it probably can't be bought anywhere that ships to Europe.

The Xonar DX might offer better over all sound quality then the Titanium (non-HD).
But the cheaper Xonar DG or DGX comes with a half-way decent headphone amplifier.
And why spend more on a DAC/Amp then what you paid for headphones.
 
Any chance you could add your location,
you do it thru your Community Profile (Vive La France).

 

[Tortilla]

Quote:

The Xonar DX might offer better over all sound quality then the Titanium (non-HD).
 

Wow, really? It's much cheaper too. And so small compared to it (kinda weird). Nice, though I'll wait 'till I hear some more opinions.
 
I know about the DGs and their amps, but the 668Bs are rated at 56ohm meaning one won't be required (and might actually me bad as too much output on low-amp cans is apparently bad). The DX is said to have much better quality than those too.

 

[PurpleAngel]

Quote:

Wow, really? It's much cheaper too. And so small compared to it (kinda weird). Nice, though I'll wait 'till I hear some more opinions.
 
I know about the DGs and their amps, but the 668Bs are rated at 56-Ohm meaning one won't be required (and might actually me bad as too much output on low-amp cans is apparently bad). The DX is said to have much better quality than those too.

The Xonar DX (& D1) come with the CS4398 DAC chip
But they have a high (headphone output) impedance.
 
The headphone amp. on the DG (& DGX) is not that strong, max gain setting is "> 64-Ohm".
I would think your ears would really hurt before you might overpower the headphones.
 
But I will admit, I use to use my HD668B with the Xonar DX.

 

[Tortilla]

Quote:

The Xonar DX (& D1) come with the CS4398 DAC chip
Buy they have a high (headphone output) impedance.
 
The headphone amp. on the DG (& DGX) is not that strong, max gain setting is "> 64-Ohm".
 
But I will admit, I use to use my HD668B with the Xonar DX.

Alright, good to know. When you had that DX/668B combo, did you have an issue with cymbal sounds and "s" sounds in vocals being too loud/having sibilance (I think that's the right word) ?

 

[PurpleAngel]

Quote:

Alright, good to know. When you had that DX/668B combo, did you have an issue with cymbal sounds and "s" sounds in vocals being too loud/having sibilance (I think that's the right word) ?

Last time i used the Xonar DX was a few years ago, so i can't say.

 

[Tortilla]

Quote:

Last time i used the Xonar DX was a few years ago, so i can't say.

 
Alright. Still, do you remember if it sounded good for most stuff? Right now my 668B/SB X-Fi HD USB combo sounds mostly fine but those issues I mentioned before are really annoying. Also, the lack of EQ on the soundcard's software (thanks Creative).

 

[PurpleAngel]

Quote:

 
Alright. Still, do you remember if it sounded good for most stuff? Right now my 668B/SB X-Fi HD USB combo sounds mostly fine but those issues I mentioned before are really annoying. Also, the lack of EQ on the soundcard's software (thanks Creative).

Just to make sure, you have your PC computer set to S/PDIF Toslink optical as the output? not the line-out/headphone jack (3.5mm green jack).
I really know very little about the Creative external sound cards, so I'm making guesses.

 

[Tortilla]

Quote:

Just to make sure, you have your PC computer set to S/PDIF Toslink optical as the output? not the line-out/headphone jack (3.5mm green jack).
I really know very little about the Creative external sound cards, so I'm making guesses.

I have "Speakers" selected as output, which is linked to the 6.5 headphone jack at the front of my soundcard (using a 3.5/6.5 adapter for my 668B).

 

[PurpleAngel]

Quote:

I have "Speakers" selected as output, which is linked to the 6.5 headphone jack at the front of my sound card (using a 3.5/6.5 adapter for my 668B).

Does your motherboard have an optical output?
Optical will allow you to use the DAC in the Creative USB sound card.

 

[Fernito]

Did you give them proper burn-in? The highs gets tamed after some time.
 
As for the source, I'm currently using a FiiO E17, and I like the sound I get out of my 668B when I pair them with it (I got an ASUS Xonar Phoebus soundcard in my PC, and I prefer the sound of the E17).