[Duncan]

So should I buy the new sound card or replace the cable? Which one would make a greater diffence? Sorry for being such a newbie

On the bright side, you should be able to find out for free if the cable will make a difference or not - basically, if you have a cable that came with your PC / soundcard to connect an MP3 player to the soundcard (3.5mm to 3.5mm) then - that is all you need to see if the extra impedance the stock cable has will affect the sound or not - if you DO hear a difference, you really don't need to spend a fortune to remedy it...

....That being said, I'd personally love a silver plated OFC cable, to try and bring out the treble a smidgen.

 

[jodgey4]

Get the soundcard, ignore the cable unless you ever decide to get a dedicated headphone amp.

 

[Panzo]

Get the soundcard, ignore the cable unless you ever decide to get a dedicated headphone amp.

Alright thanks a bunch, I will get the soundcard when I'm able to check which one fits in my computer dg or dgx.

 

[nappiguan]

Are you using the stock cable?  It seems to bring down the boom.

 

[jodgey4]

He is, but the 1 to 2 ohms you gain from a cable swap using a Xonar DG card at ~30 out is like a %5 gain which isn't worth the hassle IMHO - damping factor of 1:1 to 0.95:1. He could always swap later to check for improvement.

 

[wigglepuff]

@Panzon - buy an amp, this is the critical component that makes or breaks the sound quality of your headphones. onboard sound and lower end Xonar's all fail on that part, the output impedance are too high and there is too much noise from other hardware that muddy up the sound, including emi all over inside your pc case from the psu, videocard and hdds.
 
I also tried the DGX which sounded close to or same in some aspects with alc889 and fiio e07k plus the EMI which made me return the thing immediately. So currently on the e07k and looking for a better upgrade in the near future.
 
its not worth spending so much for a cable on the X1, test a cheap rubber cable if it has low impedance then thats it. Dont go crazy looking for silver and bronze cables. Sweet mother...

 

[CoiL]

1st - measure stock cable impedance and if it`s lower than 1 Ohm (R/L/Ground) then no point of buying new cable. But X1 cable quality is very vary and You might have one of those high-impedance cables. Just measure stock cable and act accordingly to that.
 
About DAC/AMP, if You want to go cheap, then just get ELE EL-D02 DAC/AMP which imo fits for X1 pretty well, especially if You do also cheap CAP upgrade

 

[wigglepuff]

can you measure impedance with a multimeter alone without wacking anythinhg in the process? how?
 
*btw if the headphone has undetacble calbes how?

 

[Panzo]

So am I getting better experience with these than with my ****ty razer headset if I dont buy an amp? I will listen these in thursday for first time and could get xonar a week after that. Also I dont have anything that could measure the cables so it would be kind of gamble to buy a new cable but I might buy one to test it out. I already paid 200€ for these so I dont want to be disappointed.

 

[CoiL]

  can you measure impedance with a multimeter alone without wacking anythinhg in the process? how?

Look at the end of my cable measurements & impressions post: http://www.head-fi.org/t/623013/new-philips-fidelio-x1/4320#post_10475263

 

[mandrake50]

You can read DC resistance with a typical DMM. AC impedance ... needs to be done with a specific meter that will do that. Impedance normally varies with frequency , especially with a dynamic driver. Maybe not critical for this conversation, but I have seen lots of cases where people measured DC resistance of a headphone and wonder why it is different than the manufacturers impedance ratings. This difference in what we look at with a DMM and how they measure AC impedance may account for that difference (or at least a significant amount of it).

You are running voltage through the coils on the headphone, care should be exercised. I wouldn't stay on them for long periods.

 

[jodgey4]

@Panzo I've tried the X1's myself with standard motherboard audio and the dgx... It will be an upgrade and certainly better than a Razer set. An amp or cable can come later... Don't worry, just enjoy! You'll be doing great for your budget!

 

[Panzo]

@Panzo I've tried the X1's myself with standard motherboard audio and the dgx... It will be an upgrade and certainly better than a Razer set. An amp or cable can come later... Don't worry, just enjoy! You'll be doing great for your budget!

Thank you thats a relief.. As a newbie in this community, my head explodes when some say amp is a must and others say that its not mandatory. I will buy the xonar first because it could be good for gaming and might look for an amp in future.

Thank you for being helpful, cant wait to get my hands on these

 

[Fegefeuer]

http://www.amazon.fr/gp/product/ref=pe_828501_53233771_pe_ecg/?ASIN=B008ZW2T7M
 
149€ + around 7€ shipping throughout the EU

 

[wigglepuff]

  Look at the end of my cable measurements & impressions post: http://www.head-fi.org/t/623013/new-philips-fidelio-x1/4320#post_10475263

Thanks, will test my after getting a new meter, I blew mine when i accidentally plugged it into a live wall socket. how about non removable cables? can you also test with the meter alone?
 
@panzo - stop worrying about it so much, the thing sounds great even with the high impedance stock cable (which seems to be random), and yes the thing sounds great for gaming. Enjoy it.