mightymiff
New Head-Fier
- Joined
- Jan 15, 2009
- Posts
- 11
- Likes
- 0
Hello everyone.
A pleasure to be here with you.
I have an EMU 1212m which is alright, but has given me annoying hardware issues under both vista and 7 64-bit--speakers pop spradically (loudly and often, during audio playback and not) until I open up Asio4all and reset latency every time I startup or wake the compter and I've recently been getting the fishbowl effect (sounds as if the speakers are underwater) and having problems with synchronization of movies that comes and goes but doesn't die. The soundcard powers a couple of KRK rokit 6's and I don't use it for anything else.
I've recently acquired a couple pairs of cans. HD 555's and ATH-A700's, plus I already had an old and dying pair of SR 60's.
My question: as these are all low-impedance phones and I'm not in love with the 1212m to begin with for the reasons already specified (though it works) . . . am I better off with a new souncard (say, the Xonar STX, which I already purchased, but haven't opened yet) or a simple headphone amplifier in the same price range of a new soundcard (like the STX at $175). In all likelihood I will not upgrade my cans in the foreseeable future to more expensive, higher-impedance models (my next purchase will probably be another set of Grado 125 or 225s in 1-2 years). Headphones to be used for music and movies only. Kind of interested to hear what Dolby Phones (simulated 5.1) sounds like out of the STX, but I think some video playback software can run Dolby phones too.
So, back to the point. Keep the new souncard (and I'm hoping for an improvement of the drivers over the Creative card) or send it back, stick with the old E-mu, and get an amplifier instead? And, if you suggest the latter, what do you recommend I get for under $200 to power my not-so-high-end-but-good-enough-for-me cans?
That's all. Thanks.
A pleasure to be here with you.
I have an EMU 1212m which is alright, but has given me annoying hardware issues under both vista and 7 64-bit--speakers pop spradically (loudly and often, during audio playback and not) until I open up Asio4all and reset latency every time I startup or wake the compter and I've recently been getting the fishbowl effect (sounds as if the speakers are underwater) and having problems with synchronization of movies that comes and goes but doesn't die. The soundcard powers a couple of KRK rokit 6's and I don't use it for anything else.
I've recently acquired a couple pairs of cans. HD 555's and ATH-A700's, plus I already had an old and dying pair of SR 60's.
My question: as these are all low-impedance phones and I'm not in love with the 1212m to begin with for the reasons already specified (though it works) . . . am I better off with a new souncard (say, the Xonar STX, which I already purchased, but haven't opened yet) or a simple headphone amplifier in the same price range of a new soundcard (like the STX at $175). In all likelihood I will not upgrade my cans in the foreseeable future to more expensive, higher-impedance models (my next purchase will probably be another set of Grado 125 or 225s in 1-2 years). Headphones to be used for music and movies only. Kind of interested to hear what Dolby Phones (simulated 5.1) sounds like out of the STX, but I think some video playback software can run Dolby phones too.
So, back to the point. Keep the new souncard (and I'm hoping for an improvement of the drivers over the Creative card) or send it back, stick with the old E-mu, and get an amplifier instead? And, if you suggest the latter, what do you recommend I get for under $200 to power my not-so-high-end-but-good-enough-for-me cans?
That's all. Thanks.
