Thank you all very much for the help so far! It's very appreciated and I don't know what I'd be considering right now without the replies here.
Quote:
I read that you have tried the card in multiple PCI slots.
Have you tried any other card in those slots? If you don't have a card available buy an old 5-10$ network card to test the slots.
Can you see the card in the device manager? Can you see the onboard sound card in the device manager if it is enabled?
Have you tried the headset with another device? Just to rule out a defect there...
Right now my money is on a broken cable on the HE400s.
I actually am already using a network card--the onboard network card pathetically broke a couple years ago not long after building my computer. I've sure learned my lesson about a budget motherboard!
The card shows in the device manager, and the graphic equaliser in its driver settings can even show activity. But no sound ever reaches my headphones.
I've tried both my 598s and HE-400s. So I am certain it is not the headphones.
I thought he said that he tried another pair of speakers or something.
If you want a cheap amp and DAC for the HE-400, I think Magni and Modi are solid choices. Magni will have plenty of power. It would probably be nicer to use your sound card's optical port into an optical Modi (to keep the sound processing), but the USB version should be pretty good, and I think there are some free programs you can try to get some of that sound processing back.
So they would be good, but not quite as good as the ST in sound processing without a free program that can simulate some of that, if I understand right? The more I look into things, the harder it is to pick anything. I wish I could just hear everything for myself before any purchases. Though I do not think I used many of the audio processing
options with my ST, other than Dolby Headphone which I thought made everything sound much better and less boring, and stuff like equalisation I never touched.
The ODAC and O2 are an excellent dac/amp combo--better than the ST/STX IMO. Audio Poutine in Canada sells them: https://www.facebook.com/AudioPoutine
Then if you could use pre-amp outs for speakers, the
Audio-GD NFB-15 is really nice. More powerful than the Schiit Magni or O2 amps.
Is there any way to contact Audio Poutine regarding a purchase other than by Facebook? I do not really use social media, just never had a use for it.
Forgive me ignorance, I tried searching quickly but couldn't find an easy answer. Is a pre-amp such as that basically the same thing as a regular amp? The page says it's a "DAC + headphone amplifier / preamplifier" which seems to suggest it's all-in-one, and that I'm overthinking this and it's just a DAC/amp. I like to think I know more about audio than most people, but it's so easy to feel like I know nothing at all on a site like this with how much more knowledgeable people are.
Oh right, I missed the "old HD 598s". I would still test either pair of headphones with a different source (phone, mp3 player, stereo...), just to be sure.
Way easier than any of the other steps needed to troubleshoot this.
If it really is the motherboard I would consider replacing that. Much cheaper than an external setup, and who knows what other problems are waiting around the corner with a broken mainboard.
If my mainboard started acting up I would be much more worried about data integrity than about sound...
I'm running a USB sound card right now (which just sounds depressing compared to my ST, and makes me want something better faster and faster...) , so that is another source, isn't it? It works fine, as does testing just now my MP3 player.
And for my motherboard:
Yup. That's why this was my first suggestion. Your CPU gets power from the motherboard...if you lose power on a drive, your data might be lost...if the rest of the PCI slots go, your graphics card won't work...
I understand the pain of replacing a motherboard, but I would rather you get annoyed with that than have to replace everything.
I really appreciate the concern. But in a way I am not too worried about my motherboard. Most of my important data is all on an external drive and not my internal ones, and if my motherboard broke down, it might motivate me to actually save and get a new motherboard and CPU with it. Plus, from my understanding, if the rest of the PCI slots failed then the graphics card
itself would be fine, just not read by my motherboard. (Likewise, my sound card right now is itself probably fine, but not being read by my motherboard.) Though I am confident it should push on for a while longer, but then I was confident my sound card would last too...
In the long term, I've been planning a cross continental move and traveling for a while where I'll likely rely on a laptop more than a desktop, and a USB DAC/Amp would help me not go insane if I ever have a moment I'm not doing anything, because I'd at least have my audiophile equipment. And it seems like something I can always rely on more so than a motherboard or sound card.