[ats314]

Could I plug a pair of Senn 595hd's directly into the optical port of my xbox360 using a toslink to 3.5mm converter? If so, would the 360 be powerful enough to drive the headphones? I am not an audiophile, just looking for something that is better than the sound coming out of my tv. I am paying $100 for the 595's, so I don't want to spend too much more on an amp. If i am needing an amp, can someone make a cheap recommendation. I will also be using these headphones from my pc which i will be building soon using a new x-fi card. Will these headphones work being played directly from the x-fi card?
Thanks very much for all the help.
ATS

 

[Firam]

Impossible. The optical out is digital. Headphones are analog. You need a DAC between there for it to work.

 

[ats314]

what's a DAC?

 

[steaxauce]

digital to analog converter. I'm not sure what cheapo DACs have an optical input: Can someone help us out?

 

[fwojciec]

I think it is probably designed to plug into an optical input on a receiver. A dac would work as well, but then you'd also need an amp - unless the dac has a headphone out. The cheapest DAC with optical input I know of is probably Zhaolu, but there may be cheaper options around.

 

[ats314]

so buying a receiver with a headphone output and optical input is the same as having a dac? why then are some dac's so much more than the receivers that can convert the signal?

 

[steaxauce]

Recievers with optical inputs have built in DACs. Some DACs work better than other DACs.

 

[ats314]

ok, all this makes a lot of sense. Doing some furthur research, i think i figured out that dolby is transmitted at 96khz, meaning that i need a digital to analog conversion rate of atleast 96khz if i am going to use these headphones for mostly 360 gaming. can anyone recommend a cheap reciever that can do this?

 

[cmirza]

Just about any HT reciever with an optical input. Go down to your local Best Buy/Circuit City/etc or wait for their next big sale and buy one for $100-150.

 

[ats314]

not to sound like a broken record, but any receiver with an optical input and headphone output will have a built in dac?

 

[GreatDane]

Quote:

Originally Posted by ats314 not to sound like a broken record, but any receiver with an optical input and headphone output will have a built in dac?

Yes it will have a built in DAC.

 

[RedLeader]

it HAS to have a DAC. If it did not, no sound would come out. Even the cheapest cd player has a built in DAC. The laser reads the bumps/flats on the disc which come out as 1 and 0. Those numbers have to be turned into an analog audio signal so you can plug in your headphones.