[UnknownAX]

1st off, I'm new here, so hi guys!

I bought Sony xb500's a while ago, and now plugged them into my PC...
Before that I used them with my phone, and with a bit of EQ ->(depends on music, tho) they sound just awesome to me. But listening to music on the PC is just awful, the sound is totally lifeless and "plain" and I can't seperate any clear highs/Low's. The seperation sucks, really.:rolleyes:
What's the problem? Do I need a amp? The PC has a realtek soundcard (I'll have to check the exact name of it)
I hope you can help me...

 

[musicana]

you should buy a new sound card

 

[Kiont]

Quote:

1st off, I'm new here, so hi guys!

I bought Sony xb500's a while ago, and now plugged them into my PC...
Before that I used them with my phone, and with a bit of EQ ->(depends on music, tho) they sound just awesome to me. But listening to music on the PC is just awful, the sound is totally lifeless and "plain" and I can't seperate any clear highs/Low's. The seperation sucks, really.

What's the problem? Do I need a amp? The PC has a realtek soundcard (I'll have to check the exact name of it)
I hope you can help me...

An amp would just amplify that awful sound coming from your motherboard sound card. 
 
What is your budget?, it would be a good idea to get a dedicated soundcard or a DAC.

 

[volumeup]

Get a well reviewed external DAC and headphone amp (or possibly a single item that does both).
Run audio focused playback software and you're in business. 

 

[UnknownAX]

First, the "souncard" turned out to be only some realtek high definition audio (onboard?) thingy. It has a digital output, though.
And the flat audio was caused by really bad playback software
With decent software, the sound is quite ok. Thanks to the ...load of audio mod-stuff i've got on my phone, still like my phone better.
Because I rarely get to listen music on the PC, I'll propably look for a portable/standalone alternative.

 

[chewy4]

Yeah, realtek is onboard.
 
What playback software were you using?

 

[scuttle]

Quote:

First, the "souncard" turned out to be only some realtek high definition audio (onboard?) thingy. It has a digital output, though.
And the flat audio was caused by really bad playback software

With decent software, the sound is quite ok. 

Have you installed foobar? I don't use it because I'm on Linux, but I believe there is quite a bit of mod stuff available for it in the form of vst plug-ins.
 
Btw - was the problem that the software you disabled was doing volume compression (ie making the quiet bits louder and the loud bits quieter)?

 

[UnknownAX]

Well, at least it sounded like it was cutting off the mids and highs...
With foobar, the sound got even better. And the foobar-EQ is quite nice.
Still, I'm not absolutely satisfied with the sound. As I'll propably be getting an android tablet, I could look for a dac that works with both, the tab and the PC.
Btw. Does it make a difference, if I plug the headphones into one of the outputs on the back of the PC instead of plugging them into the front?
Thx a lot for your help!

 

[devhen]

Quote:

Btw. Does it make a difference, if I plug the headphones into one of the outputs on the back of the PC instead of plugging them into the front?

 
It shouldn't but that depends on the quality of the headphone jack built-in to your computer case. Try both and see if you can spot a difference.

 

[chewy4]

Front panel makes a gigantic difference for me, but I would consider mine faulty. It's full of noise.
 
Using the back ports is usually your best bet, but I don't think it should really make a difference from the front unless it's full of noise like mine.

 

[daigo]

Quote:

Front panel makes a gigantic difference for me, but I would consider mine faulty. It's full of noise.
 
Using the back ports is usually your best bet, but I don't think it should really make a difference from the front unless it's full of noise like mine.

 
If the wiring for the front headphone jack on your computer case to the connector that plugs into your motherboard isn't shielded well, you can get some noise.  Front audio jacks on most cases are almost an afterthought for most manufacturers though.  

 

[bwh314]

dac changes.everything. even with cheap.ass dac, its a whole new.world

 

[UnknownAX]

I tried one of the back ports...NOW were talking! All of the flattness was gone and the treble+bass had came back.
Idk how I could explain it. It can't be just the shielding, right?
Still, I'll have a look at those dac's...:rolleyes:

 

[chewy4]

Front panel audio is known to cause problems, I just avoid it rather than try and fix it.
 
It kind of sounds like yours had a nasty lowpass and highpass filter on it but I don't know what would cause that. Maybe it's just that low quality of a jack.

 

[daigo]

Quote:

I tried one of the back ports...NOW were talking! All of the flattness was gone and the treble+bass had came back.
Idk how I could explain it. It can't be just the shielding, right?
Still, I'll have a look at those dac's...

 
The Realtek onboard audio isn't as awful as in the past as motherboard manufacturers are taking more care to implement it a little better.  However, there are many decent DAC/Amp options both as a pci card or in usb interface in the sub $100 price range now if it's something you're willing to read up on and spend on.