[Selarah]

Hi there
 
I am new to Head-Fi and new to this whole 500$+ headphone scene.. so new that I find I'm getting overwhelmed by all the information I come across, especially when it comes to talk of needing amps and dacs? (really clueless when it comes to this) I am no audiophile either, again clueless.. Although, I'd love to learn and enhance my musical experience since I listen to music through the majority of my day. Anyway, I essentially need input and advice here, I currently have a Xonar essence STX sound card and I use Monster DNA In-Ear Headphones and they have been decent, however, I really would like to invest in great headphones. I pretty much have my mind set on the Philips Fidelio X1 after much research. My main question is will my sound card pair well with these headphones? Will it be enough to drive it? I am willing to spend an additional 500-600$ for whatever else would be needed here. I would like the best performance possible! Thanks everyone

 

[rubinstein]

X1 is easy to drive and Xonar essence STX is more than sufficient to drive X1

 

[PurpleAngel]

  Hi there
 
I am new to Head-Fi and new to this whole 500$+ headphone scene.. so new that I find I'm getting overwhelmed by all the information I come across, especially when it comes to talk of needing amps and dacs? (really clueless when it comes to this) I am no audiophile either, again clueless.. Although, I'd love to learn and enhance my musical experience since I listen to music through the majority of my day. Anyway, I essentially need input and advice here, I currently have a Xonar essence STX sound card and I use Monster DNA In-Ear Headphones and they have been decent, however, I really would like to invest in great headphones. I pretty much have my mind set on the Philips Fidelio X1 after much research. My main question is will my sound card pair well with these headphones? Will it be enough to drive it? I am willing to spend an additional 500-600$ for whatever else would be needed here. I would like the best performance possible! Thanks everyone

The Asus Xonar Essence STX can drive headphones up to 600-Ohms, the Philips X1 Fidelio are only 30-Ohms.
The Philips Fidelio should be more then enough of a headphone for starting out with........but,
Sorry About Your Wallet.

 

[Selarah]

Oh great news! Thank-you both for the prompt replies