[BlueBikinis]

Hey guys I was just wondering what I would benefit more from, here is my setup :
 
ASUS xonar DG straight to my new Beyerdyamics 990dt PRO 250ohm
 
Before I had Ficsher Audio FA-011 rated at 160ohm and the sound card was more then enough to power them nicely.
On the 990dt's I have to turn the volume all the way up in my computer to be able to get a comfortable listening level.
 
Would a new sound card like a Creative Sound Blaster x-fi Titanium be a good upgrade? Or should I just get an external amp like an objective2 or Schiit Valhalla?
 
I listen to all genres of music, game alot, and watch movies all the time.
 
Thanks in advance.
 
oh and price doesn't really matter but 350 would be the most I think i would want to pay
 

 

[PurpleAngel]

Quote:

Hey guys I was just wondering what I would benefit more from, here is my setup :
Asus Xonar DG straight to my new Beyerdyamic 990dt PRO 250ohm
Before I had Ficsher Audio FA-011 rated at 160ohm and the sound card was more then enough to power them nicely.
On the 990dt's I have to turn the volume all the way up in my computer to be able to get a comfortable listening level.
Would a new sound card like a Creative Sound Blaster X-Fi Titanium be a good upgrade? Or should I just get an external amp like an objective2 or Schiit Valhalla?
I listen to all genres of music, game alot, and watch movies all the time.
Thanks in advance.
oh and price doesn't really matter but 350 would be the most I think i would want to pay.

For $169 you can get the Asus Xonar Essence STX shipped to you
It can handle headphones up to 600-Ohms.
Everything in one card
Better DAC then the Xonar DG
Gives you the option of swapping op-amps (operational amplifiers)
Dolby Digital 7.1 (8 channel) headphone surround sound, the DG was only 5.1 (6 channel).
Full Blu-ray audio support.
 
 
 

 

[BlueBikinis]

Awesome sounds like the best deal and that card is alot better then the Titanium HD?
 

 

[PurpleAngel]

Quote:

Awesome sounds like the best deal and that card is a lot better then the Titanium HD?

Technically the T-HD (Titanium HD) is a better gaming card, as it can use EAX 5.0 with games that support EAX.
But from what I hear, EAX support in games is getting less and less.
I do not really see a lot of complaints with gaming with the STX.
Audio sound quality wise, the T-HD and the Essence STX are about equal.
The Essence STX can fully work with headphones up to 600-Ohms, the T-HD is decent with 250-Ohm headphones.
I'm biased for the Asus Xonar cards.
 
 
 

 

[BlueBikinis]

Awesome thanks for the replies. One last question if I got the xonar essence would I benefit at all from an external amp like the Valhalla Schiit?
 

 

[PurpleAngel]

Quote:

Awesome thanks for the replies. One last question if I got the Xonar essence would I benefit at all from an external amp like the Valhalla Schiit?

When you hook up external amplifiers to the RCA outputs on the Essence STX (& ST) you lose all headphone surround sound features of the Essence STX (& ST).
I believe you can still use the headphone surround sound features of the Essence STX (& ST) if you use PCM with the card's S/PDIF digital output.
 
 
 

 

[cundogg]

Hi was just wondering what you mean when you say that the xonar essence stx has full blu ray audio support. I though this card could only got DTS and Dolby Digital through SPDIF. Are you saying this card can bitstream DTS-HD Master Audio?
 
I too am looking for an amp or sound card to drive my DT990 pros. The only thing putting me off getting the xonar essence stx is the fact that I may lose the ability to play HD audio with blu rays that my graphics card already does. Please advise.

 

[cundogg]

 
Quote:

For $169 you can get the Asus Xonar Essence STX shipped to you
It can handle headphones up to 600-Ohms.
Everything in one card
Better DAC then the Xonar DG
Gives you the option of swapping op-amps (operational amplifiers)
Dolby Digital 7.1 (8 channel) headphone surround sound, the DG was only 5.1 (6 channel).
Full Blu-ray audio support.
 
 
 

 
 
Hi was just wondering what you mean when you say that the xonar essence stx has full blu ray audio support. I though this card could only get DTS and Dolby Digital through SPDIF. Are you saying this card can bitstream DTS-HD Master Audio?
 
I too am looking for an amp or sound card to drive my DT990 pros. The only thing putting me off getting the xonar essence stx is the fact that I may lose the ability to play HD audio with blu rays that my graphics card already does. Please advise.

 

[stv014]

Quote:

Hi was just wondering what you mean when you say that the xonar essence stx has full blu ray audio support. I though this card could only got DTS and Dolby Digital through SPDIF. Are you saying this card can bitstream DTS-HD Master Audio?

 
I think he meant Blu-ray support on the headphone output. If you only intend to use S/PDIF output and bypass all the analog parts, then there is not much point buying these cards.

 

[PurpleAngel]

 
Quote:

Hi was just wondering what you mean when you say that the Xonar Essence STX has full Blu-ray audio support. I though this card could only got DTS and Dolby Digital through S/PDIF. Are you saying this card can bitstream DTS-HD Master Audio?
I too am looking for an amp or sound card to drive my DT990 pros. The only thing putting me off getting the Xonar Essence STX is the fact that I may lose the ability to play HD audio with
Blu- rays that my graphics card already does. Please advise.

The Essence STX (& ST) will give you full 7.1 channel Blu-ray (headphone surround sound) audio out of the headphone jack or as PCM (two channel) pre-proceesed headphone surround sound out of the S/PDIF.
The Essence can output Dolby Digital 5.1 audio out of the S/PDIF, but not Dolby True-HD or DTS-HD Master Audio.
Only HDMI can carry Dolby True-HD or DTS-HD Master audio.
 
 

 

[PurpleAngel]

 
Quote:

 
Quote:

For $169 you can get the Asus Xonar Essence STX shipped to you
It can handle headphones up to 600-Ohms.
Everything in one card
Better DAC then the Xonar DG
Gives you the option of swapping op-amps (operational amplifiers)
Dolby Digital 7.1 (8 channel) headphone surround sound, the DG was only 5.1 (6 channel).
Full Blu-ray audio support.
 
 
 

 
 
Hi was just wondering what you mean when you say that the xonar essence stx has full blu ray audio support. I though this card could only get DTS and Dolby Digital through SPDIF. Are you saying this card can bitstream DTS-HD Master Audio?
 
I too am looking for an amp or sound card to drive my DT990 pros. The only thing putting me off getting the xonar essence stx is the fact that I may lose the ability to play HD audio with blu rays that my graphics card already does. Please advise.

 
Only HDMI (like on your graphics card) can carry full 7.1 channel Blu-ray audio (Dolby True-HD & DTS-HD Master Audio) from one device to another.
With the Essence STX (&ST), I was only referring to headphone output.
 

 

[Roller]

 
Quote:

Hey guys I was just wondering what I would benefit more from, here is my setup :
 
ASUS xonar DG straight to my new Beyerdyamics 990dt PRO 250ohm
 
Before I had Ficsher Audio FA-011 rated at 160ohm and the sound card was more then enough to power them nicely.
On the 990dt's I have to turn the volume all the way up in my computer to be able to get a comfortable listening level.
 
Would a new sound card like a Creative Sound Blaster x-fi Titanium be a good upgrade? Or should I just get an external amp like an objective2 or Schiit Valhalla?
 
I listen to all genres of music, game alot, and watch movies all the time.
 
Thanks in advance.
 
oh and price doesn't really matter but 350 would be the most I think i would want to pay
 

 
 
If you game a lot (regular or EAX supported titles alike), the you will want to skip the entire Asus Xonar range, as they have next to no gaming audio support whatsoever. Considering your budget, you should get a Creative X-Fi Titanium HD, which is both a card with a complete gaming audio feature set as well as having some of the best audio currently available from any internal soundcard. And it does pair nicely with external amps.

 

[Zerogrifter]

I just bought a pair of Hifi RE-262's and I just wanted to say thanks to the OP and everyone that answered. You guys pointed me in the right direction and saved me a bunch of research since these ear buds are 600 ohms. Just joined the forums to say thanks

 

[Sierra419]

Ok so if I buy a titanium xfi hd card and a dt990- will the card provide enough power to properly drive the dt990's?

 

[Sierra419]

Ok, I need help making a decision then. What's better: a fiio e9 and excellent sound blaster card or fiio e9 and fiio e17 dac? Would they sound the same? What would be different? You kind of answered this question but I'm still fuzzy on the details. If I went with an external amp/ dac would I still get simulated surround sound audio like Dolby Headphone?