[gonzocrew713]

Hello, I currently have https://www.asus.com/us/Sound-Cards/Xonar_Essence_STX/ and was wondering if it was worth using a Schiit stack with it (magni/modi) and LCD-2C or HD 650's. I don't know if it is even possible or worth using this headphone amp/dac combo with a soundcard that already has a headphone amp built into it. Any opinions or suggestions would be helpful, thanks.

 

[Dulalala]

I don't know if it is even possible or worth using this headphone amp/dac combo with a soundcard that already has a headphone amp built into it

If you use the Schiit Magni+Modi you'd be connecting to it via USB, bypassing your currently soundcard.

Any opinions or suggestions would be helpful, thanks.

The website you linked states that your soundcard has a 2 Vrms output which would be enough for the LCD-2C but depending on how loud you listen it might not be enough for the HD650.
Also, if you wanted to, you could also just get a Magni or any other amplifier and connect that via RCA to your soundcard instead of getting both the Magni and Modi.

 

[ProtegeManiac]

Hello, I currently have https://www.asus.com/us/Sound-Cards/Xonar_Essence_STX/ and was wondering if it was worth using a Schiit stack with it (magni/modi) and LCD-2C or HD 650's. I don't know if it is even possible or worth using this headphone amp/dac combo with a soundcard that already has a headphone amp built into it. Any opinions or suggestions would be helpful, thanks.

Probably but personally I'd just use the soundcard first. If it's not loud enough then you clearly need more gain and power, and for the price, the Magni3 might be hard to beat. If it gets loud but the sound isn't that good, and it's likely that it's from distortion and not that you just don't like the sound of the headphone in the first place, then it might be more worthwhile to get an even better amp even if it's not producing as much power as the Magni3 (ex even a 1watt per channel Class A amp would likely be smoother and yet not lack power vs a Magni3). Maybe save up for an AudioGD NFB-11.

 

[PurpleAngel]

Hello, I currently have https://www.asus.com/us/Sound-Cards/Xonar_Essence_STX/ and was wondering if it was worth using a Schiit stack with it (Magni/Modi) and LCD-2C or HD 650's. I don't know if it is even possible or worth using this headphone amp/dac combo with a sound card that already has a headphone amp built into it. Any opinions or suggestions would be helpful, thanks.

It might help to list a budget, for your audio upgrade?
Spending around $60, for replacing the STX's 3 op-amps, is one way to improve audio quality.
The Topping DX7s is what I use to drive my headphones.
https://drop.com/buy/topping-dx7s

 

[Logistics]

If I were you, I would begin by simply adding the Magni to your setup because a proper amp does wonders for many headphones. After that I would add a Modi 2 Uber so that you may use a digital coax cable from your Xonar to the Modi 2. THAT way your Xonar remains the digital sound processor. If you run a basic Modi over USB then your computer becomes the DSP and you'll lose whatever features your Xonar was able to yield in games and movies.