[Shootinputin187]

Hey, 
 
I'm a gamer who listen's a lot of music, watch movies and play a lot of games, and i have not found the quality of headsets pleasing me, i have tried many and usually music sounds pretty awful with em'. Then i went to a music store and tried a pair of Sennheiser hd598's (connected to asus xonar essence one) and it was just incredible, compared to my g35 headset wich sounds AWFUL compared to that. We have genelec, bose and B&W speakers at my dads place (where i go every weekend or so) and i would like to experience same kinda quality out of my headphones. So im prob getting a pair of 598's, and i a HP amp. A sound card would fit to my scenario perfectly, i listen music, movies and play games on my PC (although low impedance of these i'll use them with my HTC to listen music prob occasionally). And i have done some research and asus xonar essence st fits perfectly. If u have any other ideas/if 598 paired with essence st wont work please comment =D
 
PS.im new to head-fi.org, i have browsed these forums like a week trying to get answers and i registered toay....(IDK why i didn't beafore )

 

[PurpleAngel]

You could save a few dollars and just get the Asus Xonar DG ($30, PCI).
The Sennheiser HD598 is only 50-Ohms, easy to drive.

 

[Digital-Pride]

Welcome to Head-Fi!  So sorry about your wallet.

  I think you got the right idea for a good gaming and music setup.  The HD598 and Essence ST looks like a good pairing.

 

[jackwess]

The xonar essence ST have Dolby headphone. Paired with the 598's is a nice setup for gaming. 

 

[Shootinputin187]

THx for responses,
 
I would like to have that essence over the DG, beacouse it has more to offer for gaming (dolby headphone and such). My friend has a pair of bose qc15's, they sound good and the NC is incredible, although the pressure when u use NC is bit annoying and it feels kinda weird for using long periods, i like the open desing more, just becouse it fees more natural and more comfortabe (for me, maybe someone prefers that i do not know). and also i think those 598's with that xonar would outperform the QC15's (from mobile device no amp in the middle).

 

[PurpleAngel]

Quote:

THx for responses,
I would like to have that essence over the DG, beacouse it has more to offer for gaming (dolby headphone and such). My friend has a pair of bose qc15's, they sound good and the NC is incredible, although the pressure when u use NC is bit annoying and it feels kinda weird for using long periods, i like the open desing more, just becouse it fees more natural and more comfortabe (for me, maybe someone prefers that i do not know). and also i think those 598's with that xonar would outperform the QC15's (from mobile device no amp in the middle).

The Xonar Essence and Xonar DG are very closely matched for gaming and Dolby.
The Essence can do 7.1 headphone surround sound, the DG can do 5.1 headphone surround sound.
The Essence headphone amp is rated up to 600-Ohm, the DG somewhere around 150-Ohm (give or take).
The Essence headphone amp will have better quality sound (op-amps) over the DG's.
I really like my Xonar Essence, I'm just trying to save you a few dollars.
 
 
 

 

[sjondenon]

a bit offtopic, I'm currently using a stock audio card in my pc with my hd598 and i'm hearing a lot of strange noise, is this normal with stock audio cards ? (my pc is from 2008)
Will the xonar dg don't have this?

 

[Digital-Pride]

It could be noise of your PC's internals filtering into the sound.  A quality soundcard(like the Essence ST) should be be able to filter out noise like that.  I'm sure if the Xonar DG though.

 

[Shootinputin187]

im thinking the asus xonar DS, will it bring good gaming and music listening experience, and can it run my HD598's?

 

[stv014]

Quote:

im thinking the asus xonar DS, will it bring good gaming and music listening experience, and can it run my HD598's?

Although the specs unfortunately do not include information on this, I suspect it might have high output impedance, since the card has no built-in headphone amplifier. The line outputs of Asus Xonar cards usually have an impedance of 100 Ohm, which is not good for the HD598. The ST/STX are better in this aspect, and maybe the DG as well. Creative X-Fi cards may work well, too.
 

 

[PurpleAngel]

Quote:

I'm thinking the Asus Xonar DS, will it bring good gaming and music listening experience, and can it run my HD598's?

The Xonar DS will do a decent job of powering the HD598.
The DS will do 7.1 headphone surround sound
The Xonar DS does not come with Dolby Digital, it only comes with DTS.
The Xonar DS has one replaceable op-amp.
I personally would rather have the DG over the DS.
I like having the adjustable gain setting on the DG.
 
 
 

 

[stv014]

Quote:

The Xonar DS will do a decent job of powering the HD598.

 
Do you have (or measured) the specs of the front output of the Xonar DS, or just assume that it works well because "low impedance is easy to drive" ?
 

 

[Shootinputin187]

Does asus xonar DG have headphone amp?
 

 

[Shootinputin187]

How about the asus xonar DX?

 

[fabio-fi]

 
Quote:

Does asus xonar DG have headphone amp?
 

Yes, its a headphone amp soundcard.