[mspwj15]

I am completely new to the high(er) end audio scene even though I have had these headphones since they launched. I have recently rebuilt my PC and want to make sure I am getting the best audio I can from this setup. After researching a LOT on this site I have found I am still completely lost on some things.
 
I am using the SRH940's and the Xonar Essence STX sound card. 
 
1. What in the #)$&@! heck is ASIO? I went to the ASIO site and it said really nothing that would help me. I keep seeing it referenced on this site with regards to sound quality so I am wondering if I should have it. I found the following which tells me nothing, and the larger post it references I cannot find.
Q: What's with kernel streaming, ASIO, and all that?
A: That's a larger topic discussed elsewhere, but the cards support both quite well. You should probably use them.
 
2. I have set the Asus Audio Center settings to the recommended settings listed in another forum, however the one setting that is proving difficult to understand is the gain setting. I looked on the Shure site and it said the impedance was 42ohms which under my understanding would mean that my gain should be set to "normal <64 ohms", however, I then saw someone else saying I should set it to high... So, which is it? I changed it to high and noticed that it sounds much better (in my untrained opinion), yet I am also cautious because of the warning that I could damage the headphones if I don't know what I am doing (which I don't). 
 
3. I am confused by the following post 
 
Quote:

Originally Posted by ****  tried the line out? the HP out is a lot more aggressive, especially w/ the highest gain..

As I continued researching this, it appears many people recommend doing this, but I thought the HP amp in the card is what makes it such a good card... 
 

I am going nuts over all these settings and options etc. Heck, It took me probably a month of research just to decided on an op amp (I did the op2134) and just now I read a post that said the op amp may not actually be benefiting me because it doesn't affect digital or something like that (i may be completely wrong on the terminology)
 
I would be very grateful if someone could please offer me some sort of help on all of this. My brain is currently fried with all the info I am trying to process 

.
 
I should say that if I need to replace or change something $$ is not an issue, I just want the best sounding, best equipment for my situation. 
 

 

[proton007]

AFAIK, the volume control on the STX is digital. The impedance setting actually just affects the gain. So maybe higher impedance gives you a better gain and thus sounds better. Just set a gain value comfortable enough.
The STX has two (or more) outputs, apart from a headphone output. They are known as lineouts, and bypass the headphone amp. They're meant for speakers and amplifiers, and have a high output impedance, so not very suitable for low impedance headphones.
ASIO drivers basically provide a direct buffer to the soundcard, something like a DMA for memory. This enables your application to pass data directly to the soundcard, rather than the OS first and then the OS deciding where to pass the data. This can reduce latency if your CPU is working at higher loads, and ensure no data is dropped during sampling.
I've never changed opamps, but I'd say enjoy your music by keeping it simple, do not change everything at once.

 

[PurpleAngel]

Quote:

I am completely new to the high(er) end audio scene even though I have had these headphones since they launched. I have recently rebuilt my PC and want to make sure I am getting the best audio I can from this setup. After researching a LOT on this site I have found I am still completely lost on some things.
I am using the SRH940's and the Xonar Essence STX sound card. 
1. What in the #)$&@! heck is ASIO? I went to the ASIO site and it said really nothing that would help me. I keep seeing it referenced on this site with regards to sound quality so I am wondering if I should have it. I found the following which tells me nothing, and the larger post it references I cannot find.
Q: What's with kernel streaming, ASIO, and all that?
A: That's a larger topic discussed elsewhere, but the cards support both quite well. You should probably use them.
2. I have set the Asus Audio Center settings to the recommended settings listed in another forum, however the one setting that is proving difficult to understand is the gain setting. I looked on the Shure site and it said the impedance was 42ohms which under my understanding would mean that my gain should be set to "normal <64 ohms", however, I then saw someone else saying I should set it to high... So, which is it? I changed it to high and noticed that it sounds much better (in my untrained opinion), yet I am also cautious because of the warning that I could damage the headphones if I don't know what I am doing (which I don't). 
3. I am confused by the following post 
Quote:

Originally Posted by ****  tried the line out? the HP out is a lot more aggressive, especially w/ the highest gai

As I continued researching this, it appears many people recommend doing this, but I thought the HP amp in the card is what makes it such a good card... 
I am going nuts over all these settings and options etc. Heck, It took me probably a month of research just to decided on an op amp (I did the op2134) and just now I read a post that said the op amp may not actually be benefiting me because it doesn't affect digital or something like that (i may be completely wrong on the terminology)
I would be very grateful if someone could please offer me some sort of help on all of this. My brain is currently fried with all the info I am trying to process 

.
 
I should say that if I need to replace or change something $$ is not an issue, I just want the best sounding, best equipment for my situation. 

Go to the Brainbit website, they have third party software "Unified Xonar Drivers", which I believe contains ASIO.
I personally would leave the gain setting at "<64-Ohm". Not sure if the 64~300-ohm would damage the SRH940.
Some people do prefer to use the RCAs output for headphones, but you can not get any headphone surround sound features using the RCAs.
I believe op-amps (operational amplifiers) affect the signal after the DAC (Digital to Analog Converter) has changed the signal from digital (zeros & ones) to analog (wave).
I have found the program Foobar great for playing audio (music) files.

 

[stv014]

Quote:

Originally Posted by mspwj15 /img/forum/go_quote.gif
 
2. I have set the Asus Audio Center settings to the recommended settings listed in another forum, however the one setting that is proving difficult to understand is the gain setting. I looked on the Shure site and it said the impedance was 42ohms which under my understanding would mean that my gain should be set to "normal <64 ohms", however, I then saw someone else saying I should set it to high... So, which is it? I changed it to high and noticed that it sounds much better (in my untrained opinion), yet I am also cautious because of the warning that I could damage the headphones if I don't know what I am doing (which I don't). 

 
The gain setting changes the maximum output level (= how loud it can be). The highest option is about 7 Vrms unloaded, the middle one is 6 dB lower than that, and the low impedance mode is 18 dB lower. In other words, increasing it just allows for louder sound.