[Zeldex]

I heard that to properly use this headset I need an amp or USB sound card to drive it because of the 150 ohms it has. I use a Lenovo Y480 laptop. Is the Asus Xonar U3 good with the PC 350? Is the X-Fi HD USB better? I would like some suggestions. Thanks!

 

[ender323]

Quote:

I heard that to properly use this headset I need an amp or USB sound card to drive it because of the 150 ohms it has. I use a Lenovo Y480 laptop. Is the Asus Xonar U3 good with the PC 350? Is the X-Fi HD USB better? I would like some suggestions. Thanks!

Yeah, 150ohm impedance should have an amp. What's your budget? I'd go with a lower-end, portable amp-no real need for a DAC. The U3 lacks the kind of power you need-I'd say FiiO E11, JDS Labs CMoy BB, or a C&C BH.

 

[Zeldex]

My budget is up to about 150 dollars. Thanks for the suggestions. However the amps/soundcards are mostly going to be used for gaming in FPS but it would be good if it could give me good sound quality for my music as well.

 

[tkang]

My company provides these headphones and everyone I've seen (including myself) uses them directly from their desktops/Thinkpad T430s/MacBooks without any problems. From my desktop I don't think I ever put the volume setting above 30%. So I don't think an amp is necessary if you want to save some money.

 

[Zeldex]

I have tested the headset on my laptop and the volume has no issues. But I really want surround sound on this headset and I don't know what USB soundcard to choose. The Asus Xonar U3 really appeals to me but if I use it will it replace my on board soundcard?

 

[tkang]

I've never used the Xonar U3 before but unless you have some exotic setup it should work fine. You might have to change the default soundcard on your OS though.
 
That being said, I suspect that the "surround sound" is going to be some software manipulation so you'll probably have to install some program to get that to work; and if so, it'll probably only work on windows.

 

[grandpatzer]

Quote:

My company provides these headphones and everyone I've seen (including myself) uses them directly from their desktops/Thinkpad T430s/MacBooks without any problems. From my desktop I don't think I ever put the volume setting above 30%. So I don't think an amp is necessary if you want to save some money.

So I have a Xonar DX should I connect the PC 350 SE to the soundcard or do I get more from buying a Amplifier?