Sound card questions

[redstar]

Hello,

I currently have a standard Creative X-fi card in my pc. What sort of headphones can this power? I was thinking of purchasing some Beyer DT770 80ohms but not sure if my sound card would act as an amp to push these towards full potential. If the X-fi can infact power headphones proply, how high could I go?

In regards to the 'Asus Xonar Essence STX Sound Card' what sort of headphones can this power?

Apologies for my little understanding on this matter, hope some1 can help.

 

[zeroibis]

The X-FI should power those ok but they will sound better with an amp. The Essence STX will power pretty much anything you try to use and will sound a lot better with out an amp compared to the X-FI. Logically you can always improve with the addition of a good desktop amp.

 

[redstar]

Thanks for your reply. Can you point me in the right direction of a desktop amp that would work great with either of these cards? Would you suggest its wise for me to go for the 80 version instead of the 250 version of the DT770.

Cheers.