intel8052
New Head-Fier
- Joined
- Jun 7, 2012
- Posts
- 13
- Likes
- 10
Hi all, new here and hopefully this issue hasn't been beat into the ground, but I haven't found too much on the subject. (edit - Apologies for the long winded first post!)
Long story short - I'm in the market for a sound card in order to move away from using my on board sound. Coincidentally I have also been considering a buying pair of open can headphones. I figure why not kill two birds with one stone and plan both purchases simultaneously so they compliment each other fairly well.
I'm currently deciding between an ASUS Xonar DG and a Xonar DX. Disregarding the $60 price difference - From what I can tell the DG offers a headphone amp while the DX offers a better signal processor (but lacks the headphone amp). Which would be better suited for mixed headphone/surround use? (note: details on use cases below). I'm also open to other recommendations.
To get it out of the way - I'm not looking to spend a ton of money on a sound card (hoping to stay <$100). I am fairly content with running through on board sound though I would like to upgrade a bit; maybe I just don't know what I'm missing.
Additional information:
Current audio equipment:
Surround sound - Logitech Z-5500 (will be upgraded as funds become available, it was fine back in college but now I want something 'a bit' nicer)
Headphones - Sennheiser HD280-Pro
As it stands right now, my Headphone-to-surround use is somewhere around a 60/40 split. This used to be (and will probably eventually return to) a 90/10 split, 90% headphone use, so headphones are my preferred audio source. This only changed in the first place because I've recently found myself with company in the room while I listen to music or play games so I figure I should take the phones off and be a bit social
But I digress.
For the headphones I've settled on either the ATH-AD700s or AD900s, leaning towards the AD900s; I'm also open to recommendations here... I know that neither of these phones require an amplified signal, however I have also read that they do benefit from one (punchier/stronger bass, better SQ, etc).
So that brings me to my question: Which would be a better option for a sound card?
I guess it would be good to note that it's more convenient for me to plug my phones into the surround sound receiver so that is a preference, but it's a very minor convenience that I could definitely do without. If I could get much better SQ out of my headphones by using the headphone port on the computer itself I'll gladly go that route.
Long story short - I'm in the market for a sound card in order to move away from using my on board sound. Coincidentally I have also been considering a buying pair of open can headphones. I figure why not kill two birds with one stone and plan both purchases simultaneously so they compliment each other fairly well.
I'm currently deciding between an ASUS Xonar DG and a Xonar DX. Disregarding the $60 price difference - From what I can tell the DG offers a headphone amp while the DX offers a better signal processor (but lacks the headphone amp). Which would be better suited for mixed headphone/surround use? (note: details on use cases below). I'm also open to other recommendations.
To get it out of the way - I'm not looking to spend a ton of money on a sound card (hoping to stay <$100). I am fairly content with running through on board sound though I would like to upgrade a bit; maybe I just don't know what I'm missing.
Additional information:
Current audio equipment:
Surround sound - Logitech Z-5500 (will be upgraded as funds become available, it was fine back in college but now I want something 'a bit' nicer)
Headphones - Sennheiser HD280-Pro
As it stands right now, my Headphone-to-surround use is somewhere around a 60/40 split. This used to be (and will probably eventually return to) a 90/10 split, 90% headphone use, so headphones are my preferred audio source. This only changed in the first place because I've recently found myself with company in the room while I listen to music or play games so I figure I should take the phones off and be a bit social
For the headphones I've settled on either the ATH-AD700s or AD900s, leaning towards the AD900s; I'm also open to recommendations here... I know that neither of these phones require an amplified signal, however I have also read that they do benefit from one (punchier/stronger bass, better SQ, etc).
So that brings me to my question: Which would be a better option for a sound card?
- Xonar DG - And use the (amplified) headphone port on the computer itself to power my headphones?
- Xonar DX - And run the 6-channel direct analog audio to my surround sound receiver, then run the headphones out of the surround receiver? (note - I'm not exactly sure what amplification the Z5500 receiver provides to the headphones and for all I know this would actually degrade SQ).
- or something else entirely...
I guess it would be good to note that it's more convenient for me to plug my phones into the surround sound receiver so that is a preference, but it's a very minor convenience that I could definitely do without. If I could get much better SQ out of my headphones by using the headphone port on the computer itself I'll gladly go that route.
