[IoIo]

Hello again Headfiers
I'm planning on buying a set of Sennheisers HD650.
Apart from the main rig (CDP and amp) I'm interested in enjoying myself with some decent listening via my PC.
My present soundcard is Creative SB Live 24bit. I've also found a good deal for a Hercules Fortissimo 4, which has quite promissing reviews over the internet (that is an upgrade option)
My question to you is the following: are any of these 2 soundcards able to decently drive the HD650? Or any other consumer soundcard within this price range (<5-60$)?
I must also mention that I'm only looking for a decent and enjoyable experience through this setup while I'm working at my PC, not a hi-end thrill. I understand the limitations (loudness, dynamic range, detail and so on) and accept them as they are.
Thank you for reading. I'm looking forward to your feedback.

 

[003]

No sound card is going to drive the 650s correctly. You need an amp. You should still get a new sound card anyway though, because the SB live 24-bit has very crappy sound quality.

 

[jagorev]

The best option would be a Chaintech AV710 ($25 or so) and a used CMOY or MINT or PIMETA amp from the FS forum.

Maybe the Turtle Beach Audio Advantage Micro could do the job? It's far from the best, but it seems to have a decent headphone jack.

 

[sgrossklass]

The Fortissimo 4 would apparently be a good option (the Live! 24-Bit needs some work with the hot end of a soldering iron to sound good, and then you /still/ need a good-quality software resampler), even if the VIA drivers don't have the best reputation. (That's no different for the AV-710.) In addition to that an amp is to be recommended. It needn't be anything too fancy, a simple unbuffered opamp based design with beefy voltage buffering and decently high operating voltage - like a well-made CMOY - should do just fine. (A mod of the card itself might also be an option provided you've got some experience with stuff like that - the headphone driving abilities of sound cards appear to be more restricted by insufficient power buffering than anything else. You may find 22 or 47 µF caps after each [+/-] voltage regulator, adding another 220 or 470µ each seems far from unreasonable.)

 

[ChiasticSlide]

Don't waste your money on an AV-710. Just wait until you can afford something better. Yes they are good value but the drivers suck. As was just mentioned, you have to resample to use kernel streaming or ASIO, and to a bitrate that isn't a multiple of 44.1khz. You may as well just use the ordinary 2 channel output on the AV-710 as one of the reasons why people use kernel streaming is to avoid kmixer resampling, so that is kind of mooted when you have to upsample anyways.

Get a card that can do kernel streaming/ASIO without resampling, has line-level output and use an amp. At the moment I'm using a Firestone Audio Cute Beyond with my HD600's and I'm pretty pleased with the sound, just can't wait to replace the soundcard and get a DAC.

 

[Xakepa]

Quote:

Originally Posted by ChiasticSlide As was just mentioned, you have to resample to use kernel streaming or ASIO, and to a bitrate that isn't a multiple of 44.1khz.

That's not true. You don't HAVE TO resample to use KS - you could, if you like to (I don't). One could use native 16-bit/44.1KHz PCM KS, as I do.

 

[ChiasticSlide]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Xakepa That's not true. You don't HAVE TO resample to use KS - you could, if you like to (I don't). One could use native 16-bit/44.1KHz PCM KS, as I do.

Why are you the only one that that works for? I can only use kernel streaming if I resample.

 

[Corrupt^]

If you're low on cash but need something decent, an audigy 4 perhaps? If you've got some more money, let's say around 100$ or 100 euros, go for the Creative X-Fi XtremeMusic.

They're quite decent those X-Fi's. Allthough high frequencies are not as enjoyable when using the CMSS3D function, but you can disable that quite easily.

 

[Samgotit]

Quote:

Originally Posted by ChiasticSlide Why are you the only one that that works for? I can only use kernel streaming if I resample.

He's not the only one podna.

It takes some tweaking, but all of the info is availble on this site. A lot of it is provided by posts from Xakepa.

OP,
I get a "good" level straight out of the AV-710 with the 650s, but an amp won't hurt. You may need to extend your budget a bit, but: AV-710 >>> A47 or CMOY is what I would do.

 

[Xakepa]

Thanks, Sam. I don't think I do anything special.

I'm running XP SP2 now with 4.73 Envy drivers from VIA and FB2000 0.91

You have to set FB to KS w/o resampler in DSP menu, providing 16 or 24 bit output (which is the same), and "2 channels" mode (not "2 hi-res")/PCM only/ auto sampling rate in Envy CP. You get music on both 1/2 and 7/8 plugs - from Envy on 1/2 and from Wolfson DAC on 7/8.

It's pretty simple.

 

[slwiser]

how about a M-Audio Transit or HagUSB?

One requries special drivers while one prefers special drivers.

 

[ChiasticSlide]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Xakepa Thanks, Sam. I don't think I do anything special. I'm running XP SP2 now with 4.73 Envy drivers from VIA and FB2000 0.91 You have to set FB to KS w/o resampler in DSP menu, providing 16 or 24 bit output (which is the same), and "2 channels" mode (not "2 hi-res")/PCM only/ auto sampling rate in Envy CP. You get music on both 1/2 and 7/8 plugs - from Envy on 1/2 and from Wolfson DAC on 7/8. It's pretty simple.

Awesome! The step I missed was setting the Audio Panel to Auto sample rate. Now if only some driver hacker could fix the problem with non-KS sounds interfering with KS from foobar.

 

[sgprater]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Xakepa One could use native 16-bit/44.1KHz PCM KS, as I do.

And as I do. Since CDs are 16-bit/44.1KHz PCM anyways, there's really not much reason to go beyond the native settings, unless A) you're listening to DVDs encoded at a higher bitrate, or B) you're doing your own audio recording.

(There are probably more reasons that I'm not aware of; but for listening to ripped CDs, the native settings should be just fine).