Soundcard/AMP Volume question
Aug 7, 2013 at 11:10 AM Thread Starter Post #1 of 10

renji1337

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I intend to hook up a schiit magni to a xonar dx which has a 100ohm 3.5mm ouput, i would go from 3.5mm to dual rca's into the amp
 
 
Do i put windows volume at 100% like with digital to send a full signal? or do i have to lower windows volume
 
Aug 7, 2013 at 11:21 AM Post #2 of 10
Usually it's best to set the volume to the highest possible, for feeding a analog audio signal into an amplifier.
And use the Magni knob for volume control/adjustment.
 
Aug 9, 2013 at 11:04 PM Post #3 of 10
alright. another question, is it bad to plug my fiio e5 into my soundcard? for my ultrasone pro 550's...i did some RMAA test with a loop and it said i was always clipping unless xonar dx volume was at 60-75%.
 
 
Actually i need clarification on how to set this up. I have a xonar dx that has only 3.5mm outs. a 100ohm output impedance. How should volume be set in windows? if i have it at 100% bass sounds horrid, it sounds distorted when plugged into the fiio e5 from my xonar dx.
 
 
Kinda confused on what to do. i dont want to upgrade to a new amp if it will still do this.
 
Aug 10, 2013 at 1:26 AM Post #4 of 10
Did you disable the motherboard's on-board audio? in the BIOS?
 
Guess you will need to set the volume on the Xonar DX to 60% to 75%.
 
You could try the "Xonar Unified Drivers", they are third party modified Xoner drivers.
Might(?) help with the volume situation.
 
I would assume the Schiit Magni would do a fairly bit better job of amplifying headphones, over the E5.
 
Aug 10, 2013 at 1:31 AM Post #5 of 10
The only thing i worry  about with the schiit magni is that my headphones are sensitivite and only 64ohms and yes onboard is disabled. and i have the modded drivers. i'm debating if i should ditch the xonar dx, maybe just get an STX and no magni but hmm. I dislike plugging right into my dx because the bass becomes horrible (100ohm output impedance)\
 
 
 
Also how would it be using my yamaha rx v467 receivers headphone dac/amp or whatever it has on it?
 
Aug 10, 2013 at 1:51 AM Post #6 of 10
Quote:
The only thing i worry about with the Schiit Magni is that my headphones are sensitivite and only 64ohms and yes on-board is disabled. and i have the modded drivers. I'm debating if i should ditch the Xonar DX, maybe just get an STX and no Magni but hmm. I dislike plugging right into my DX because the bass becomes horrible (100-Ohm output impedance)\
Also how would it be using my Yamaha RX-V467 receivers headphone dac/amp or whatever it has on it?

I think (guess) the Xonar DX high volume bass problem might have to do with the Fiio E5, not the DX.
The Schiit Magni's low output impedance, under 1-Ohm, should improve bass quality.
The Yamaha might do a decent job of driving the 64-Ohm headphones, run an analog cable from the Xonar DX's line-out jack (green) to the RCA inputs on the RX-V467, see if you like the sound.
 
If possible, have you tried running HDMI from your computer's graphics card, to the RX-V467?
 
Aug 10, 2013 at 2:08 AM Post #7 of 10
Quote:
I think (guess) the Xonar DX high volume bass problem might have to do with the Fiio E5, not the DX.
The Schiit Magni's low output impedance, under 1-Ohm, should improve bass quality.
The Yamaha might do a decent job of driving the 64-Ohm headphones, run an analog cable from the Xonar DX's line-out jack (green) to the RCA inputs on the RX-V467, see if you like the sound.
 
If possible, have you tried running HDMI from your computer's graphics card, to the RX-V467?

I run HDMI for to my receiver for my speakers currently yes.
 
Aug 10, 2013 at 11:55 PM Post #8 of 10
also, with the schiit magni would i be able to have my xonar dx volume at 100% unlike with the fiio e5 where i have it at 75%? Does the fiio e5 not like the full 2vrms from the xonar dx?
 
 
 
1. FiiO E5 - windows volume at 100/individual speaker settings at 76 - AMP volume was adjusted according to the input volume and it was reporting distortion even before the test begun (and no, the FiiO was not plugged in)
2. FiiO E5 - windows volume at 50/individual speaker settings at 76 - AMP volume was at MAX and the input volume was reported to be -7.0db
3. FiiO E5 - windows volume at 70/individual speaker settings at 76 - AMP volume was close to MAX and the input volume was the recommended -1.0db
4. Standard loopback (no amp), windows volume at 100/individual speaker settings at 76 (anything higher and the input volume clips)
 
 
 

 
Aug 11, 2013 at 2:00 AM Post #9 of 10
Quote:
Also, with the Schiit Magni would i be able to have my Xonar DX volume at 100% unlike with the Fiio E5 where i have it at 75%? Does the Fiio E5 not like the full 2vrms from the Xonar DX?

I'm just making a guess(?) at what might be wrong, think my brain is maxed out on what might be wrong.
 
Aug 11, 2013 at 2:02 AM Post #10 of 10
Quote:
I run HDMI for to my receiver for my speakers currently yes.

Have you tried plugging the headphones into the Yamaha?
With the input select on the Yamaha to the HDMI.
How does it sound?
 

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