[brosselle]

This might be a dumb question, but here goes.

I don't particularly like the headphone sound quality from my PC soundcard. Mostly the power level.

Would it make sense, as a "cheap" solution, to run the SPDIF output directly to a headphone amp. Is there a headphone amp that can do this?

And of course, would there be any benefit at all, or is this just a stupid idea?

My thinking was that I could bypass a lot of the analog circuitry in the soundcard this way.

Thanks,

Brett

 

[chych]

No such thing, SPDIF is a digital output, it is converted to analog at one point (I mean, our brains and ears hear analog soundwaves, not digital). Thus, a digital to analog convertor is required, then it is amplified. Amplifiers do not convert digital to analog, they just amplify analog signals.

You basically need a digital->analog convertor (DAC), then you can go to the headphone amplifier. One good DAC is the ART DI/O.

Problem is, I'm betting you have a soundblaster or a consumer card like that... most of those cards resample the digital output making it unbearable to listen to. The cheapest nonresampling card is the Audiophile 24/48 (or 24/96, not sure if the /48 does it) and it can be used for such situations, I have a 24/96 digitally outputting to my ART DI/O.

 

[brosselle]

Yep, Soundblaster.

Didn't think about the D/A part. Guess it wouldn't make much sense to have a D/A converter in a headphone amp.

USB would be another option, but you would still need the D/A conversion.

Hmmmm.....

Time for a better soundcard.

 

[lini]

chych: Uhm, excuse me, but why do you claim that there's no such thing? There are loads of such things - in form of usb-soundmodules with headphone output (SB Extigy...) or in form of a high quality headphone amp with integrated dac (there was a new model being posted here by somebody else, recently) or personal-amplifiers (Yamaha RP-U200...). Nevertheless, all your explanations were correct, so I wonder what lead you to your initial claim...

Wonderings from Munich!

Manfred / lini

 

[Audio-Me]

Upgrade sound card? Great, but why not upgrade software too?

Read through this guide, which covers both hardware and software, hope it helps. http://www.head-fi.org/forums/showth...&threadid=7941

If you look through some of the other threads on this amp & source forum, you'll see that chych, kelly, and others love the ART DI/O external digital to analog converter. They feel that it's on par with the converters of many $1000+ sources. I can't comment on this, but it shouldn't hurt to try this out. But I still highly recommend upgrading your sound card if you will be using your PC as your main source opposed to a dedicated home CD player.

Get an amp too! =)

chych - we hear analog signals?

, I thought soundwaves were from vibrations, not electrical current. I'm just messing with ya.

 

[chych]

Well lini, I was referring to "audiophile" dedicated headphone amps... I mean, of course there exists things that do everything, but they usually don't do everything well. Besides, he was talking about "headphone amps", not integrated recievers or "usb-soundmodules with headphone output " or whatnot.

As for USB, there are USB DACs like the Stereophile unit.

 

[chych]

Quote:

chych - we hear analog signals? , I thought soundwaves were from vibrations, not electrical current. I'm just messing with ya

Well, soundwaves are analog.. analog is not specific to electricity... here's a def from www.m-w.com: 2 a : of, relating to, or being a mechanism in which data is represented by continuously variable physical quantities ... data being the soundwaves, and soundwaves varying.

 

[Audio-Me]

Notice the last part of that comment. BTW, you said signal, hehe.

 

[brosselle]

OK, everybody play nice

...and thanks for all the info.

I have a SB Live and Sony V6.

What I am looking for is something that cost less than $500 to get my audio up to snuff with these headphones on my PC.

I love the headphones. They stay. I need to get more (and cleaner) audio into them from my PC.

If there is a decent headphone amp with a D/A converter, or a good usb solution in this range then that might be the way to go.

Another alternative would be a soundcard that can drive these headphones well with good quality.

Oh, and by the way...

USA 3
Russia 2

Great game guys !!!!!


Bring on Canada

 

[ai0tron]

Doesnt the Orpheus have a built in DAC?

 

[chych]

Holy smokes, it does ai0tron... I stand corrected... anyways back to things we can afford

I say go with a Stereolink USB DAC and a $300ish amp, like the MG Head OTL, or a Corda HA-1, and others in there...

 

[Audio-Me]

I don't know what you're expecting out of a usb sound card (that can drive headphones well?) or a headphone amp with a dac

, but if you want to go the external dac route, try the ART DI/O and a good headphone amp. Otherwise, upgrade your sound card to one of those mentioned in my guide, and also get yourself a decent headphone amp.

Which headphones are you using? If you have the Sennheiser HD580 or HD600, I highly recommedn the Antique Sound Lab MG Head headphone amp.

 

[kelly]

If and when I get "satisfied" with my home and work headphone systems, the PC sound system will surely be my next obsession.

I'm highly tempted to buy an ART DI/O for every digital device in my home. With old concert laserdiscs, it was just incredible. The improvement it provices to the DVDs I listen to in 2.0 is awesome, too. I imagine having one for the PC would be nice and then if I had something outputting digital at work, I could use a fourth. I'm sure it'd be great if I still had DSS too.

 

[brosselle]

This looks like (half of) the ticket right here. It's $169 on this site.

http://www.synthony.com/Products/audiophile.html

Does anybody have a link to their home page and/or some other retailers?


Thanks,

Brett

 

[Audio-Me]

kelly - don't underestimate the qualitys of the DACs on these high end sound cards, I think my Terratec EWS88D outputted from a breakoutbox sounds wonderful. Give them a try before deciding that you need another ART DI/O.