[harryyeo]

Quote:

Or the opamps aren't seated properly

 
Sadly they were.
Luckily. I had other opamps to use.
Bought a batch of THS4032 so I replaced the LME49990MAs with them.
And. It's now fixed.

 

[elwappo99]

Quote:

 
Sadly they were.
Luckily. I had other opamps to use.
Bought a batch of THS4032 so I replaced the LME49990MAs with them.
And. It's now fixed.

 
Did you put them in the I/V slots? How do you like them?

 

[harryyeo]

Quote:

 
Did you put them in the I/V slots? How do you like them?

 
All the available slots actually.
Hopefully that's okay, but after a whole day of usage, there seem to be no problems.
 
As I'm a noob when it comes to descriptions all I can say is. I LOVE WHAT I AM HEARING.

As a futile attempt to try to describe what I am hearing, wider soundstage, better clarity, and better instrument separation. (If this looks foreign to you just look at the summary above)

 

[WiR3D]

Quote:

 
All the available slots actually.
Hopefully that's okay, but after a whole day of usage, there seem to be no problems.
 
As I'm a noob when it comes to descriptions all I can say is. I LOVE WHAT I AM HEARING.

As a futile attempt to try to describe what I am hearing, wider soundstage, better clarity, and better instrument separation. (If this looks foreign to you just look at the summary above)

the imaging is probably their strongest suit, I'm running 3x THS4032 at the moment too. 
 
Still curious to a hear a comparison between them and the LME49990. Compared to the AD797 it loses out just a little in soundstage depth, but makes up for it in a smoother presentation with tons of speed and slightly better imaging.

 

[harryyeo]

Quote:

the imaging is probably their strongest suit, I'm running 3x THS4032 at the moment too. 
 
Still curious to a hear a comparison between them and the LME49990. Compared to the AD797 it loses out just a little in soundstage depth, but makes up for it in a smoother presentation with tons of speed and slightly better imaging.

 
 
Can't really compare between LME49990 on my end since my set can only hear the right channel.
Maybe when I purchase another set of LME49990s and fix them in.
But my wallet has taken some serious damage and I can't afford them atm.
(And I friggin lazy to take the sound card out again)

 

[elwappo99]

So the way to run 3x THS4032 is to get something like this  and put them on top? How do they fit? Do the pins slide in or do they need soldering? 

 

[harryyeo]

Quote:

So the way to run 3x THS4032 is to get something like this  and put them on top? How do they fit? Do the pins slide in or do they need soldering? 

 
Solder the THS4032 on top of the adaptor. Once done, just align it properly onto the soundcard's socket and push it in.
I'm lazy so i just get the pre-soldered ones off ebay.

 

[Kjeldsen]

Are you guys running straight out of the headphone out, or have you felt a need for external amping (Depends on the headphones i imagine)? If so, what headphones have you felt a need to amp externally?
 
Cheers!

 

[derbigpr]

Quote:

Are you guys running straight out of the headphone out, or have you felt a need for external amping (Depends on the headphones i imagine)? If so, what headphones have you felt a need to amp externally?
 
Cheers!

 
I've used many headphones with my ST, and while it was sufficient to power all of them to sound good, and get loud enough, I've always felt the sound was congested, soundstage small, bass not punchy enough and highs harsh in comparison to plugging headphones into head amps, receivers or integrated amps. Right now I'm using Onkyo A-5VL integrated amp with all my headphones, ranging from low impedance Ultrasone HFi2400 to 600Ohm DT880's, and it sounds noticeably better than when plugged into ST, and there's much more power and headroom available.

 

[DamageInc77]

Quote:

Are you guys running straight out of the headphone out, or have you felt a need for external amping (Depends on the headphones i imagine)? If so, what headphones have you felt a need to amp externally?
 
Cheers!

I run my Denon AH-D2000 straight out of the headphones jack, but for my LCD-2 I have to run it with my external amp.
 
The Essence ST and STX will run almost any headphones fine except for inefficient orthodynamic headphones, ie Hifiman and Audeze headphones.

 

[Kjeldsen]

Quote:

I run my Denon AH-D2000 straight out of the headphones jack, but for my LCD-2 I have to run it with my external amp.
 
The Essence ST and STX will run almost any headphones fine except for inefficient orthodynamic headphones, ie Hifiman and Audeze headphones.

 
 

 
I've used many headphones with my ST, and while it was sufficient to power all of them to sound good, and get loud enough, I've always felt the sound was congested, soundstage small, bass not punchy enough and highs harsh in comparison to plugging headphones into head amps, receivers or integrated amps. Right now I'm using Onkyo A-5VL integrated amp with all my headphones, ranging from low impedance Ultrasone HFi2400 to 600Ohm DT880's, and it sounds noticeably better than when plugged into ST, and there's much more power and headroom available.
 

 
 I was planning on getting a pair of HE-400's. Guess i'll be looking at an amp aswell. Gotta love this forum : ) Thanks.

 

[stv014]

I would also add some of the IEMs that are either very sensitive (audible hiss) or are significantly affected by output impedance (balanced armatures) as "problematic" for the Xonar ST/STX.
 
The HE-400 is relatively efficient for an orthodynamic headphone, so it would work reasonably well from your card. The LCD-2 and maybe the HE-500 could be usable ones, too. Although none of these are "perfect", as the TPA6120 has relatively high distortion driving inefficient low impedance loads, but it is still expected to be within the low 0.0x% range for the LCD-2. For most headphones below 100 Ω, the O2 is technically an improvement, but not necessarily an audible one.

 

[derbigpr]

Quote:

 
 
 
 I was planning on getting a pair of HE-400's. Guess i'll be looking at an amp aswell. Gotta love this forum : ) Thanks.

 
Probably. IMHO when going for headphones like HE-400's, or any of the K701, DT880/990, HD600/650 range, even some below that, even though power wouldn't be an issue, sound quality of the headphone output will hold such headphone back.

 

[Kjeldsen]

Quote:

I would also add some of the IEMs that are either very sensitive (audible hiss) or are significantly affected by output impedance (balanced armatures) as "problematic" for the Xonar ST/STX.
 
The HE-400 is relatively efficient for an orthodynamic headphone, so it would work reasonably well from your card. The LCD-2 and maybe the HE-500 could be usable ones, too. Although none of these are "perfect", as the TPA6120 has relatively high distortion driving inefficient low impedance loads, but it is still expected to be within the low 0.0x% range for the LCD-2. For most headphones below 100 Ω, the O2 is technically an improvement, but not necessarily an audible one.

 
I have audible hissing with my current Denon D1100 headphones on the ST. I was wondering about that. So you're saying that i wouldn't experience any hissing with the HE-400's, them being relatively effecient and having low impedance?

 

[Kjeldsen]

Quote:

 
Probably. IMHO when going for headphones like HE-400's, or any of the K701, DT880/990, HD600/650 range, even some below that, even though power wouldn't be an issue, sound quality of the headphone output will hold such headphone back.

 
I'm positive you're right about that. I've started reading up on what kind of entry-level desktop amps that'll satisfy something like HE-400.