[Alexi384]

TO-99 to 8-pin DIP Adapter
http://cimarrontechnology.com/to-99to8-pindipadapterpn020601-1.aspx

 

[drez]

Just the opposite Kurashima!  OPA2107AP are forward as hell and harsh in the treble IMO.  Their sole party trick is exaggerated dynamics and some serious PRAT (IMO).  They do have more bass, it is very tight and punchy bass and you might like how they liven up the music.  But overall I greatly preferred the OPA2111 at least with my Grado RS1i as it is less forward, harsh and just sounds more natural, even though the bass is not as super-tight as OPA2107AP.  OPA2111 treble is far less forward and not harsh at all, and dynamics and PRAT are good is not at same level as 2107 - but 2111 is still way better than any other IC opamp I have tried.

 

[Kurashima]

Quote:

Just the opposite Kurashima!  OPA2107AP are forward as hell and harsh in the treble IMO.  Their sole party trick is exaggerated dynamics and some serious PRAT (IMO).  They do have more bass, it is very tight and punchy bass and you might like how they liven up the music.  But overall I greatly preferred the OPA2111 at least with my Grado RS1i as it is less forward, harsh and just sounds more natural, even though the bass is not as super-tight as OPA2107AP.  OPA2111 treble is far less forward and not harsh at all, and dynamics and PRAT are good is not at same level as 2107 - but 2111 is still way better than any other IC opamp I have tried.

Thanks for the advice! I ended up also ordering a pair of OPA2111KP and 2137P op-amps. They're all cheap enough that it's worth having them to play around with and see which ones I end up liking most.
 
 

 

[drez]

No worries enjoy opamp rolling the stx - it gave me less trouble than the essence st I'm using now maybe because pcie bus is less noisy than pci bus?  This popping noise when using wasapi and terminal glitching when using ASIO is really annoying me.  Are there any decent version 6 drivers?  I wish I still had my STX... no problems there...

 

[audiofreak81]

If you want to find op-amps of any kind try this website.
 
 
http://www.newark.com/national-semiconductor/lme49860na-nopb/ic-audio-amplifier-class-ab-dip/dp/53M0338?in_merch=Popular%20Products&in_merch=Popular%20Products&MER=PPSO_N_C_EverywhereElse_None

 

[Browx]

Hi.
 
Is it possible to try somehow a Psyko 5.1 headphone with my Xonar STX?
( http://www.psykoaudio.com/index.php/Carbon.html )
Can I use 5.1 headphones with STX or I have to sell it and have to buy another sound card?
(I really don't want to do this!)  

 

[drez]

short answer no.  you can with ST with additional add-on board (the H6) but not with STX.  Guess you could buy an essence ST plus the H6 of you don't want to go backwards in sound quality.  You could also try dolby virtual headphone or a similar surround sound emulator.  Either way I'm guessing the gaming headset sound quality wont be up to good 2 channel headphones musically speaking anyway so the ST+H6 will probably be wasted if you're using the headset exclusively.

 

[chinesekiwi]

Quote:

Hi.
 
Is it possible to try somehow a Psyko 5.1 headphone with my Xonar STX?
( http://www.psykoaudio.com/index.php/Carbon.html )
Can I use 5.1 headphones with STX or I have to sell it and have to buy another sound card?
(I really don't want to do this!)  

 
5.1 headsets are always trash really. You are better off buying a stereo (normal) headphone and then using Dolby Headphone.
 
 

 

[scutzi128]

Hey I will be using the headphone out port on my stx to my external headroom micro amp and I was wondering what I should set the impedance setting to? Does it really matter?

 

[spork42]

 
[size=medium]

I would think that you would be better served by using the line outs when using an external amplifier.
 
Otherwise you are chaining headphone amps, which can't be a good thing.
 
You would also gain some flexibility in tweaking the sound by changing the opamp at the buffer stage, too.
​

[/size]


Quote:

Hey I will be using the headphone out port on my stx to my external headroom micro amp and I was wondering what I should set the impedance setting to? Does it really matter?

 

[bluelans]

nice tips , thanks it help me a lot

 

[scutzi128]

 
Quote:

 

I would think that you would be better served by using the line outs when using an external amplifier.
 
Otherwise you are chaining headphone amps, which can't be a good thing.
 
You would also gain some flexibility in tweaking the sound by changing the opamp at the buffer stage, too.
​

That's what I was originally planning on doing but I am already using the line outs for a pair of speakers. I also would like to use the dolby headhone feature with games and that is not available via line out as far as I know.

 

[spork42]

The Headroom Micro has its own line out, so you would have that option if connecting the Xonar's line out to the Micro.
 
I did not know about the Dolby Headphone issue when using line out, however.  I am assuming you are using the ATH-AD700s for gaming with Dolby Headphone?  Why not use the Xonar's headphone amplifier when gaming, and use the Xonar's line out for Xonar >> Micro >> Micro LO >> Speakers for music and everything else?
 
As far as I know, no headphone amplifier is designed to be chained, but many or even most will not suffer damage (at least in the short term) when chained.  That said, damage is still always a possibility when using an amplifier in this way, which is why I generally shy away from it.  Also, keep in mind that while the synergy of the two amps may work out, no combination is guaranteed to help sound quality either, until tested.  You may very well find that the Xonar's amplifier alone sounds better than using the Micro after it in the chain, even if the Micro is the better amp.
 
As such, I suppose you can try it out, but I would do so by setting the Xonar to a fairly low volume at first to see if distortion is present.  I would also set the gain on the Micro to low since the input will already have a far higher gain than a line level source.

 

[matbhuvi]

ohh dolby headphone not available via line out?..that's a bummer. I planned to use with an amp..looks like i need to use amp only for music and not for gaming..

 

[germanium]

Quote:

The Headroom Micro has its own line out, so you would have that option if connecting the Xonar's line out to the Micro.
 
I did not know about the Dolby Headphone issue when using line out, however.  I am assuming you are using the ATH-AD700s for gaming with Dolby Headphone?  Why not use the Xonar's headphone amplifier when gaming, and use the Xonar's line out for Xonar >> Micro >> Micro LO >> Speakers for music and everything else?
 
As far as I know, no headphone amplifier is designed to be chained, but many or even most will not suffer damage (at least in the short term) when chained.  That said, damage is still always a possibility when using an amplifier in this way, which is why I generally shy away from it.  Also, keep in mind that while the synergy of the two amps may work out, no combination is guaranteed to help sound quality either, until tested.  You may very well find that the Xonar's amplifier alone sounds better than using the Micro after it in the chain, even if the Micro is the better amp.
 
As such, I suppose you can try it out, but I would do so by setting the Xonar to a fairly low volume at first to see if distortion is present.  I would also set the gain on the Micro to low since the input will already have a far higher gain than a line level source.

One problem with using the headphone amp to drive anouther amp is that the headphone amp on the Essense ST/STX is that the headphone amp has a fair amount of D.C. offset, This can be a major problem if you hook it up to a high gain D.C. coupled amp (more than 4X gain) as the D.C. will be amplified in this scenerio to potentially damaging levels. Do not use the front panel speaker out in this fashion eiter as it uses the headphone amp as well. Use only the RCA jacks at the rear to drive anouther amp if you do not know what protections the following amp has to protect against D.C. offset.
 
You will notice in my profile almost all my amps are modded to be  D.C. coupled including the line out of the Essense STX card (exception being the SACD player). Due to the very low D.C. offset of the line out amp on the sound card & low output impedance D.C. coupling the line out can actually reduce the D.C. offset at the output of any amp the follows it incuding D.C. coupled ones as many have at least some D.C. offset coming out its input jack which by D.C. coupling the line out of the card the line out will sink most of the D.C. offset coming out the input of the following amp bringing the D.C. offset down to its level.