[januse1]

Well hello there folks, my name is mr. noob aka no's absolutely nothing about actual sound.
 
I just bought my very first set of quality headphones EVER. I bought me some Beyerdynamics DT880's 600ohms. Now i realize i need an amp to drive these bad boys. I currently do a lot of gaming on PC/ps3/360 plus love listening to music, so as far as the pc goes, i dont even have a sound card yet. Can you guys please steer me in the right direction, or preferably just tell me what i need to get so i can actually get use out of these DT880's on my consoles and pc?
 
Is there one amp that lets me plug into everything? do i need to buy separate amps for each device. This noob needs schooling, so go easy on me

 

[Hooster]

Sounds like you are ripe for some kind of Fiio product. I am sure someone who knows more about them than I do will tell you exactly which one. Have a look at their page and the descriptions...

 

[januse1]

Any sound card recommendations?

 

[Quelch]

Are you playing music from your desktop/laptop computer or from CD player
 
What price range are you comfortable with for a headphone amplifier
 
Playing music from a computer you will probably need a DAC/amplifier combo
 
More questions than answers,I know but it should help others give you some advice !

 

[januse1]

Quote:

Are you playing music from your desktop/laptop computer or from CD player
 
What price range are you comfortable with for a headphone amplifier
 
Playing music from a computer you will probably need a DAC/amplifier combo
 
More questions than answers,I know but it should help others give you some advice !

well i play music mostly from the pc, some people been telling me about the XONAR STX because it already has an amp and DAC built in or something? im not sure if that will allow me to use my dt880's on ps3/360

 

[sphinxvc]

Get an affordable one box solution (DAC/amp combo) w/ optical and USB in.  Optical for your consoles and USB for your PC.  I'm not sure what the current FOTM product is, but I'm sure you can't go wrong compared to what you have.

 

[januse1]

Quote:

Get an affordable one box solution (DAC/amp combo) w/ optical and USB in.  Optical for your consoles and USB for your PC.  I'm not sure what the current FOTM product is, but I'm sure you can't go wrong compared to what you have.

If i get one of those fiio things, do i still need to buy a sound card on top of all that?

 

[sphinxvc]

You're looking for a couple of things...something that can take optical digital audio from your consoles, or USB digital audio from your computer, and convert that into dope analogue audio, and then something to amplify that, and feed it to your headphones.
 
You'll need 2 things to achieve this:
 
      1) A decent digital-to-analogue converter or what's commonly known as a "DAC" with the both optical and USB inputs.
 
      2) A headphone amplifier  
 
You could get separate components to do all this, but for the sake of simplicity and cost, it's probably more effective or you to get something that combines DAC and amplifier.
 
NOTE: A soundcard usually has these features, but because it sits in the noisy innards of your computer, a sound card is generally a bad idea.
 
Instead, here's a desktop unit that fits all your criteria:
 
http://www.nuforce.com/index.php?option=com_k2&view=item&layout=item&id=26&Itemid=189
 
Here's a portable option:
 
http://www.leckertonaudio.com/products/uha-6s-mkii/
 
Now you know what you need, and what you need to look/ask for.