[proton007]

Quote:

I don't know either, I have only heard it from multiple owners of the HD280 that the low frequency responce in itself...in terms of real life quantity and presence is increased a good amount with a good amp past "baseline" (ipods etc)
 
I use an amp to rectify some problems with some of my headphones as well. To cool off the SRH440's harshness, and give it some more oomph and to add "weight" to my AKG K422's

 
To bring out the 'true' headphone characteristics, especially for headphones with wild impedance swings (and low to moderate overall impedance), I think a near-zero output impedance amp should be best.
To that effect, I'm not sure how well would a soundcard alone would work for the OP.
Typical "headphone out" can have some output impedance. Even the Xonar STX, that has a "dedicated" headphone amp, has a 10-11 Ohm output impedance.

 

[bowei006]

Quote:

 
To bring out the 'true' headphone characteristics, especially for headphones with wild impedance swings (and low to moderate overall impedance), I think a near-zero output impedance amp should be best.
To that effect, I'm not sure how well would a soundcard alone would work for the OP.
Typical "headphone out" can have some output impedance. Even the Xonar STX, that has a "dedicated" headphone amp, has a 10-11 Ohm output impedance.

The E5 has one,(near zero as measured by he who can not be named) although at higher volumes with IEM's, hissing still creeps in.

 

[proton007]

Quote:

The E5 has one,(near zero as measured by he who can not be named) although at higher volumes with IEM's, hissing still creeps in.

Ok, so I guess a Soundcard/DAC + Amp will be best.
But again, the OP hasn't told us about his budget, so its rather difficult to suggest.
Going by his choices, I think he wants something in ~$100-150 range?
How's the E17, I hope it doesn't sound strange?

 

[bowei006]

Quote:

Ok, so I guess a Soundcard/DAC + Amp will be best.
But again, the OP hasn't told us about his budget, so its rather difficult to suggest.
Going by his choices, I think he wants something in ~$100-150 range?
How's the E17, I hope it doesn't sound strange?

My experience says that most people that say an amp first...want to stick in that range and have no way of going higher. It's a large jump for most people to go from the $60 E11 to the $130-$150 E17

 

[GhostKage]

You guys are absolutely right! I should have added my budget. After Panda-sama's post I didn't expect anyone else to reply, its crazy how much discussing took place in a couple of hours! Currently, my main goal was to get rid of the background noise (buzzing and hissing when moving the mouse around or loading video games), improve sound quality and have an amp for my headphones. I decided to go with the E10 based on Panda-sama's recommendation. For now, this looks like it will satisfy all of my needs in one purchase. I assume it will sound good with my Klipsch since they are only 2.1 and I'm not looking for surround sound. (yet) In the future, (were talking in probably three years) I would eventually like to get a 5.1 or 7.1 home theater system, possibly developed my Klipsch hooked up to my computer for games, movies and music. Initially I was really only looking to spend maybe $30 at the most, as I started looking at the E6, but as I continued research I decided I would be willing to spend the extra money on the E10. The E17 looks cool, but for now it appears the E10 will do the trick, and I'm just not ready to part with $150 in one purchase.. 
 
So I suppose my budget is probably $80 at this point. In the future I would be interested in a sound card and I suppose I would want to go with one of the better ones. 
 
 
 

Asus Xonar DX or D1 sound card (used $50) or a used Titanium (non-HD) would be a good choice/value.

 
I'm definitely interested in possibly picking one of these up in the future. (After I have recovered from the E10) Would this be better than using the E10 for my headphones/klipsch 2.1 setup? I suppose I'm looking for the most bang for my buck, but then again who isn't? What is everyone's opinion on these cards?
 
So I guess in the end, will I notice a difference worth my money?
 
I'm upgrading from my on board audio on this motherboard: GigaByte GA-970A-D3 AMD 970 Socket AM3+ ATX Mainboard w On/Off Charge, 7.1 Audio, GbLAN.
 
The Klipsch speakers are plugged into the green audio out, and the headphones are plugged into the klipsch control pod.
 
What I have on the way is a FiiO E10 USB DAC Headphone Amplifier. I plan to plug the headphones into the headphone jack, and then have the speakers plugged into it as well. I read that the volume knob only works when headphones are plugged in. If this is true, that's exactly what I'm looking for. At this point surround sound isn't a factor, and it wont be for at least 3 years, maybe more depending on how happy I am with this setup.
 
So based on everything you guys have read, do you think I'm going to see an improvement over my current setup? I suppose if it eliminates the background humming I'll consider it worth it already, but it would still be cool to see a change in performance as well!
 
Thanks again everyone for all of your help and advice! This is really a cool forum!
 
Edit: My current on board audio is the Realtek HD Audio Manager.

 

[bowei006]

I suggested the E10, not really recommended as I dont have it. There are enough positive reviews on it though.
 
Why would you get another $50 dedicated sound after the E10?
 
The noise you hear may be caused by the onboard sound and or the speakers themselves. With my Logitech Z623's 200W RMS speakers, turning the volume up or down or even moving it and other things causes a background buzz sometimes...quite possibly due to the massive power I am controlling with that knob that controls the amp(400W total) 
 
You should get moderate succes in terms of sound quality improvement with the HD280's and a bit with the speakers through the line out I believe. The buzzing may be caused by the amp section of the klipsche like I said above but if it's caused by onboard, then the E10 should be able to rectify this.
 
The E10 will mainly serve to be a device you can use with your next headphones and also have a DAC already so you can hear and see the difference.
 
Did you buy from authorized dealer on Amaozon or their main site? Only they can guarantee you the newest batch(hopefully) and real goods.
 
If you didn't buy yet, there are other amp and DAC combo's at this price, although most aren't and haven't been as extensively used and reviewed as the E10 so it may be hard to really tell what is good or not.
 
If you really care for your wallet, treat the forums here as the "one ring" (lord of the rings reference) it will make you want to come back and spend more and more money. I kid you not. Blacklisting this site may even do........seriously..... I have spent ....so much more than intended and everything.

 

[GhostKage]

Yeah it said the dealer was 'fullfilled by amazon", so I assume that means it is an authorized dealer? If not it's not too late for my to change the order to a different dealer! I suspect the buzzing has to do with the on board audio, because I had these speakers plugged into a different computer before purchasing my new rig, and they didn't buzz or anything back then. So HOPEFULLY this DAC will fix this issue! So your saying I shouldn't bother getting the sound card then?
 
 
 

If you really care for your wallet, treat the forums here as the "one ring" (lord of the rings reference) it will make you want to come back and spend more and more money. I kid you not. Blacklisting this site may even do........seriously..... I have spent ....so much more than intended and everything.

 
I believe it.. When I first saw the Bowers & Wilkins P5 I was like, "$300? Ha. Ha. Ha. Never." the more I looked around here reading reviews I was telling my girlfriend how I might pick a pair up next month... >.> I might need to tell Comodo Dragon that this is an unsafe site. lol
 
Thanks for the help Panda-sama!
 
Edit: Yeah, I looked around and I figured I would go with the FiiO E10, looks like the safest bet in this price range, everything else I couldn't find much info on.

 

[bowei006]

Quote:

Yeah it said the dealer was 'fullfilled by amazon", so I assume that means it is an authorized dealer? If not it's not too late for my to change the order to a different dealer! I suspect it has to do with the on board audio, because I had these speakers plugged into a different computer before purchasing my new rig, and they didn't buzz or anything back then. So HOPEFULLY this DAC will fix this issue! So your saying I shouldn't bother getting the sound card then?
 
 
 
 
I believe it.. When I first saw the Bowers & Wilkins P5 I was like, "$300? Ha. Ha. Ha. Never." the more I looked around here reading reviews I was telling my girlfriend how I might pick a pair up next month... >.> I might need to tell Comodo Dragon that this is an unsafe site. lol
 
Thanks for the help Panda-sama!

No, I did warned you. Amazon sells fakes(not on purpose). It does not discriminate. The E10 isn't really known to be but the counterfeit operation is pretty strong. I listed three threads on this and also FiiOs own where to buy page. All full filled by amazon meas is that they ship it. Which doesn't mean much. Please do some company matching with the threads I gave you, and see if the company was on the black list. Buying from Authorized generally doesn't even cost more either.
 
Sometimes it doesn't buzz when you first get it with the amp being new I guess, mine didn't buzz as much at first.
 
Considering you bought an $80 E10, Unless you want surround sound like Purple was saying, you own't need it.
 
Oh and thanks I guess, you went a bit out of my zone of helping a bit but thankfully you didn't go too deep out of it so it works...

 

[XxDobermanxX]

Fiio e7 for the DAC amp combo but beware of fake or easily broken products

 

[GhostKage]

Well... I purchased it from SMICORP. They aren't on the black list, but they also are not on the on the official list by FiiO. I can request cancellation (I didn't think they would be preparing the item at 3AM on a Sunday... -.-) but I can't full out cancel it I suppose. What to do you think Panda-sama?
 
Edit: I cancelled it. Realised I made a mistake and even if it wasn't a fake it might be one of the older models. I'm going to purchase from an official seller! Thanks Panda-Sama!

 

[proton007]

Considering the cost of your headphones themselves I'd say its a reasonable purchase.
Once you're ready to upgrade your headphones, then you can think about a dedicated DAC/Amp.

 

[bowei006]

Quote:

Well... I purchased it from SMICORP. They aren't on the black list, but they also are not on the on the official list by FiiO. I can request cancellation (I didn't think they would be preparing the item at 3AM on a Sunday... -.-) but I can't full out cancel it I suppose. What to do you think Panda-sama?

I cancel products frequently, check to see they don't charge you anything, if they don't , then cancelling would be best.
 
Because FiiO

1. has released two or three E10 revisions, and only with authorized dealer can you guarantee that you are getting a good one with support
2. they have a counterfeight problem right now
3. Support
4. Warranty

I recommend MiccaStore and head direct. Micca is on amazon, harder to find
http://www.amazon.com/FiiO-E10-USB-Headphone-Amplifier/dp/B005VO7LG6/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1343030057&sr=8-1&keywords=FiiO+E10
 
I'm not sure why Micca has a lower price on Amazon and it's a bit weird. The Amazon page lists it as a device by gSI and second. The amazon micca is not the micca store. It is the micca distributor which sells micca items and items of other stores so how authorized or authentic it may be is also questioning. However I guess it is the closest....
 
I can't tell you much as I don't know about the store itself.

 

[GhostKage]

Yeah, that's what I figured. However, I couldn't justify the E17 at $150. That was more than my headphones! Haha..
 
Edit: I read your post Panda-sama. I purchased it from the Micca Distributor. Was the only one on Amazon that looked like it was the official seller.

 

[bowei006]

I'm not sure what is going on with Micca, you can definately call Micca and ask them what "Micca distributor" even is and why is it about $10 cheaper on Amazon?
 
Only Micca Store is authorized. Micca distro says it sells micca stuff and other things which may ....not be good. Other authorized dealers of FiiO have sub dealers that are known to have sold fakes(read the threads I first linked)
 
I think Micca distro is just the name so they can sell other things...but i'm still a bit worried that they may have...older stock or something
 
Bed now, I shall let the morning lurkers take over now!
Night!

 

[GhostKage]

Thanks again for all of the help! Good night!