stv014
Headphoneus Supremus
- Joined
- Jul 17, 2011
- Posts
- 3,493
- Likes
- 273
Quote:
That is not the main reason why using an external amplifier may sound better. First, the digital volume control on the card has 24 bit resolution, so there is no real loss of information from the 16 bit source unless the volume is set really low. Second, if the noise floor of the card is inaudible with the headphones (this is possible with the Xonar DX/HD 280 Pro combination, if there are no significant interference issues, and not using the front panel), then the digital volume control is not a problem. The FiiO E9 is a noisy amplifier, so it may even be worse in this aspect.
But with a noisy card (or especially onboard audio, which combines digital volume control with poor SNR), using an amplifier for controlling the volume does make sense.
An external amplifier might be worth using because the analog output stage of the sound card may not be great for directly driving headphones, even if it has good quality as a line output. In the case of the Xonar D1/DX (and probably also D2/D2X), the problem is mainly a very high 100 Ohm output impedance. This does affect the bass response of the HD280 Pro audibly; although since these headphones have a "hole" in the mid-bass response, high output impedance does not necessarily make them sound worse, but definitely different.
Originally Posted by Roller /img/forum/go_quote.gif
tgcujo, if you have the soundcard volume set to some form of attenuation, you are effectively lowering the output quality due to a reduction of dynamic range that occurs with digital volume being lowered. If you have fully unattenuated volume from the source, you can then adjust volume through an amp or some other volume controller, as that volume that reaches the amp will carry the full audio signal quality.
That is not the main reason why using an external amplifier may sound better. First, the digital volume control on the card has 24 bit resolution, so there is no real loss of information from the 16 bit source unless the volume is set really low. Second, if the noise floor of the card is inaudible with the headphones (this is possible with the Xonar DX/HD 280 Pro combination, if there are no significant interference issues, and not using the front panel), then the digital volume control is not a problem. The FiiO E9 is a noisy amplifier, so it may even be worse in this aspect.
But with a noisy card (or especially onboard audio, which combines digital volume control with poor SNR), using an amplifier for controlling the volume does make sense.
An external amplifier might be worth using because the analog output stage of the sound card may not be great for directly driving headphones, even if it has good quality as a line output. In the case of the Xonar D1/DX (and probably also D2/D2X), the problem is mainly a very high 100 Ohm output impedance. This does affect the bass response of the HD280 Pro audibly; although since these headphones have a "hole" in the mid-bass response, high output impedance does not necessarily make them sound worse, but definitely different.