[tfarina]

Hi guys!!!
 
Since i bought my config I "fall in love" to chase the best sound for gaming.
I have an Asus DX and Audio Technica ATH AD700 and I wanna improve my audio statio for gaming and few music usage.
 
First I pretend to maintain my sound card and buy a new fiio e9. maybe i can buy new headphones.
 
What do you recommend me?
 
Thanks

 

[cel4145]

If you think you might like tube amp sound, save a little more and get the Little Dot I+. Here's a thread to learn more. It's designed for low impedance headphones, and it would work well with the DX and your AD700s. I just got mine, upgraded the tubes, and am using it with my ATH-A900X with a Xonar STX providing the sound. Love it! I like it much more than the sound that my FiiO E17 provides. 

 

[stv014]

Quote:

Originally Posted by tfarina /img/forum/go_quote.gif
 
Since i bought my config I "fall in love" to chase the best sound for gaming.
I have an Asus DX and Audio Technica ATH AD700 and I wanna improve my audio statio for gaming and few music usage.
 
First I pretend to maintain my sound card and buy a new fiio e9. maybe i can buy new headphones.

 
While the Xonar DX has no headphone amplifier, the most improvement would be made by new headphones, even if at a higher cost than a FiiO amplifier. Note that Little Dot amplifiers have been reported to be prone to ground loop issues, so you may possibly get interference with one even if you did not with the sound card alone.

 

[ostewart]

Check out the soundmagic HP200 for gaming and music

 

[tfarina]

I don´t know anything about sound system. But I love my combo DX+Ad700 and I want to improve it.
 
I heard that DAC of the DX is great and I need a great amp to complete the combo, isn´t it? Or not too great?
That the DAC of the DX is the same of STX
 
I live in Brazil, here is too difficult to find models and brands. I have a sister in England and Maybe I can buy a Beyer DT880 (or other better suggestion on this or lower price, but i saw on some topics that this is one of the best) from UK. But to change my headphone I depend the price of the new one.
 
 
So you say that a new headphone is better to dx over a Amp?
 
Maybe i need to change my question. What can I do to improve sound performance on gaming? An amp or new headphone?
The only thing that I can´t change now is soundcard. But I thonking to improve slowly, maybe buy Fiio now and next year an headphone or first headphone, I don´t know.

 

[stv014]

Quote:

Originally Posted by tfarina /img/forum/go_quote.gif
 
That the DAC of the DX is the same of STX

 
The DAC is actually not the same (CS4398 on the DX, and PCM1792A on the STX), but the upgrade to the STX is not worth it for the DAC alone.
 
Quote:

Maybe i need to change my question. What can I do to improve sound performance on gaming? An amp or new headphone?

 
A FiiO E11 or similar amplifier would make some difference, especially in the bass response, but not a large difference. It would cost less than better headphones, though, and may also be useful later if you replace the AD700, because other models could benefit from the FiiO more. For a headphone upgrade, you could try:
- Q701: it is said to be a great gaming headphone, but is not cheap, and is much harder to drive than the ATH-AD700, and you may easily find the Xonar DX underpowered without an amplifier
- HD598: another good gaming headphone, and cheaper than the Q701; the Xonar DX would have enough power, but the high output impedance would make the bass audibly "boomier" and less controlled
- DT990 Pro: good for immersion gaming, with boosted bass and treble (maybe too much for some people) and large sound stage, and for a slightly lower cost than the HD598, it is a good value for the money; the Xonar DX could be marginal on power, but not as badly as with the Q701, and the output impedance is not as much of an issue as with low impedance headphones
- DT880 Pro: more neutral than the DT990 Pro, but with smaller sound stage, and is more expensive; it uses the same 250 Ω drivers
- ATH-AD900: the obvious upgrade from the AD700, but I do not know much about it
 
Quote:

The only thing that I can´t change now is soundcard.

 
That should not be a problem, unless you need features (especially gaming related) that the Xonar DX does not have, or there are problems with interference from the computer.

 

[tfarina]

Quote:

Originally Posted by stv014

The DAC is actually not the same (CS4398 on the DX, and PCM1792A on the STX), but the upgrade to the STX is not worth it for the DAC alone.

At least is DX has a good DAC?
 
 
 
 

Originally Posted by stv014

A FiiO E11 or similar amplifier would make some difference

 
 
I Don´t know exactly, but on specificatrions E11 reaches 300 impedance headphones and E9 600 impedance headphones. what is better?
Can I put my cell phone (galaxy S2) on E9 dock? and eventually can I use my speakers (2.1) on E9?
 
 
 
 
 

Originally Posted by stv014

because other models could benefit from the FiiO more. For a headphone upgrade, you could try:

 
I saw that DT880 is better than DT990 is some revies and other posts in this forum. Is it true? both has premium edition. Any difference from Pro edition?
DT880 has model with 80, 250 and 600 os impedance.... too much difference from them?
I found this link
http://www.head-fi.org/t/513393/guide-sonic-differences-between-dt770-dt990-models-more
 
If I buy new headphones you recommend E9, E11 or E17?

 

[PurpleAngel]

The Xonar DX is a fairly good sound card, but not really great for driving quality headphones.
As the ATH-AD700 is already considered a good FPS gaming headphone (but bass light), not really sure on how to find you a better headphone for FPS gaming.
 
I would say go for the Fiio E9 and the DT880 Pro 250-Ohm (balanced) or the DT990 Pro 250-Ohm (full bass and full treble).
At least you will have nice bass.
 
Did you have a budget for this upgrade?

 

[tfarina]

Quote:

The Xonar DX is a fairly good sound card, but not really great for driving quality headphones.
As the ATH-AD700 is already considered a good FPS gaming headphone (but bass light), not really sure on how to find you a better headphone for FPS gaming.
 
I would say go for the Fiio E9 and the DT880 Pro 250-Ohm (balanced) or the DT990 Pro 250-Ohm (full bass and full treble).
At least you will have nice bass.
 
Did you have a budget for this upgrade?

I know that about DX that´s my reason to decide between E9 and E17 but I can´t buy both. But my sister will buy Headphone and AMP/DAC for me. She doesn´t know anything. Too much lesser than me.
 
I need to save money, but I bought this combo to know new quality sound to prevent to buy a high end combo and lost some money. 2 months ago my financial scenario was better
I think that I sell my ath AD700 for around 120 pounds. I saw DT880 250/600 ohm for 190 pounds. I Don´t think that I can sell my soundcard easily. 
 
I need suggestions to improve my sound system.
Maybe one or two mainteining Xonar DX and other if I sell my DX (but i think if i seel my soundcard i couldn,t buy an high end phone now)

 

[stv014]

Quote:

I know that about DX that´s my reason to decide between E9 and E17 but I can´t buy both. But my sister will buy Headphone and AMP/DAC for me. She doesn´t know anything. Too much lesser than me.

 
If you do not find the battery charging on the E11 too annoying, you may consider getting that instead of the E17, as it costs only half as much, and is even a slightly more powerful amplifier. The DAC on the E17 is not better than the Xonar DX, and cannot be used with most portable devices, so it would only really be useful if the Xonar has interference problems in your computer. You may like the built-in tone controls on the E17, though. The advantage of the E9 is that you do not need to charge any batteries, and it has much more power for high impedance headphones; however, if you do not get 600 Ω ones, the E11 can be enough.
 
Quote:

Originally Posted by tfarina /img/forum/go_quote.gif
 
I saw DT880 250/600 ohm for 190 pounds.

 
On a limited budget, the "pro" version is recommended, it usually costs less, but is only available with 250 Ω impedance (which should be OK). The DT990 Pro in particular is quite good for its price if you do not mind the "U" shaped frequency response.

 

[tfarina]

Quote:

 
On a limited budget, the "pro" version is recommended, it usually costs less, but is only available with 250 Ω impedance (which should be OK). The DT990 Pro in particular is quite good for its price if you do not mind the "U" shaped frequency response.

The difference to E9 from E11 is 50 pounds and I don´t want to recharge anything.... Im pending ´to E9
 
 
 

Originally Posted by stv014 /img/forum/go_quote.gif
On a limited budget, the "pro" version is recommended, it usually costs less, but is only available with 250 Ω impedance (which should be OK). The DT990 Pro in particular is quite good for its price if you do not mind the "U" shaped frequency response.
 

The difference is only 10 pounds... it´s no matter if the quality increases significantly