[Aquanote]

HI,

first of all I´m really happy that I have found this fantastic Forum.

I´m in the middle of starting my love affair with great headphones and this place is kinda like the dating agency

well I decided to buy the ASUS Xonar Essence STX after I´ve been searching for a good sound card for music. So this card was a perfekt match for me because of the built in amp and quality for the low price compared to a sound card plus external amp.

Now if filtered out 3 Headphones of which I must choose one to buy:

-Sennheiser HD 650
-Beyerdynamic 880 Edition 2005
-AKG 702

From Top to Bottom this is my current preference.

I read a lot of good thing in this Forum about the Sennheiser, its obviously very popular.
The AKG is probably too analytical for my taste but´s still a fine headphone.
and about the BEyerdynamic I havent read all that much on this Forum but elsewhere on the net its gets a lot of praise.



I´m listening to all kinds of music, but mostly slow electronic/soul kinda stuff like naked music.

any suggestions are much appreciated

 

[Benaiir]

Beyerdynamic is the most decent for your style imo.

You'll need an amp for any of these too, btw. A soundcard alone probably wont cut. Consider a recable too.

 

[Aquanote]

oh maybe you´ve overread: I will be buying the ASUS Xonar Essence STX Soundcard which already has a very good headphone amp built in. So that´s a wrap.

just haven´t decided on the right cans for it...

 

[kool bubba ice]

650s.. The 880s are too sterile & analytical without a tube amp.. & the 701 really needs good synergy to sound really good. The 650's will be more musical with thumping bass & lush mids.. Your SC will drive them well enough.. But they will keep getting better with better amplification, & scales better then the 880/701.

 

[cswann1]

Hi and welcome to Head-Fi.

I'd like to mention an option for a source component. The Asus sound card is no doubt a bad-ass card, but a dedicated headphone DAC/amp might be a better solution since you can use it with any PC, CD player or portable device, not just one desktop PC.

Right now you can get the Audio-gd Compass DAC/amp direct from the maker for not too much more than the Asus. This is a very new product that has just finished it's prototype phase and is in production at an introductory price. This summer it's sure to go up in price probably in the $400-$500 range.

There is a lengthy thread about in in the amp forum.

As far as phones, I think any of the three you mentioned would be fine. Just know that those AKG's will take a very long time to fully break-in and mature into there final sound.

If there is a Head-Fi meet coming up in your area, I'd also suggest attending. You will be exposed to more gear in one afternoon than you would otherwise be exposed to in years alone.

 

[csommers]

I'd recommend the 650s or 880s for your style of music. See if you can find some to borrow first, not sure how well your soundcard can run them. It will probably work ok, but you might not get their full potential from it

 

[Aquanote]

since i´ve read through almost the whole Thread on this soundcard here on head-fi, and dozens of reviews on the net I am certain that the soundcard and the amp are very well capable. It can compare to dedicated 400$ amps with no problems.

For me coming from virtually no good hardware to this is a quantum leap forward

Maybe I will upgrade in the future but right know this is it.

anyways I think I will go with the HD 650, unless I will hear something that might make me think otherwise.

 

[Acix]

Up...http://www.head-fi.org/forums/f4/k702-studio-393139/.

 

[Currawong]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Aquanote /img/forum/go_quote.gif since i´ve read through almost the whole Thread on this soundcard here on head-fi, and dozens of reviews on the net I am certain that the soundcard and the amp are very well capable. It can compare to dedicated 400$ amps with no problems.

They would have to be very poor amps for $400 that couldn't compete with a sound card, or reviewers without a clue from popular non-hi-fi magazines. Not to mention, it's not just the amp that is important for music, but the DAC (Digital to Analogue Converter). Even an amp by itself wont do much for the relatively poor sound that comes out of sound cards.

I second the idea of attending a meet if you can. You'll get a huge shock. You'll be grossly over-spending on any of the headphones that interest you if all you intend to do is plug them into your sound card.

 

[rds]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Aquanote /img/forum/go_quote.gif It can compare to dedicated 400$ amps with no problems.

No, it really can't (unless you ask someone to sell you a cmoy for $400, and even then...)
Having said that asus is making some very nice soundcards. No doubt you have one of the nicest consumer level soundcards right now.

 

[Aquanote]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Currawong /img/forum/go_quote.gif They would have to be very poor amps for $400 that couldn't compete with a sound card, or reviewers without a clue from popular non-hi-fi magazines. Not to mention, it's not just the amp that is important for music, but the DAC (Digital to Analogue Converter). Even an amp by itself wont do much for the relatively poor sound that comes out of sound cards. I second the idea of attending a meet if you can. You'll get a huge shock. You'll be grossly over-spending on any of the headphones that interest you if all you intend to do is plug them into your sound card.

well it sounds to me that you have a prejudice against soundcards, and you´re probably right in most cases.

but you should really inform yourself about that specific soundcard I mentionend, especially here on head-fi because its a really good card. When you do you will notice that there are a lot of experts that tested and compared the card in all possible ways. Can those people all be wrong?
That crushes your implication that only boons with no clue tested this card, (which again holds true in lots of other cases

)

I mean I don´t know if you are into really high end stuff but for the money this card offers much more than anything else in that price category. There´s literally no doubt about it.

as for the DAC, here a little Info from the SPecs of the Asus Card:

High Fidelity Headphone Amplifier:
Texas Instruments 6120A2*1 (120dB SNR, 100dB THD+N @ Vcc±12V, RL=600Ω, f=1kHz) Audio Processor:
ASUS AV100 High-Definition Sound Processor (Max. 192KHz/24bit)
24-bit D-A Converter of Digital Sources:
Texas Instruments PCM1792A*1 for Front-Out (127dB SNR, Max. 192kHz/24bit)
24-bit A-D Converter for Analog Inputs:
Cirrus-Logic CS5381* 1 (120dB SNR, Max. 192kHz/24bit)

as time comes I will attend meets or visit more audiophile stores to try other stuff, but its a good start, eh?

so please guys - now its all about the cans for me! I´m looking forward to more recommendations in that direction as will use them also with future setups.

 

[oqvist]

AKG 702 and other bright headphones may work fine since the Essence STX from what I hear is stronger in the bass department than the Elite PRO. 702 is a bright can so it would be better balanced on a DAC/AMP with strong low end. But they are studio headphones on the bright side of things in the treble so if you want warm sound it´s not recommended. I do enjoy it however the 701 is very picky about amp. It just doesn´t cut it on anything other than the Heed Canamp for me. On that it´s quite close to being balanced. Pretty much every headphone on this level benefits a lot from more expensive amps I suppose

btw is you computer totally silent? Otherwise there is closed headphones that performs better but may cost a bit more like some Ultrasones. Not everyone is warm though. The 750 is not but the 900 is definiatly on the warm side in stock. Kees modded almost perfectly balanced but maybe still on the warm side. Definiatly not cold. If you are going to use it with your computer I would suggest you stick with the soundcard. Free equalizer if you need that. Better surround support for gaming/movies. Seems a bit tricky to get EAX and CMSS3D etc out of my external DACs. Doesn´t seem to work with OpenAI games at least? You will have to pay way more to get a DAC/amp combo that beats it so if the budget is a concern stay with the essence.

There will be people here that automatically says whatever el cheapo DAC/AMP is better then soundcards because they lack experience with good soundcards or once in their lifetime had some EMI disturbances. I have only had that with an external DAC so it´s no guarantee obviously.

For me I had to buy a DAC for 360$ to find something better then my Elite PRO not just different. Soundcard companies have a much bigger market so can afford the research and reducing the overhead I suppose

 

[mdumeny]

Uh, you asked for advice, people have responded suggesting that you're heading down wrong path, and you're telling them their wrong?

I think you will find 90%+ of the people on this site will tell you to either (a) ditch the soundcard and get a reasonably priced usb or spdif fed amp or (b) rethink the headphones selection, using the guide "sticky" to find headphones that don't need amp.

On the other hand, if you keep rejecting advice from the very people you asked, they will likely lose interest in trying to help you.

BTW - I would go with option (a) and look at something like the Keces 151 MkII.

Marcel

 

[Aquanote]

Quote:

Originally Posted by oqvist /img/forum/go_quote.gif AKG 702 and other bright headphones may work fine since the Essence STX from what I hear is stronger in the bass department than the Elite PRO. 702 is a bright can so it would be better balanced on a DAC/AMP with strong low end. But they are studio headphones on the bright side of things in the treble so if you want warm sound it´s not recommended. I do enjoy it however the 701 is very picky about amp. It just doesn´t cut it on anything other than the Heed Canamp for me. On that it´s quite close to being balanced. Pretty much every headphone on this level benefits a lot from more expensive amps I suppose btw is you computer totally silent? Otherwise there is closed headphones that performs better but may cost a bit more like some Ultrasones. Not everyone is warm though. The 750 is not but the 900 is definiatly on the warm side in stock. Kees modded almost perfectly balanced but maybe still on the warm side. Definiatly not cold. If you are going to use it with your computer I would suggest you stick with the soundcard. Free equalizer if you need that. Better surround support for gaming/movies. Seems a bit tricky to get EAX and CMSS3D etc out of my external DACs. Doesn´t seem to work with OpenAI games at least? You will have to pay way more to get a DAC/amp combo that beats it so if the budget is a concern stay with the essence. There will be people here that automatically says whatever el cheapo DAC/AMP is better then soundcards because they lack experience with good soundcards or once in their lifetime had some EMI disturbances. I have only had that with an external DAC so it´s no guarantee obviously. For me I had to buy a DAC for 360$ to find something better then my Elite PRO not just different. Soundcard companies have a much bigger market so can afford the research and reducing the overhead I suppose

thank you. Really. You seem to understand my every thought on this one somehow

yea my computer is TOTALY Silent. I just bought a ton of the most silent 120mm fans plus gigantic passive cpu and graphiccard coolers.

It´s because im gonna move soon to an apartment where I can´t use my HIFI system anymore (because of the neighbours

) From now on the PC will be my sound machine.

So I´ve gotten into the whole Headphone thing and now am prepairing everything. Computer totally silent was step one. Soundcard step 2.
Step 3: Headphones

and just like you said I will also watch movies with it, playing games and so forth. It´s just convenient having a PC that acts as a multimediadevice that terminates the need for other stuff.

I was going to get a M-Audio Audiophile 2496 with an external amp first, but the the ASUS card came as a perfekt fit for me. Unbeatable at that price, like you said.

.....

@ mdumeny:

I didn´t want to upset anybody, like I said I´m really happy to have enthusiasts give me advice on this matter.

but I stated clearly that I use this soundcard just to inform people what I will using the cans with. I know that there are better options out there, but why can´t I just start out with that and work my way up? So that was not up for discussion to begin with.


Still nice to have people that try to stop me from a big mistake

I don´t think I´m heading down the wrong path? Don´t you think that´s a little overdramatic

From the comments I read about soundcards in general, it gave me the feeling no one knows about the ASUS Essence and saying that it is bad in this and that area without even knowing it...
If someone would come along having tested the Essence to the bone and then telling me its bad because of this and that... it would be different.

...reading all the comments about this card on head fi http://www.head-fi.org/forums/f46/xo...k-peak-380717/ - it isn´t so.

If I had more money than I could spent then: hell yea! Give me the reaaal good stuff, I´m loaded!
still money is limited in my live, so I´ve got to choose wisely.

thanks for the suggestion on the Keces 151 MkII.
If I won´t be happy with the Essence I will look into it. Have to have headphones to test it first, though.

 

[apatN]

I think you will like the DT880s. They work great with slower electronica. The Beyers are overall very polite as well but with a nice top end.
And oh, don't worry about amps or DACs. Your sound card will suck eventually, after that it is DAC and amp time.