Which sound card for headphones

[Filipe]

I'm looking for a sound card to put in my PC to be used pretty much only with headphones (beyerdynamic Dt250-80ohm) to listen to CD's, MP3's and radio via the net.

I was looking at the VideoLogic SonicFury and the Hercules Fortissimo 2 which i can get either for arround £50.
Are these cards an overkill since I'll be using them for headphones only?
Are there any sound cards at this sort of price (under £50/$70) with conventional analogue RCA outputs?

Is there a sound card to be used specifically with headphones.
Do any of them work better with headphones than others?!

Cheers
Fil

 

[Xevion]

Quote:

Are these cards an overkill since I'll be using them for headphones only?

Actually they are underkill because they sound like crap compared to....

the Audiophile 2496. A bit on the pricey side, but from hearsay it sounds a lot cleaner then any of the consumer level soundcards out there, it can also output at 24 bits/96Khz for real, hence the name.

 

[Filipe]

A bit pricey?!? It costs $250!
I was thinking more along $70/£50.
It's just something to allow me to listen to something while at work rather than an expensive bit of kit to put in a computer which is not even mine...

Sugestions always welcome!
Cheers
Fil

 

[Joe Bloggs]

Quote:

Are these cards an overkill since I'll be using them for headphones only?

Erm, since headphones

1) Need to be driven directly by sound card (unless you have an amp, which I see you don't yet), unlike loudspeakers, which must have separate amp components

2) Are so much more detailed than speakers at the same price, thus reavealing much more in the way of flaws in the source

It seems that using soundcards with headphones would be a cause for buying a *better* card...

I don't really have any recommendations

 

[dlow]

I'm currently very happy with my Turtle Beach Santa-Cruz. They do Sensura Virtual Ear(tm) and includes a utility to configure the HRTF for headphones.

Other nice features include:
Analog support for 5.1 sound
SPDIF out (Stereo PCM or Dolby/DTS pass-thru)
SPDIF in for CD-ROMs that support it
All for $79.99 US ($99.99 CDN) from RadioShock

 

[bpm2000]

just on a side note, where is the cheapest place for a audiophile 2496, and does installing two soundcards in a system cause problems(how do you go about it?)
thanks

 

[dhwilkin]

The cheapest place I know of is SoundChaser, which is where I got mine. It hasn't caused any problems in my system, along-side a Xitel Storm Platinum. And given I'm running Win98, that's a minor miracle right there!

So having another card isn't a problem. Install it just like any other card, and follow the directions in the manual to get it configured.

 

[bpm2000]

thanks, hey dhwilkin, what the hell is that thing in your avatar???

 

[dhwilkin]

Quote:

bpm2000 said... thanks, hey dhwilkin, what the hell is that thing in your avatar???

That would be (IMHO) the cutest rabbit in existence, w/ a couple of pancakes on his head. Admittedly, he looks a lot cuter in the full-sized version of the picture. And no, he's not mine.

 

[aeberbach]

Probably the best sounding cheap solution is to use an external USB DAC. The cheapest I know of is the Xitel hifi-link at around US$40. It uses a Philips 20-bit USB DAC (same as the stereo-link does) and gives you a 3.5mm stereo line out. I use this at work with a laptop and a stand-alone headphone amp.

If you're set on a sound card, Terratec 6-Pack+ is good but not as cheap as you might like. It has 6 line outputs for 5.1 sound as well as optical in and out. One of the line outs (I think it is the center/sub) doubles as an amplified headphone socket. This is not a great amplifier, using LM386 op-amps, but it might be better than nothing.

 

[Nezer]

Quote:

Originally posted by aeberbach Probably the best sounding cheap solution is to use an external USB DAC. The cheapest I know of is the Xitel hifi-link at around US$40. It uses a Philips 20-bit USB DAC (same as the stereo-link does) and gives you a 3.5mm stereo line out. I use this at work with a laptop and a stand-alone headphone amp.

Woooaaahhhh.... Good call! These folks also make an optical toslink output from USB adapter for $70. I bet that into an Art DI/O would rock. of course, the audiophile 24/96 has some more headroom but a larger pricetag too.

 

[Joe Bloggs]

Uhm, what's the difference between the stereo-link and the hifi-link? (edit: and the analog MD-Port?) (edit: just checked out the stereo-link. I would assume the hifi-link = analog MD-Port with mini to RCA cables?)


What sampling rates does the hifi-link / MD-port support? Does it resample?

 

[Joe Bloggs]

Here's a snippet from the Stereo-link website:

Quote:

Notice that there are two curves, again - connected to a stereo vs. not connected. You can barely tell the difference! This is the Model 1200's isolation circuitry keeping the world safe from the evil ground loop.

ROTFLMAO!

Does the Xitel Hifi-link have such isolation circuitry (keeping the world safe? LOL) ?