I have this setup as well and while you may not absolutely need an amp its better if you have one. Depends on the source whether its definitely needed or not. For example, the optical output of my U-Verse cable box is not nearly loud enough to rock the music channels if you don't have an amp. Personally, I would not recommend the Q701s without an amp. Different strokes for different folks.
Actually the headphone out on the xfi titanium pro is 300 ohms according to creative's website. You shouldn't need an amp to get the most out of your headphones.
Allright guys I can give a pretty definitive answer to this as I own all the gear mentioned by the original poster.
In terms of volume, you don't need an amp with the Q701 and the TiHD AT ALL.
The sound quality without an amp is also actually quite good, I've plugged my Q701 directly into the sound card to hear the difference and it was actually pretty good. The M-Stage amp I own does make it significantly better. The most striking differences are the crunchyness of overdriven electric guitars, the impact/punch of drums and the smoothness of cymbals, which is a bit better with an amp and changes the sound from being great to astronomical
So yeah this is a bit of a late response but if you are short on cash to buy an amp too you will be just fine in the meantime to use a Q701 with a TiHD directly, your ears will be pleased. You can always buy an amp later, it's actually even better to buy an amp later so you can enjoy the differences better
A headphone amp is not about volume, it about supplying enough power to the headphones so they get enough power to sound the way they should. People these days think if it get loud enough without a amp that it being powered, When it isn't so. Just because you can get it loud does not mean it being driven correctly. I had a AKG K702 and those needed to be plugged into a headphone amp to sound the way they should, even if you could get them loud.
Yeah I tried to say that in my previous post, sorry if that wasn't clear, but the Q701's don't sound wrong with the TiHD without an amp.
They sound quite a bit better with one, but as long as you haven't ever heard the difference an amp makes you should be fine without for the time of being
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