[Hovis]

Hey everyone,
 
May as well throw this in here: TL;DR Will an X-Fi Xtremegamer drive the (impedance) 150ohm pc350s?
 
Since i'm finishing my last ever school exam everever next week and have a lovely summer holiday to look forward to I was thinking of getting some gaming gear. Now before you all leave this thread because i'm a gamer and not an audiophile at least wait for the question!
 
I'm probably gonna purchase a pair of pc350s (I prefer closed) and if I end up wanting to use them for music i'll probably hero's mod them but anyway! Since these headphones have an impedance of 100-150ohms (depending on your source) i'm thinking onboard audio is not sufficient, and I would get a sound card anyway for gaming with such beasts.
 
I have a creative x-fi Xtremegamer (see below) in my old PC and i'm hoping that this will be able to pump enough juice into the pc350s. So question is, is this sound card good enough to drive the pc350s? Or will I have to get a headphone amp instead? I'm not sure I want to spend more than £50 on a sound card/headphone amp or both combined so any ideas on sub £50 alternatives or what would be more helpful... is the Xtremegamer good enough?
 
 
 
Any help would be much appreciated, and I have looked for this information before. I'm totally happy to look at another thread if you point me there, I obviously missed it if you have to
 
Also any good threads on headphone amps / sound cards is helpful, BUT FIRST! I would like to know the answer to the x-fi question.
 
 
TL;DR Will an X-Fi Xtremegamer drive the 150ohm pc350s?

 

[tom2011]

try it yourself and see

 

[Roller]

Quote:

Hey everyone,
 
May as well throw this in here: TL;DR Will an X-Fi Xtremegamer drive the (impedance) 150ohm pc350s?
 
Since i'm finishing my last ever school exam everever next week and have a lovely summer holiday to look forward to I was thinking of getting some gaming gear. Now before you all leave this thread because i'm a gamer and not an audiophile at least wait for the question!
 
I'm probably gonna purchase a pair of pc350s (I prefer closed) and if I end up wanting to use them for music i'll probably hero's mod them but anyway! Since these headphones have an impedance of 100-150ohms (depending on your source) i'm thinking onboard audio is not sufficient, and I would get a sound card anyway for gaming with such beasts.
 
I have a creative x-fi Xtremegamer (see below) in my old PC and i'm hoping that this will be able to pump enough juice into the pc350s. So question is, is this sound card good enough to drive the pc350s? Or will I have to get a headphone amp instead? I'm not sure I want to spend more than £50 on a sound card/headphone amp or both combined so any ideas on sub £50 alternatives or what would be more helpful... is the Xtremegamer good enough?
 
 
 
Any help would be much appreciated, and I have looked for this information before. I'm totally happy to look at another thread if you point me there, I obviously missed it if you have to
 
Also any good threads on headphone amps / sound cards is helpful, BUT FIRST! I would like to know the answer to the x-fi question.
 
 
TL;DR Will an X-Fi Xtremegamer drive the 150ohm pc350s?

Since you already have a XtremeGamer, just get a sub $100 amp and you'll be all set, considering the budget. An amp like PA2V2 or Fiio E11 should be more than enough.
 
The reason I recommend an amp is due to a relatively higher than usual impedance, which the XtremeGamer might have a bit of a hard time driving properly, and any of those amps I mentioned above are good enough purchases that you can keep on using for years to come, IMHO.

 

[tom2011]

what does amp do
 
and does it change the sound
 
i mean does does it alter the sound

 

[Roller]

The amp helps drive the headphones so they can perform properly, without its sound being limited by lack of power. It's not supposed to change the sound characteristics, other than sound clarity and soundstage, only amps with features like bass boost, crossfeed, etc, change sound.

 

[tom2011]

you mean the sound will be much louder
 
only this

 

[Roller]

Quote:

you mean the sound will be much louder
 
only this

No, not even close.
 
Use the search bar and read threads, many threads. Then google some articles regarding that. There's a lot for you to read and understand, as to avoid wrong statements like that.

 

[tom2011]

ok
 
the threads on the internet is long and i cant understand it
 
does it also improve sound quality

 

[Hovis]

Quote:

Since you already have a XtremeGamer, just get a sub $100 amp and you'll be all set, considering the budget. An amp like PA2V2 or Fiio E11 should be more than enough.
 
The reason I recommend an amp is due to a relatively higher than usual impedance, which the XtremeGamer might have a bit of a hard time driving properly, and any of those amps I mentioned above are good enough purchases that you can keep on using for years to come, IMHO.

 

[size=medium]

Hey thanks Roller.
 
I think i'll try installing the X-Fi, and if it doesn't work on Win 7 64 bit i'll get a relatively cheap Asus. And then like Tom said get the pc350s and try it out. If the X-Fi / cheap Asus struggles i'll get a headphone amp. Thanks for the amp suggestions since I don't know what is good price/performance for the minimum I need.
 
Like you say an amp will last for years so it sounds like a sound investment (pun intended lol).
 

 
P.S. I knew this site would end up making me spend more than I was expecting to xD
 
I'm just hoping the X-Fi works / is good enough. Seems like i'm gonna have to experiment myself.
​

[/size]

 

 

[Roller]

Quote:

 

[size=medium]

Hey thanks Roller.
 
I think i'll try installing the X-Fi, and if it doesn't work on Win 7 64 bit i'll get a relatively cheap Asus. And then like Tom said get the pc350s and try it out. If the X-Fi / cheap Asus struggles i'll get a headphone amp. Thanks for the amp suggestions since I don't know what is good price/performance for the minimum I need.
 
Like you say an amp will last for years so it sounds like a sound investment (pun intended lol).
 

 
P.S. I knew this site would end up making me spend more than I was expecting to xD
 
I'm just hoping the X-Fi works / is good enough. Seems like i'm gonna have to experiment myself.
​

[/size]

 

It's cool
 
You shouldn't worry about compatibility as it has both stock and modded drivers for Win7 64bits.
 
I honestly was a bit surprised over the tech specs of the PC350, but I still say that either of those amps should work fine for both the PC350 and for many headphones out there. I suggested those two based on the budget you specified, and using a PA2V2 myself, I can attest that it is quite good, specially for its price.
 
In the event you haven't read anything about either PA2V2 or E11, here are a couple reviews:
http://www.headfonia.com/electric-avenues-pa2v2/
http://www.headfonia.com/fiio-e11-portable-amplifier/

 

[Hovis]

Quote:

It's cool
 
You shouldn't worry about compatibility as it has both stock and modded drivers for Win7 64bits.
 
I honestly was a bit surprised over the tech specs of the PC350, but I still say that either of those amps should work fine for both the PC350 and for many headphones out there. I suggested those two based on the budget you specified, and using a PA2V2 myself, I can attest that it is quite good, specially for its price.
 
In the event you haven't read anything about either PA2V2 or E11, here are a couple reviews:
http://www.headfonia.com/electric-avenues-pa2v2/
http://www.headfonia.com/fiio-e11-portable-amplifier/

Thanks for the swift reply,
 
That's nice to know creative have released drivers for Win7 64bit, hopefully I wont run into any problems.
 
Those 2 amps do look, i'll probably go for the FiiO as its USB rechargeable and also a lot easier to get hold of in the UK. But only if the sound card isn't sufficient.
 
Again thanks for your help.