[frizbe72]

Noob question so I do apolgise

X-fi Elite Pro and I/O Unit

From what I have read this has a DAC and an Amp built in, assuming this is correct are these things on the actual sound card or within the I/O unit box?

Basically I'm looking to run a set of Sennheiser HD595s and from what I gather these work fine without an amp but are even sweeter with, so will I need to keep the I/O unit attached (assuming the amp is within this) and run the headphones through this or can it be unplugged and the headphones connected straight to the soundcard?

 

[Apocalypsee]

I'd say you should use the headphone jack on I/O unit, since it have volume control on it. You should try and listen to switch between the back of the card and the headphone jack on I/O and choose by your own liking

 

[Hybrys]

They're both amped. It's on the card itself, and a post-amp feed is sent to the I/O panel.

That said, if staticy noise is an issue, using the back headphone jack would be best. It's closer to the source.

 

[frizbe72]

Thanks for the replies guys

 

[inteificio]

Hi,
 
It is typical that my first post is contradicting somone else, good way to make friends.
 
Old thread, but I have looked into a similar thing to you.
 
If you are wanting the best out of your headphones you will want to connect a seperate headphone amp to the card, not the breakout box.
 
The card has a higher quality op-amp than the breakout so will have the best sound.
You will want an amp to drive those phones properly.
 
If you have the setup as advised above you are greatly limiting the performance of your expensive tech.
 
hope this helps

 

[Hybrys]

Quote:

Hi,
 
It is typical that my first post is contradicting somone else, good way to make friends.
 
Old thread, but I have looked into a similar thing to you.
 
If you are wanting the best out of your headphones you will want to connect a seperate headphone amp to the card, not the breakout box.
 
The card has a higher quality op-amp than the breakout so will have the best sound.
You will want an amp to drive those phones properly.
 
If you have the setup as advised above you are greatly limiting the performance of your expensive tech.
 
hope this helps

You don't NEED an amp for the HD595s.  Many people enjoy them from onboard/cheap sound cards.  An amp would improve them, though.
 
They should both work from the same opamp, since the sound is 'amplified', then transmitted via the cable ala analog... unless I'm massively mistaken.
 
The HD595s aren't expensive, and stepping up the headphones another $200 would beat out a $200 amp, upgradewise.  Endpoint is king, no matter if it's speakers or headphones.

 

[Dalamar]

An amp won't improve low impedance headphones, it will just make them louder. You shouldn't spend over 10% of your endpoint's value, 20% max, on an amp or dac.

 

[Hybrys]

Quote:

An amp won't improve low impedance headphones, it will just make them louder. You shouldn't spend over 10% of your endpoint's value, 20% max, on an amp or dac.

Actually, sometimes it can.  It's not just about impedance.  SRH840, Denon D2000, HD595, among others, are phones that can improve from amplification.  Something like the AD700, on the other hand...

 

[Dalamar]

Placebo. Tried a 600 ohm junker headphones with my onboard, was quiet and sounded like crap. Stuck in Essence, volume level became listenable, sound quality did not.
 
If the load is stressing the amp it may affect sq, low impedance aren't much of a load. If the source impedance is higher than the headphones' it can cause issues. Else you're talking voodoo audio religious nonsense.

 

[Hybrys]

Quote:

Placebo. Tried a 600 ohm junker headphones with my onboard, was quiet and sounded like crap. Stuck in Essence, volume level became listenable, sound quality did not.
 
If the load is stressing the amp it may affect sq, low impedance aren't much of a load. If the source impedance is higher than the headphones' it can cause issues. Else you're talking voodoo audio religious nonsense.

You're an idiot.  Just because you tried 600ohm 'junker' phones on TWO devices, which BOTH aren't rated well for 600ohm phones, doesn't mean you've disproven the thousands of people that say otherwise.
 
Impedance isn't everything, AGAIN.  Look up what you're talking about, and you'll find that there is more than just impedance at play here.  Things like current, sensitivity of the drivers, driver topology, among other things.  This would be why things like the K1000/HE-6 sound better on high powered amps (Not necessarily expensive), and are often hooked up to speaker amps.  And yes, these are all proven, scientific things, not voodoo.

 

[inteificio]

 
Quote:

You don't NEED an amp for the HD595s.  Many people enjoy them from onboard/cheap sound cards.  An amp would improve them, though.
 
50 ohm cans, not the hardest load, but we are talking about a computer sound card. I agree that an amp will probably provide a large improvment for the price. I use the headphone amp on my Rotel RC995 from the card, huge improvment.
 
 
They should both work from the same opamp, since the sound is 'amplified', then transmitted via the cable ala analog... unless I'm massively mistaken.
 
I think you are massivly mistaken, I got this information from the computer section on this forum which included circuit boad pictures highlighting the op-amps. The amp on the main channel is a higher quality one than the surrounds and and the breakout headphones. I am far from an expert on this, so might be wrong, but don't think I am.
 
 
The HD595s aren't expensive, and stepping up the headphones another $200 would beat out a $200 amp, upgradewise.  Endpoint is king, no matter if it's speakers or headphones.
 
Not expensive, but they are nice. I would say getting a basic amp is first step, each to their own.
I have tested a few pairs on phones on all the sockets on the Pro and tested with my RC995. There is no contest the external amp is the way to go. The Rotel RC-995 is a preamp with semi-seperate headphone stage, so not fancy compared to the stuff on these forums, but still a large improvment.

Oh and LOL at Dalmar, not an evil LOL, but still laughing at the blind faith.

 

[Hybrys]

It is true that the endpoint matters much more.  Stepping up to the Denon D2000s, or other $300 range headphones would be a larger improvement than a $200 amp, unless you NEED all the power.

 

[inteificio]

Quote:

It is true that the endpoint matters much more.  Stepping up to the Denon D2000s, or other $300 range headphones would be a larger improvement than a $200 amp, unless you NEED all the power.

 
You are undeniably the expert, but could I clarify my point, and then please advise if I am making sense or not.
 
He is currently using a very poor computer based headphone amp to drive a good pair of headphones that are not designed to be driven by a bad source.
 
My X-fi elite pro struggles with high impedance phones, as far as the crappy pro amp is concerned 50 ohm is high impedance. 
 
If he has a budget of $300 I think you are saying that going from a $200 to $300 pair of phones will make more of a difference than going from a poor headphone amp to a $300 one?
 
I work on the weakest link philosophy, not component can make something sound better, only worse. I believe the weakest link in the chain is the amp, it is not capable of making the phones perform to their max.
 
By getting another pair of phones that the amp can't drive either seems wrong to me.
 
so please educate away, what am I overlooking?

 

[Dalamar]

The weakest point in the chain is always the headphones, dac/amp are generally already transparent. 50 ohm is most definitely NOT high impedance. Most headphones, including high impedance ones, get by with a $25 cmoy, what in the world makes you think it's hard to power headphones? They require tiny voltage and hardly any current.

 

[ROBSCIX]

Your weak point is always your source.  You can buy whatever headphones you want but your source can limit them depending on the quality.