[MiniMaster]

So I mainly game, listen to music, create simple beats with my midi, and edit audio for film. I currently own a Xonar Essence STX sound card and an ATH-M50. As you can tell i haven't went all out on my audio gear and was wondering what other equipment i should get to accompany these items to get the most out of them. I know this is opinionated but that is what i want, your opinions. What amplifiers and such would you recommend? I'm willing to spend up to $1,000 for everything else. Thanks!

 

[stv014]

The biggest improvement could be made by getting new headphones. With a budget of $1000, you have many choices, especially if isolation is not important. An amplifier could allow for some (in most cases not major) improvement over the built-in TPA6120, particularly for headphones under 100 Ω; for only $150, you can get an O2 amplifier that fixes the disadvantages of the built-in one on the STX.

 

[hydralisk01]

$1000 I would get O2+ODAC and $700 headphone at the HE-500 level or its competition (find something matching your tastes). Or get many headphones with different signatures.
 
To get the 99% out of the M50, the $60 E11 is sufficient.
 
M50 with $1000 amp/dac wont make a huge difference compared to a $700 headphone.

 

[NamelessPFG]

"Sennheiser ATH-M50"
 
Wait, what? When did Sennheiser take over Audio-Technica and their entire product line?
 
Nitpicking aside, $1,000 can buy a nice audio setup, with better headphones being the logical choice for audio improvement.
 
As for which headphones, that depends on your sound presentation preferences, though I'd say that in the case of audio editing, you'll probably want something more neutral and balanced than the M50 (said to be quite V-shaped with recessed mids) so that the final mixes of the audio tracks you edit don't have a messed-up FR due to your headphones misleading you. Heck, if you like a V-shaped frequency response for emphasized treble and bass, you could easily afford two sets of headphones-one for fun, one for mixing.

 

[MiniMaster]

Quote:

"Sennheiser ATH-M50"
 
Wait, what? When did Sennheiser take over Audio-Technica and their entire product line?
 
Nitpicking aside, $1,000 can buy a nice audio setup, with better headphones being the logical choice for audio improvement.
 
As for which headphones, that depends on your sound presentation preferences, though I'd say that in the case of audio editing, you'll probably want something more neutral and balanced than the M50 (said to be quite V-shaped with recessed mids) so that the final mixes of the audio tracks you edit don't have a messed-up FR due to your headphones misleading you. Heck, if you like a V-shaped frequency response for emphasized treble and bass, you could easily afford two sets of headphones-one for fun, one for mixing.

Oops got a little mixed up looking into Sennheiser shotgun mics =P Thanks for that response.