[Derpus-Maximus]

So today i got myself something nice to play with, the DT 880 PRO ( 250 Ohm ) and the Asus Xonar Essence STX.
I am happy i took the PRO version, many people complain about the clamp force, but its fits me perfectly, the normal version would have been too loose on my head...
 
First thing i did was to plug in the DT 880 into my Samsung tablet, BOOOM it blew me away, the bass was so much better compared to my HD558's, and the treble was great as well!

Now i was amazed how easily my tablet was able to drive the 250 Ohm headset, each and every song has so much more detail, so this was a very positive thing for me.
 
Now here is the dilemma, i plugged them into my PC, and the result is the same, everything sounds much much better then on my 558 ( which used crystalizer ), but this is on my Realtek ALC892 onboard audio card....No EQ or Crystalizer or any other enhancements on.
Now i havent been able to open up the PC and place the STX in it, cause the PC if finishing a rendering task.......still hours to go....
 
Now the reason i have doubted in the past to even buy a sound-card is because my on-board ( THX software and some other non standard stuff ) always sounded great, no hisses or pops, no static, very clean, even at 100% ( no matter if 16 or 24 bits or 44100 or 192000. ), but i have the feeling that it lacks some spirit, it feels a bit flat.
 
Now i expect the STX to make the bass and treble and all those other things to pop out more, and of course being able to use a lower volume in windows, i used to need 10% with my HD558, and now i need 20% with my DT880.
 
So i was wondering if my expectations are realistic, and what other people there experience is

 

[cel4145]

I don't know about the volume thing (not sure why that really matters anyway), but the STX should have a cleaner sound with better detail resolution.

 

[PurpleAngel]

  So today i got myself something nice to play with, the DT 880 PRO ( 250 Ohm ) and the Asus Xonar Essence STX.

Just remember to disable the motherboard's on-board audio, in the BIOS,
when you install the STX.
 
What is the make and model of your motherboard?

 

[Derpus-Maximus]

Well i just put it in, and i tested it with my HD558, i set the gain to 64-300 and i had my volume at 10, it felt like it was on 100, so freaking loud , but CLEAR, and i can notice a HUGE difference between the onboard ( i should have done this years ago,....... )
Even with the HD558 the bass and treble sound so much better, but now i can hear and feel the huge difference in BASS and Highend treble compared to the DT880 PRO.
 
 
Safe to say i am very happy !

 

[whirlwind]

The STX is a great soundcard with a nice dac and headphone amp.

 

[Derpus-Maximus]

I really like that switchable gain option, 64-250 is way too loud even on my DT880, setting it to 0-64 is best for me now, i do notice the "airy" sound of the DT880's much better, perhaps a little bit on the bright side, but i have only used them for 3 hours now.
 
The bass is not so damn heavy that it gives me a headache, but it does make me to have to re-listen to every song,  cause i can hear so much more now!!
 
Edit:
 
I changed the gain to 300-600, the bass is much better now, but only usable if i change the mixer from 100 to 50%
 
BTW whirlwind, have you changed something in the mixer menu of the STX?,

 

[whirlwind]

  I really like that switchable gain option, 64-250 is way too loud even on my DT880, setting it to 0-64 is best for me now, i do notice the "airy" sound of the DT880's much better, perhaps a little bit on the bright side, but i have only used them for 3 hours now.
 
The bass is not so damn heavy that it gives me a headache, but it does make me to have to re-listen to every song,  cause i can hear so much more now!!
 
Edit:
 
I changed the gain to 300-600, the bass is much better now, but only usable if i change the mixer from 100 to 50%
 
BTW whirlwind, have you changed something in the mixer menu of the STX?,

I have the volume in my mixer menu set to 80 on each channel

 

[Derpus-Maximus]

It is auto disabled when nothing is plugged in, my mobo is an Asrock P67 Extreme 6

 

[stv014]

  I have the volume in my mixer menu set to 80 on each channel

 
The default setting for the "Left" and "Right" controls in the Xonar Audio Center is 76. With that setting, and "Wave" set to 100%, you get the full volume (but it is still controlled by the main volume - the knob in the upper right corner - and gain). Increasing "Left" and "Right" over 76% can boost the volume by up to 12 dB, but if this would result in clipping, the driver will automatically apply dynamic compression, which degrades the audio quality. So, it is generally best to leave them at 76.