Top10 soundcards for HEADPHONES

[M.Beier]

Hi guys, sorry for abusing your knowledge a bit here..
I am finishing my wishing list for christmas, and I would like to get a really nice soundcard, I do NOT intend to use speakers, amplifier etc.... I need something that can deliver the juice needed for my HD280Pro and other highend headphones...
The PC is mainly about computer games, movies and music is from another computer (media center).

Please do add ~price on each.... I hope, naive, that 100-170 USD can do trick.

EDIT:
One requirement; PCI-E

[M.Beier]

At the moment I have a Creative XFi Titanium....

I was looking at;
Auzen X-Fi Forte 7.1
ASUS Xonar DX/XD
ASUS Xonar D2X/XDT

Any words on these?

[Hondacity]

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16829132010

[M.Beier]

That is about 200 USD here, is it superior to the others, for headphones?

[Hondacity]

its number 1 at head-fi.org http://www.head-fi.org/products/category/sound-cards

[SabreWulf69]

Second the ASUS Xonar Essense STX, not sure what the difference is between that and the 'Xense' but the Xense is another option and for a bit more than your asking price, it also comes with bundled headphones. I'd say try the Xonar Essence ST Deluxe as it comes with a breakout board for surround sound connections, but alas that is PCI only.

[dctokyo]

Creative Labs X-Fi Titanium HD PCI-E gets my vote

[SabreWulf69]

Sound cards are awesome. I love mine and it made a considerable impact on my setup --> http://www.nrnl.org/post129.html#p129 . Whether one needs it or not is not up for debate, what sound card to get is and I say ASUS Xonar Essence ST/X. Personally got the ASUS Xonar Essence STX Soundcard and couldn't be more happier with it. It has been modded with 2x LT1364 OPAMP's in the I/V stage and 1x OPA1612 in the buffer / filter stage which has made it sound even more neutral and revealing. I, too was fed up with Creative's less than stellar performance and driver reliability ever since I gave up my old SB Live! Value lol. I can't fault my card, and has been an excellent addition to my audio setup, but don't take my word for it -

Here if ya can be bothered please read some of the following reviews or opinions from many a respected source audio and computer industry wise, as well as it being #1 over at Head-Fi -->

http://forums.overclockers.com.au/sh...d.php?t=766494
http://www.guru3d.com/article/asus-x...ce-stx-review/
http://www.overclockersclub.com/revi...r_essence_stx/
http://www.extremetech.com/article2/...2339333,00.asp
http://www.xbitlabs.com/articles/mul...sence-stx.html
http://www.overclock3d.net/reviews/a...le_soundcard/8
http://www.maximumpc.com/article/rev...ar_essence_stx
http://www.stereophile.com/computera...tx_soundcards/
http://www.avforums.com/forums/sound...pressions.html

Apparently for my purpose (Playback using 2-Channel Audio + Analog out to my new high quality amp and speakers) it hands down beats the like of the Creative cards, themselves and the high end Creative cards by Auzentech, the M-Audio Audiophile 192 Card, ESI Juli@, any onboard by absolute miles, and at least on par if not better than some High-End music production cards from the likes of RME and LYNX.

Also passes through surround sound through SP/DIF and TOSLINK connections in case you were wondering.

I also do prefer Dolby Digital for my games over EAX, is subjective as once again most things are with sound. If you the read numerous reviews of the STX given, then you would see that the STX is *almost* on par for games, and superior for music and movies. I do music production and listen to a massive variety of music, and as stated for my uses it suites me perfectly :-) I have "bit-perfection" working perfectly too, and don't see how anyone else shouldn't either. The built in headphone amp is an excellent addition and rounds this card off nicely. For a description of bit-perfect and bit-accurate playback refer to this article --> http://www.nrnl.org/post115.html#p115

A few more tid bits of information; A list of games using OpenAL and aLchemy:
aLchemy Games -
http://connect.creativelabs.com/alch.../AllItems.aspx

OpenAL Games -
http://connect.creativelabs.com/open...iki/Games.aspx

Also Unreal Engine 3 is able to use OpenAL, DirectSound3D or FMOD.

[STEvil]

I dont see Terratec on the lists yet.. but i've only read 2 so far..

[M.Beier]

hmm, more great suggestions?

[fr0wn3r]

STX get my vote. Terratec cards are good, but don't see too much data review's so I can recommend them... On the other hand, I just recently opened my audiophile appetites.

[[DANGERDAN]]

Third STX

[M.Beier]

You guys are killing me!
I just bought a new home, and have to keep low budget for a while
Seems I will have to stick with my Creative XFi Titanium for a couple of months, and then buy the STX.

[trans am]

http://www.musicalfidelity.com/produ...-DAC/V-DAC.asp

Audiophile and the above recommendations should not even be in the same sentence. Take my advice mbeier. I am the prob the biggest audio snob on xs. this is what you want.

v-dac II all the way.


oh man i didnt see pci-e requirement. I would say the vdac II will blow away any pci-e card in audio quality in its price range. If you dont care about 7.1 sound and just want to get some heavy duty audiophile sound to your receiver or stereo headphones this is the best thing in its price range.

btw, great minds think alike. I have been using hd280 pros for a long time and ive tried just about everything and nothing comes close in its price range. I would just get whatever card is on sale and go for it. If you are looking for speakers in a 2 channel rig for music, Totem Rainmakers are awesome.

[Bobsama]

Meh; if you're looking for that, a decent entry would also be a Zero DAC or about a dozen other DAC/amp combos. A used Audio-GD Compass comes to mind, as do many other pieces of used equipment. For an actual sound card, the Xonar STX is about the best available (with good drivers support). Preferably, you'll find something that doesn't have to oversample everything. When you get your upgrade, try ASIO4All & probably Foobar2000. I don't know if it's technically bit-perfect, but it bypasses KSound and basically the entire Windows sound stack.

My current headphones of choice are AKG K701's. The K702's/Q701's mini-XLR3 jack is too tall. I need to hear the Beyer DT880's, though.

[BeepBeep2]

http://www.musicalfidelity.com/produ...-DAC/V-DAC.asp

Audiophile and the above recommendations should not even be in the same sentence. Take my advice mbeier. I am the prob the biggest audio snob on xs. this is what you want.

v-dac II all the way.


oh man i didnt see pci-e requirement. I would say the vdac II will blow away any pci-e card in audio quality in its price range. If you dont care about 7.1 sound and just want to get some heavy duty audiophile sound to your receiver or stereo headphones this is the best thing in its price range.

btw, great minds think alike. I have been using hd280 pros for a long time and ive tried just about everything and nothing comes close in its price range. I would just get whatever card is on sale and go for it. If you are looking for speakers in a 2 channel rig for music, Totem Rainmakers are awesome.

The HD280's are curbstomped by Audio-Technica ATH-M50s. (Which WERE $100 for the longest time...but have gained in popularity as of late.)

Audiophile and HD280 shouldn't even be used in the same sentence.

[M.Beier]

The HD280's are curbstomped by Audio-Technica ATH-M50s. (Which WERE $100 for the longest time...but have gained in popularity as of late.)

Audiophile and HD280 shouldn't even be used in the same sentence.

Hmm... I tried everything from Sennheiser, and no closed cans beat these, as for my liking... HD600 + 650 were tempting, but I liked closed better... For real listening, I am using loudspeakers.

EDIT:
And loudspeakers, my Dali 107 plays pretty freaking well, need new foam for one membrane though... But only causing issues at very loud volume (as in 90dB+ at 2M distance)
They are above JBL in quality, below Klipsch, and about same as B&W...

[SabreWulf69]

These --> http://www.amazon.com/beyerdynamic-D.../dp/B0006NL5SM are very hard to beat for the price. The 250Ohm models are the one's to go for and not the 80's. This is according to Head-Fi.org. Also I have a new set of Dali's (Ikon 6 MKII's) and absolutely love them, good to hear another user enjoying the older ones which is nice to know that mine should also have some longevity in them :-) With my one's I can't speak for Klipsch (though I have never liked horn designs for pure accuracy) but they sound a lot better than others when I went to listen to a whole load of different other speakers including the B&W 683's, the KEF Q700's, and a few of the equivalently priced Dynaudio, Totem, Mission, Focal and Polk models.

[M.Beier]

These --> http://www.amazon.com/beyerdynamic-D.../dp/B0006NL5SM are very hard to beat for the price. The 250Ohm models are the one's to go for and not the 80's. This is according to Head-Fi.org. Also I have a new set of Dali's (Ikon 6 MKII's) and absolutely love them, good to hear another user enjoying the older ones which is nice to know that mine should also have some longevity in them :-) With my one's I can't speak for Klipsch (though I have never liked horn designs for pure accuracy) but they sound a lot better than others when I went to listen to a whole load of different other speakers including the B&W 683's, the KEF Q700's, and a few of the equivalently priced Dynaudio, Totem, Mission, Focal and Polk models.

I am sticking with my headphones for a while, as I mentioned, I just bought a new home
I cannot go nuts buying this stuff quite yet.

The B&W at the same price range (actually a little cheaper) is DM 603 S3, they are quite awesome too, but the lows, they cannot compete with Dali.... and all string instruments are just fantastic on Dali... The model I have, is from 80's, but the foam is to be changed.

[BeepBeep2]

I am sticking with my headphones for a while, as I mentioned, I just bought a new home
I cannot go nuts buying this stuff quite yet.

The B&W at the same price range (actually a little cheaper) is DM 603 S3, they are quite awesome too, but the lows, they cannot compete with Dali.... and all string instruments are just fantastic on Dali... The model I have, is from 80's, but the foam is to be changed.

Yeah, I saw that.
M50's are $150 if you ever get the chance I would have to call them the best closed cans under $500...

I personally would go with the HT|OMEGA eClaro, or Xonar STX however it was bad mouthed by a guy in love with HD280 (they have absolutely no soundstage and sound very flat to me (great thing to some)) but I prefer a little liveliness to my audio. Maybe he tried all of the suggestions and many closed cans before settling on what he has...I dunno, but that would cost several thousand dollars...I've worn both the ATH-M50s and HD280 Pro, M50 win to me hands down for listening. I have a friend that mixes on them, hardly even using his monitors.

...but guess what I use to listen/game on daily?
A pair of $20 HD201 and a software EQ, tuned to the M50's curve and tweaked to my ears. Muddy low end headphones got extremely faster in the low and mid-range Highs leave a little to be desired however.

[SnipingWaste]

The headsets Im using and think there great are AKG K240. Been using them for over 4 years now and are great. The bad thing with them is thy need a amp to power them and good speaker sets have a headset amped plug in.

[M.Beier]

AKG are quite good, but unfortunately the onest I have heard, are in a very different pricerange, as Sennheiser HD600....

I am going to use the HD280 no matter how much lots of you guy dislike it
I might change it later, but not this time.... I just want a powerful soundcard, as the Creative XFi Titanium Pro is not really cutting it.

[STEvil]

you could dump the digital output from the board to a decent receiver, either from the board itself or the soundcard. Then the soundcard wont matter too much..

[M.Beier]

you could dump the digital output from the board to a decent receiver, either from the board itself or the soundcard. Then the soundcard wont matter too much..

Doing that from my HTPC/Server at the moment.
But the receiver, will be quite far away from the computer in future.

[Hell Hound]

I'm using Bose quiet comfort 15's w/ forte, I like the combo If I was to upgrade it would prob be Claro Halo XT because I can upgrade HTPC TO 7.1 analog.