Click to view our Accessibility Statement or contact us with accessibility-related questions
Showing 1 of 7818 conversations about:
JammyPajamies
0
Feb 14, 2018
bookmark_border
Neurohax
2
Feb 16, 2018
bookmark_border
JammyPajamiesNo experience with your exact motherboard or these cans, but I used the old HD580s (same drivers) on plenty of different mobos with Realtek chips. (I broke those 580s a few years ago, so I'm waiting to see how they fare on my Z270 with supposedly isolated audio circuitry).
Your onboard audio will drive them pretty easily, but the increased clarity means you will hear everything you PC is doing. I mean EVERYTHING (if you can hear higher frequencies, that is). Drive access and network access are the big ones, but fans throttling and any device with varying voltage needs (eg - RGB stuff) will probably be audible during quieter pieces. I have yet to find an onboard audio solution that is good - they're all shades of between bad and meh.
I wish I had a clear recommendation, but I do have a few suggestions. I would get an external DAC and AMP simply to have more control over noise sources (keep anything analog away from that box of EMI chaos). From there it becomes a matter of taste and budget. I've auditioned a handful of DAC/AMP setups ranging from $100-$5000 and I would never spend more than $1000. Extremely diminishing returns. I would hesitate at $500 if there weren't some special features or a crazy nice aesthetic factor. I've bought a few sub-$250 amps on whims, mostly Fiio, and they've been fine for improving portable device sound quality by ~15-20%. I think the sweet spot for most folks is around $400 for music and movies. For gaming, I wouldn't bother with hardware and spend some time tweaking equalizer settings. 'Gaming' focus amps tend to focus on the low end to get rumbling explosions, but you actually want very narrow frequency ranges for sound localization.
The last thing I wanted to add was that I'm planning to pull an old Yamaha receiver from the basement to see how that sounds. It might be worth considering that kind of solution, since the specialty industry loves to price gouge.
Good luck, and enjoy them Senns.
Your onboard audio will drive them pretty easily, but the increased clarity means you will hear everything you PC is doing. I mean EVERYTHING (if you can hear higher frequencies, that is). Drive access and network access are the big ones, but fans throttling and any device with varying voltage needs (eg - RGB stuff) will probably be audible during quieter pieces. I have yet to find an onboard audio solution that is good - they're all shades of between bad and meh.
I wish I had a clear recommendation, but I do have a few suggestions. I would get an external DAC and AMP simply to have more control over noise sources (keep anything analog away from that box of EMI chaos). From there it becomes a matter of taste and budget. I've auditioned a handful of DAC/AMP setups ranging from $100-$5000 and I would never spend more than $1000. Extremely diminishing returns. I would hesitate at $500 if there weren't some special features or a crazy nice aesthetic factor. I've bought a few sub-$250 amps on whims, mostly Fiio, and they've been fine for improving portable device sound quality by ~15-20%. I think the sweet spot for most folks is around $400 for music and movies. For gaming, I wouldn't bother with hardware and spend some time tweaking equalizer settings. 'Gaming' focus amps tend to focus on the low end to get rumbling explosions, but you actually want very narrow frequency ranges for sound localization.
The last thing I wanted to add was that I'm planning to pull an old Yamaha receiver from the basement to see how that sounds. It might be worth considering that kind of solution, since the specialty industry loves to price gouge.
Good luck, and enjoy them Senns.
JammyPajamies
0
Feb 16, 2018
bookmark_border
NeurohaxThanks for the EMI input. I have tinnitus in the 3.5kHz range (give or take a few hundred hertz), so with the EMI stuff in mind I guess the prudent thing to do will be waiting until I actually get the unit and then testing.
Oakbing
87
Feb 17, 2018
bookmark_border
JammyPajamiesHissing is not going to be your problem running the 6XX with your motherboard, the problem is likely going to be the fact that you're not gonna have enough juice to power it with just your motherboard (Sounds anemic and/or doesn't sound all that loud even when you've got everything cranked to the max). an external DAC+Amp is always recommended, but with the 6XX you have to be careful when buying one to make sure it has enough power to drive it. Personally I'd recommend the Schiit Jotunheim with the DAC module, it's $499+tax, but that's nowhere near $125...
Also if you get an external dac, you need to get an amp too, personally I'd say in range of how much each piece affects sounds it'd be Headphones > Amps > DACs (The ones around the $1~200 mark anyway). the 6XX is 300 ohms, so it's likely nothing like any of the cans you've been driving before this.
Also if you get an external dac, you need to get an amp too, personally I'd say in range of how much each piece affects sounds it'd be Headphones > Amps > DACs (The ones around the $1~200 mark anyway). the 6XX is 300 ohms, so it's likely nothing like any of the cans you've been driving before this.
Related Products
Drop Refurbished
Like-new products you can trustDrop Rewards
Get $5 for every 500 points you earn! Learn more
Drop Keyboard Club
Become a member and expand your keycap collectionCollaborate With Us
For Brands & DesignersFollow Drop
Does anyone here have any experience with driving the 6XX's on a Ryzen motherboard (specifically the X370 chipset's ubiquitous Realtek ALC 1150)? I have a Crosshair VI, and ASUS claims that the motherboard's components adapt to impedance on the fly and can drive high high-end headphones. Also, if an amp is recommended for driving the cans (already looking at an O2), is a dac also recommended, or is spending the extra $125 or so hitting the point of heavy diminishing returns?
As a reference, I'm currently just using my California Headphones Silverados (32 Ohm I think) directly plugged into the rear 3.5mm jack; the motherboard seems solid enough, with no audible noise floor.