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hd 6xx with asus essence stx?
Hello, im joining the drop for the hd 6xx and currently listen to music with my sound card (asus essence stx) and was wondering if this would properly drive the hd 6xx until i can afford a dedicated dac/amp? when i upgrade would the o2 or jotunheim be a good pair? thanks for your time!
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keyboard_arrow_downMastermung
154
Dec 17, 2017
That's how I'm listening to mine right now. The card allows one to select the impedance to match that of the headphone.
jds8732nv
74
Dec 15, 2017
anyone listen to the hd650/6xx on the element and the jotunheim? I was leaning towards the element but realized the jotunheim had the option to run them balanced.. im not sure what benefit that has? the $150 difference between the two is not a big issue. would the jotunheim be better choice?
jds8732nv
74
Dec 15, 2017
the jot over the element as well? can someone explain the balanced output to me? i understand it gives separate ground but what is the benefit?
Heefty
1387
Dec 15, 2017
jds8732nvYou have the added benefit of a second amp pulling the return (a headphone doesn't really have a ground) in as an amp pushes from the other side. The benefit is additional output power which can be accomplished by designing the single ended amp to have sufficient power to drive the headphones.
I have reservations about how little capacitance I see on the board for the element. It may sound fine, but I question it. I've never actually critically listened to either of them though.
I have reservations about how little capacitance I see on the board for the element. It may sound fine, but I question it. I've never actually critically listened to either of them though.
Pings
264
Dec 9, 2017
Although that sound card uses a pretty good DAC I have to recommend not using any sound card because of the output impedance is too high. What happens is you actually lose part of your sound because of the output impedance. All sound cards have a ridiculously high output impedance. Use a separate DAC and an AMP or a DAC/AMP combo only.
Pings
264
Dec 17, 2017
From what I've mostly seen and I don't research it that much but OTL amps offered here on MassDrop have been around and under 10 ohms, sound cards were talking about 60 to 75 ohms. Which is so high depending on the cans you could lose up to a third of your sound.
ProfessorPat
380
Dec 17, 2017
PingsThe Bottlehead Crack is about 120 ohms. It definitely varies, as it depends on the tubes, but it tends to be pretty high.
And older gear (largely pre-dedicated headphone gear) actually tended to run around 120 ohms as well on headphone outs, solid state or not, as it was some sort of unwritten, yet inexplicably agreed upon value adopted by a lot of manufacturers. Modern stuff tends to take the full size speaker approach of near zero (in solid state gear anyway).
And older gear (largely pre-dedicated headphone gear) actually tended to run around 120 ohms as well on headphone outs, solid state or not, as it was some sort of unwritten, yet inexplicably agreed upon value adopted by a lot of manufacturers. Modern stuff tends to take the full size speaker approach of near zero (in solid state gear anyway).
HarisJaved
59
Dec 6, 2017
by properly if you mean ear bleeding levels, no it will not do that, but it will be sufficient to play games / watch movies, and hear music at a reasonable level 55-70 decibels in your ear. However please note that your sound will be lean, because of bass/duty cycles. Bass likes energy. Your best option would be to tell the sound card (unless you need it for recording), and buy an amp/dac combo, or just a headphone amp and connect it to essence.
I don't own the O2, but I own the JDS labs element which is close to the O2 - my HD 650 sound great
I don't own the Jotunheim, so I can't comment on the sound - I do own the AudioGOD 28, and it is a very good pairing with the 650
jds8732nv
74
Dec 6, 2017
also ive heard several times now that the element pairs well with them and its with in my price range so im going to look into it as well
HarisJaved
59
Dec 9, 2017
jds8732nvit does - if you lived in MN, I could invite you over to hear my unit
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