• Welcome to TechPowerUp Forums, Guest! Please check out our forum guidelines for info related to our community.

*TPU's Gaming Headphone/Headset Thread*

Been using a Sennheiser HD 598 driven by an Asus Xonar Essence STX (good built-in headphone amp) for the past years and am still more than happy.
Due to the cans' analytical character (typical for sennheiser) and their wide stage they are predestined for dolby headphone usage.

Bassheads will probably be happier with HE-400s though, but I rather enjoy listening to music which sounds as close to source material as possible and for this very reason prefer precision over excessive punchiness.
 
hey guys recently found my old creative sound blaster se (PCI version). to my surprise it still works! but the real question is should I use it or use my motherboard? creative sound blaster se vs Realtek ALC898 (http://www.gigabyte.com/products/product-page.aspx?pid=4488#ov) I use the AKG Q701 with a Schiit Vali Amp. It sounds like there's more bass when I use the soundcard, maybe because it has a DAC? Either way would like to hear what you all say.
 
-1nf1n1ty- said:
hey guys recently found my old creative sound blaster se (PCI version). to my surprise it still works! but the real question is should I use it or use my motherboard? creative sound blaster se vs Realtek ALC898 (http://www.gigabyte.com/products/product-page.aspx?pid=4488#ov) I use the AKG Q701 with a Schiit Vali Amp. It sounds like there's more bass when I use the soundcard, maybe because it has a DAC? Either way would like to hear what you all say.
Click to expand...

if you like the sound, use it. just remember that creative suck for releasing drivers for new OS's, so if you go W10 you may have issues.
 
Use what sounds best! So some A|B testing. Iirc the ALC898 was pretty damn good too. If you want a better EQ look into Equalizer APO and the Peace UI.

As said above...drivers may be an issue...at least official signed drivers. I dunno...my Auzen is retired to the spare parts bin. I use my Aune T1 DAC and sometimes my ALC1150. Both sound good ..and I tune my audio with EQ only.

I also noticed more bass from my creative gear and drivers too compared to the onboard stuff. You can actually buy the current SB software for $30 from creative if you so wanted to...but meh. I'd try EQ APO first.
 
Well I noticed I had to turn it up a bit more with my onboard the soundcard is a bit louder (doesn't necessarily mean better). I'm just trying to find the cleanest sound. Surprisingly it has W10 drivers and I haven't had a problem seeing as how I just installed it. the sound about the same with the exception that creative gives me sampling rates of up to 96000hz vs 192000 onboard.

Hope you guys dont mind if I type up my thoughts!

Onboard w/Vali:
Sounds like I am in a concert with certain songs, Volume knob needs to be adjusted higher
Bass sounds relaxed and even
Mids sound even
Sound overall sounds flat compared to the sound card a better word for it is balanced

Creative w/Vali:
Sometimes sounds too overbearing, can easily adjust the volume knob
Bass sounds a little "dry and forced" sometimes, It sounds like the bass is more spread out than with just the amp.
better sound effects feels like you can "feel the effects" I hear the instruments more as if they are all suppose to be recorded separately sounds clean.
Mids sound crisper and just clean
Sounds overall "punchier" than onboard
I heard a tuba in the song, that I never heard before..


I might as well just use the card, it seems like it's just acting as if it were a DAC
 
Last edited:
Going above 44.1 or 48KHz sample rates really doesn't do much unless you have files and players outputting that.. Regardless I still crank mine up to 96...placebos ya know...lol.

I'm not uber familiar with the Vali but are you using optical or 3.5mm to RCA?

Creative does have that sound signature you describe...and I believe a lot of that is in their software.

Also you're absolutely right on your sound card being a DAC for you...that's exactly what its doing. So does your onboard audio when you're using it for audio output source.

As said before go with what sounds the best and enjoy.

Those are good headphones you have too. Have you thought about trying the K7XX? I almost did...but seeing that I had to retire my beloved HE-400s because of 2-way noise pollution...I couldn't justify another open pair to collect dust. So I grabbed the K553s and absolutely love em. No they're not as fast, wide, separated or bassy as my HE's but damn are they close enough for me to thoroughly enjoy. I'm able to crank the bass and still maintain the level of detail and clarity I've been spoiled with.

Anyways back to your onboard vs dedicated sound card...the card is more powerful and has more dedicated hardware so it should sound better if your drivers are good...and it sounds like they are. Pun not intended.

So stick with what you have and be happy for now. You have a good setup and while not having that sound card would simplify things if you can't enjoy your audio...sounds like a fair trade for keeping the card installed. Enjoy! :)
 
Mussels said:
if you like the sound, use it. just remember that creative suck for releasing drivers for new OS's, so if you go W10 you may have issues.
Click to expand...

Yeah, my old Xtremegamer doesn't work with Windows 10 yet:(

I'm back on the Realtek onboard sound and it really is a step down even compared to that ancient entry level sound card. Creative's website said they would have support for it sometime in September, but I don't have much hope in that.
 
Kursah said:
Going above 44.1 or 48KHz sample rates really doesn't do much unless you have files and players outputting that.. Regardless I still crank mine up to 96...placebos ya know...lol.

I'm not uber familiar with the Vali but are you using optical or 3.5mm to RCA?

Creative does have that sound signature you describe...and I believe a lot of that is in their software.

Also you're absolutely right on your sound card being a DAC for you...that's exactly what its doing. So does your onboard audio when you're using it for audio output source.

As said before go with what sounds the best and enjoy.

Those are good headphones you have too. Have you thought about trying the K7XX? I almost did...but seeing that I had to retire my beloved HE-400s because of 2-way noise pollution...I couldn't justify another open pair to collect dust. So I grabbed the K553s and absolutely love em. No they're not as fast, wide, separated or bassy as my HE's but damn are they close enough for me to thoroughly enjoy. I'm able to crank the bass and still maintain the level of detail and clarity I've been spoiled with.

Anyways back to your onboard vs dedicated sound card...the card is more powerful and has more dedicated hardware so it should sound better if your drivers are good...and it sounds like they are. Pun not intended.

So stick with what you have and be happy for now. You have a good setup and while not having that sound card would simplify things if you can't enjoy your audio...sounds like a fair trade for keeping the card installed. Enjoy! :)
Click to expand...

It needs RCA cables, and I have one that's RCA to 3.5mm

I was interested in the K7XX but I always wanted the K701 for a while until I heard about the Q701 and Qunicy Jones behind them. I know its just a name like beats by dre etc but I thought it was cool :P either way I would of been happy with either version. Whenever its time for me to upgrade I was probably going for the K712 or the HE-400!

Thanks for the feedback!
 
Well LMK when you wanna upgrade to the HE-400's, I am thinking about selling my pair at some point and I have extra sets of velour and pleather pads for it too. All original packaging, owned em since new in 12/2013. They need power, but my Aune T1 in medium gain gave em plenty...though they like a lot more power than I've ever given em. Miss mine, been boxed and taped since June (prep for sale). Sitting on a shelf ever since. There's something about an ortho headphone...nothing has quite given me what I wanted in comparison to it...and the bass they could deliver with a healthy EQ boost and amplifying was awesomeness.

Anyways, glad you are happy with what you got! Enjoy! :toast:
 
still rockin my JVC-HARX900's and my modmic
 
img-0875.jpg
 
Thanks @Kursah They arrived safely

img-1066.jpg
 
I look forward to reading your thoughts and hope for a review or two in this thread. :D

Enjoy those headphones! By far my favorite sound-wise....they're greatly missed but at least they went to a good home where they'll be enjoyed. :rockout:
 
I have them on my dome as we speak, working on figuring out this Equalizer APO
 
Get the Peace UI for it, take the EXE you download, and place it in the Config folder within the Equalizer APO installation DIR.

Tip: If you don't want to reboot to use EQAPO, open command prompt as admin then type the following...

net stop audiosrv

Once done, type:

net start audiosrv

Should have a full-on EQ, using Peace UI to make your custom EQ profiles in no time with no reboots. :)
 
Kursah said:
Get the Peace UI for it, take the EXE you download, and place it in the Config folder within the Equalizer APO installation DIR.

Tip: If you don't want to reboot to use EQAPO, open command prompt as admin then type the following...

net stop audiosrv

Once done, type:

net start audiosrv

Should have a full-on EQ, using Peace UI to make your custom EQ profiles in no time with no reboots. :)
Click to expand...


This may just be me, but these sound better on my MacBook Pro with Boom 2 than the T1 with EQAPO. Then again I do recall you saying I may need to mess with the switches on the T1.
 
Interesting for sure. Could've different frequency tuning and DACs and output ratings. I enjoyed the HE-400s outta my T1 but my Denon AVR-1613 sounded better, smoother. Both with EQ APO.

How do you like the "ortho" sound?
 
Its amazing how balanced the HE400s are with a flat EQ
 
What do most use for a source? I listen mostly on the MBP with Tidal HiFi. Another note....I dont need 10ft of headphone cable, who makes a high quality cable for HE400s?
 
I've been told these are good: http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00LQALSP4/?tag=tec06d-20

Check these guys out: http://www.bestintheversecables.com/

I'd ask around Head-Fi on the HE-400 thread about cables...a few folks on there make them. Be careful..cables get spendy fast...and there's a lot of "features" that may or may not alter audio...I never really go from stock cables.

Most all of my audio is 320k MP3 or a few FLAC through foobar2000 > Aune T1. Not the greatest, but good for me. Sometimes I stream Plex (testing) as I'm in the midst of migrating my collection so I can access it while I'm away from home. :)
 
If you have a USB DAC, and want to connect a microphone to the PC, can you do it without installing the onboard sound card drivers ? i would test this myself but i dont have a mic, ATM.
BumbleBee said:
if you buy a USB microphone it won't be a problem.
Click to expand...
I have not seen one of those on my local market, will search for one after Christmas. Thanks.
 
Last edited:
droopyRO said:
If you have a USB DAC, and want to connect a microphone to the PC, can you do it without installing the onboard sound card drivers ? i would test this myself but i dont have a mic, ATM.
Click to expand...

if you buy a USB microphone it won't be a problem.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top