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Headphones to pair with Asus Xonar Phoebus?

Otterfox
Go to solution Solved by EmoRarity,

If you have time to explain it I'm all ears. 

+1 Django. 

The Xonar has (I do believe) an output impedance of 10ohm's, which means that any headphone with an input impedance with less then 80ohms (multiply by 8) will not get the power that they need to run properly. Because the soundcard is eating some of the power that is suppose to go to the headphones which will result in a bass roll off, quieter mids, and treble roll off.

So going above that 80ohm impedance, the soundcard will stop eating power and start supplying power properly. 

If you didn't have a soundcard (Onboard sits about 1-2ohms) you could get a lower impedance headphone with no issue. 

But since you have the soundcard we might as well use it, right? 

Can anyone recommend a good pair of headphones to pair with an Asus Xonar Phoebus? As of now I'm currently using Razer's Tiamat 7.1 and while the audio is decent I feel like there's a lot more potential for this card.

I'm no audiophile by any stretch so any input would be greatly appreciated.

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imho 7.1 headphones are not that good, afterall we only have 2 ears, better off getting a nice pair or Audiotechnica or Beyerdynamic headfones, and attach a mic if u need one,

 

But i guess if you really want one with 7.1 something from corsair should be okay.

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You have 2 ears so you need 2 speakers. What's your budget?

 

 

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HD 598's, they are on sale at amazon for $180, or HD 558's at $128

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HD 598's, they are on sale at amazon for $180, or HD 558's at $128

The high output impedance of the Xonar would make those headphones (Which are identical in every way but color) its bitch. Something like the DT770/880/990 would be a better pair.

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imho 7.1 headphones are not that good, afterall we only have 2 ears, better off getting a nice pair or Audiotechnica or Beyerdynamic headfones, and attach a mic if u need one,

 

But i guess if you really want one with 7.1 something from corsair should be okay.

Yes thanks for pointing that out. I'm not overly fond of 7.1 I'm just looking for good headphone recommendations. I'll edit the post to clarify that.

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You have 2 ears so you need 2 speakers. What's your budget?

Budget is around 300 to 400  :lol:

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Budget is around 300 to 400  :lol:

HD600 hype! 

No really, you should look into high impedance (80ohm+) to properly pair with your Xonar. 

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HD600 hype! 

No really, you should look into high impedance (80ohm+) to properly pair with your Xonar. 

Okay thanks I'll look into that!

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Okay thanks I'll look into that!

If you want a technical explanation behind that reasoning, I can give one, if you don't I'll save time for the both of us. 

 

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+1 for the Beyerdynamics. Between my pair of Beyerdynamic DT770 and Sennheiser PC360 (basically he same as a 558), I definitely prefer my DT770s but the boommic on my PC360 is much better than the Zalman clip on I was using before.

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If you want a technical explanation behind that reasoning, I can give one, if you don't I'll save time for the both of us. 

 

If you have time to explain it I'm all ears. Curiosity-attention-django-meme.jpg

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If you have time to explain it I'm all ears. 

+1 Django. 

The Xonar has (I do believe) an output impedance of 10ohm's, which means that any headphone with an input impedance with less then 80ohms (multiply by 8) will not get the power that they need to run properly. Because the soundcard is eating some of the power that is suppose to go to the headphones which will result in a bass roll off, quieter mids, and treble roll off.

So going above that 80ohm impedance, the soundcard will stop eating power and start supplying power properly. 

If you didn't have a soundcard (Onboard sits about 1-2ohms) you could get a lower impedance headphone with no issue. 

But since you have the soundcard we might as well use it, right? 

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+1 Django. 

The Xonar has (I do believe) an output impedance of 10ohm's, which means that any headphone with an input impedance with less then 80ohms (multiply by 8) will not get the power that they need to run properly. Because the soundcard is eating some of the power that is suppose to go to the headphones which will result in a bass roll off, quieter mids, and treble roll off.

So going above that 80ohm impedance, the soundcard will stop eating power and start supplying power properly. 

If you didn't have a soundcard (Onboard sits about 1-2ohms) you could get a lower impedance headphone with no issue. 

But since you have the soundcard we might as well use it, right? 

That actually makes a lot of sense. That would explain why my current headphones sound they way they do now compared to when I had them running off of a xonar dx. 

Thanks for taking the time to explain that!

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That actually makes a lot of sense. That would explain why my current headphones sound they way they do now compared to when I had them running off of a xonar dx. 

Thanks for taking the time to explain that!

Technically a DX should have a high output impedance. Which would changing things more. 

May or may not be a 20ish ohm output impedance. 

But just to toy with the mechanic, use both your onboard and soundcard in an attempt to see if you can find a difference. 

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Technically a DX should have a high output impedance. Which would changing things more. 

May or may not be a 20ish ohm output impedance. 

But just to toy with the mechanic, use both your onboard and soundcard in an attempt to see if you can find a difference. 

Hmm.. I'll have to give that a shot.

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Beyerdynamic DT 990 Pro 250ohm

 

aint no good "7.1" headphones

 

HD600 hype! 

No really, you should look into high impedance (80ohm+) to properly pair with your Xonar. 

 

If I went with something like these what mic would you recommend?

 
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If I went with something like these what mic would you recommend?

 

 

You just going for VoIP? Blue Snowflake. 

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If I went with something like these what mic would you recommend?

 

Blue Snowflake is all anyone really needs, if you're okay with a table top mic. AntLion ModMic's are in stock now, but I'll personally be waiting on the 4.0

 

You just going for VoIP? Blue Snowflake. 

 

jinx

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Another option is the modmic if you want something that attaches to your headphones. The 4.0 should be coming out soon as they finally got the 2nd prototype. 

 

Edit: Looks like @ShearMe beat me to it...

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Hmm.. I'll have to give that a shot.

Should yield interesting results. Key is to be as objective as possible though. Which is hard sometimes. 

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I think I'm going to go with Beyerdynamic DT 880 premium and a blue snowball. Thanks everyone for all your input!  :D

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  • 3 weeks later...

I have these: http://www.amazon.com/Allen-Heath-Xone-Professional-Monitoring/dp/B000WA3DLG and i use them with my Phoebus sound card. Will the sound card "eat" some of the soundstage?

 

I am thinking of getting a pair of HD600s, would that be an OK match? They will probably sound better with a dedicated amp, but the Phoebus is a start  :P

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I have these: http://www.amazon.com/Allen-Heath-Xone-Professional-Monitoring/dp/B000WA3DLG and i use them with my Phoebus sound card. Will the sound card "eat" some of the soundstage?

 

I am thinking of getting a pair of HD600s, would that be an OK match? They will probably sound better with a dedicated amp, but the Phoebus is a start  :P

 

Both of those are too low impedance to get over the Xonar's output impedance. Go with Beyer's DT line

 

Edit: JK the HD600 are fine but they are very expensive. I think the DT line would be a better option just because of the cost. 

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