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Did you check Ebay/Mercari/craigslist/etc for a sub or controller for the z906 for sale?

First, I'm not saying he has to build a theatre room lol. It could be as simple as a throw rug, putting a bookshelf behind his speakers in his room, etc. Removing echoes and reflections from a room simply is a higher order difference than the price of your speakers. I don't care how good your speakers are, they sound terrible with echoes. Like in my room now... Do as I say not as I do. Second, OLD speakers are not necessarily bad, unless they're broken or something. Finding an old pair of monitors/bookshelves and then hooking them up to a receiver or something with speaker connectors is always an option, and at least in the US it's usually pretty darn cheap if you dive dumpsters/estate sales/swap site listings. Obviously, this isn't a how cheap is cheap enough thread, dude literally wants to spend govt money. So spend away. I don't know exactly how cheap/old OPs current speakers are, but I'm not gonna knock them until I've listen to them in action, but saying his old speakers are BAD because they're OLD really tears at my trash picking heart...

https://usa.yamaha.com/products/proaudio/speakers/hs_3_4_inches/specs.html Looks like the difference is about 1" lol. While it's rated better at -10db I'd have to see a frequency response curve. For speakers, you should probably consider your room first. Is there a lot of Echo? Is it shaped irregularly? How high is the ceiling? Carpet or Wood flooring? Those reflections have to be dealt with before you "upgrade" your speakers. It's a far bigger difference than any audio setup will make. Some reflections are certainly desirable, after all nobody listens to music in an anechoic chamber, but some reflections are good and some are bad (first and second order, etc). After that's it's speakers, then amplifier, then DAC, in that order, or ideally as a system bought together with thought. Headphones are nice because they let you skip all those steps, and also prevent you from bugging your neighbors, but as someone who's bought and owns a house I can tell you I usually listen entirely on speakers these days. Joys of $100k+ of debt I guess.

So where did you guys get those fancy neon signs? Asking for a friend >.>

I'm assuming your on Windows 10. Make sure your master volume is maxed, then check the volume mixer (right click on your volume icon on the taskbar and select "Volume Mixer") and make sure the application your trying to play audio with is not turned down or muted.

How goes it in the audio bunker? Does head-fi still suck? I've been out of the loop playing video games too long. And working.

Can you see if onboard sound is also affected?

Yeah, the armadillos travel over the brown/white copper cable. Fun fact.

This is the problem with descriptions of audio quality over measurements. Some people might say "muddy", others might say "bass is overpowered", and others might complain about "bass bloom". It depends, and they all describe different problems people might have with their audio.

Veterans vs. Noobs huh? Tilt the scale towards the veterans, and nobody new wants to join. Tilt the scale towards the Noobs, and everyone wants to leave.

Two years ago I made an FAQ thread to answer this question. All it's done is prove to me over and over again nobody ever reads - even stickies - they just post. I won't tell you your business, but every time I see another thread on this topic I die a little inside.

with a 33 Ohm output impedance, those are about one of the few headphones I recommend you plug into that card.

That asshole Snobby McSnoberson got at my credit card again and joined the drop. I'm sure he'll do a review or something but I'd rather just keep my $450.

good luck

It would probably just be another thread that would get ignored in favor of yet another thread where the OP asks exactly the same question the last 25 people asked when they were OP. I still need to go fix that FAQ thread btw.