Sound BlasterX G6 with Sennheiser HD 650?

Gamer Schnitzel · January 18, 2022

I am thinking of buying the Sound BlasterX G6 to pair with my Sennheiser HD 650 but I cannot find any information on impedance for the Sound BlasterX G6. Does anyone know if they can actually run my headphones? Is this a good buy?

It's just for gaming.

Shimejii · January 18, 2022

https://www.google.com/search?q=sound+blaster+g6+impedence&oq=sound+blaster+g6+impedence&aqs=chrome..69i57.9446j0j7&sourceid=chrome&ie=UTF-8 Quick google search would have answered this o.o

1 Ohm (Output) 150 to 600 Ohms (High Gain) 16 to 149 Ohms (Low Gain) 16 to 600 Ohms (Headphone) for this version

Psittac · January 18, 2022

Claiming to drive 600ohm headphones doesn't mean it will sound good at any volume.

I need to do more testing but my 600ohm headphones don't sound as good on a $500 dac/amp as they do on the same dac with a $300 stereo amplifier and this is even at lower volumes. When an amp runs out of juice to fill in the notes it losses overall dynamic range and the bass starts to get boomy and muddy, also clarity starts to suffer.

I need to get a comparatively underpowered amp to test this on because everything has it's own dac built in and it's difficult to make a one to one comparison.

*edit: a $200 stack will drive the 650 plenty well, I can't say for the soundblaster though. The 650 is going to be the upper limits if it can.