Xonar Essence Stx, What headphones and Speakers?

[maava24]

Hey guys! I am planning out my personal system and I am including the Xonar Essence STX, a great card. But my question is what headphones and speakers should I get? I am planning on getting AKG 701's but I am wondering about speakers. Since the sound card has a built in amp (I believe) do i still need to get anything to plug the speakers into? I want to invest a bit more in my speakers since I use my computer casually most of the time. I am looking at the Audioengine A5+'s but will i need any external devices to use the speakers properly with the Xonar Essence STX.

TL;DR: 

1. Good Headphones for $200-$250 with the Xonar Essence STX?

2. Will Audioengine A5+'s be able to plug directly into the Xonar Essence STX without any amps, DAC's, recievers, etc?

3. Any other good high quality headphones with tan/wood aesthetic that will (hopefully) connect directly to sound card?

4. Anything better than Xonar Essence STX for gaming, music, and videos for $200~ price point?

[maava24]

M50's for headphones sir. Wouldn't ever recommend anything else and will pair up great with the Essence.

 

And the essence has RCA outputs which can go straight into your A5+'s

Thanks so much! Those headphones look pretty great too. 

[Lyons]

Yeah they are Outstanding, will perform better than headphones in the $300 range and if you shop around you can find them for around $130-140 :D

 

This isn't even slightly true.

[Lyons]

I'ld beg to differ, they get rave reviews by pretty much everybody

 

Yeah, by people who are coming from gaming headsets and other shitty stuff. As someone who's heard M50's AND plenty of stuff in the $200-400 range, the M50's are definitely not better.

[Lyons]

Well you did actually say they were better. I have K702's (you overpaid) that sound far better than M50's. If yours don't they weren't driven properly.

[Aphexx]

http://www.amazon.com/Technica-ATHESW9A-Portable-Wooden-Headphones/dp/B0030O0Q2U

 

the only woodies that I know that fit in his price range I thought there was a grado that was lower but I can't find it. 

[Lyons]

I'm from Australia, I overpay for everything :P, Q701's are still fetching $350 these days anyways.

 

And I had them running from an Audioengine D1 which is a very good little amp. But the Q701's weren't that terrific in comparison. The mids and highs were brilliant, but the bass was rather lackluster at best. Where the M50's are kind of neutral sounding with good bass to boot.

 

I'm from Australia too. I also have a D1 and it DEFINITELY isn't powerful enough to drive the AKG's, you need something much more substantial, especially to fill out the low end.

[Dovin]

I have been told that for headphones you should go to http://www.head-fi.org/

I have been thinking of getting the Sennheiser HD 598 ($250 i think). I had heard a lot of rave about the M50 so i started reading about the HD 598 vs the M50 and all the reviews and discussions i read the HD 598 should be much better and that they could not be compered because they are in a completely different price class. From what i can figure the M50 are the best of it's price range, but not better then $250 headphones. I think you can get better headphones then the HD 598 in that price range, i have not decided yet what i should get, just go to head-fi and there should be all you need to figure it out.

Edit: From a personal perspective i can't say anything on good sounding headphones. I have a 5 year old creative Sound Blaster X-Fi XtremeGamer soundcard and some Siberia V2 for gaming. So my setup is shit, what i have talked about in this post is just what i have read from actual audiophiles and other people that have had a personal experience on this subject.

Edit 2: I only used the Sennheiser HD 598 as an example, I'm not recommending them as i do not have any personal experience with them, but if you are interested in them look at personal reviews of them on head-fi. You also need to consider what you are using them for and where, i have read that the M50 is bad or not very good for gaming due to it's cramped soundstage(again no personal experience, just what i have read). The HD 598 for instance are open headphones so they would not be very suitable for using on the buss, since everyone would have to listen to you shitty music taste (just so i don't get banned, that was just a joke, you might have a fantastic music taste, but on the buss only like 1/50 people would actually like it).

[t0wer]

 I thought there was a grado that was lower but I can't find it. 

I think allessandro were the cheapest wood grado, but I could be wrong. being supra-aural the whole grado line didn't appeal to me much.

 

 

it depends on the use for the headphones at that price.

 

I've heard the k701 need a fairly beefy amp, but I haven't heard them.

 

These are 2 in your price range I have used and are both pretty easy to drive.

I used my sennheiser HD595's for gaming they haven't been beat, imo

but for music I always prefered my shure srh-840.(review in the faq)

 

with these 2 phones, I'd push for a cheap external dac/amp like a fiio e10 over a stx.

 

I think the audioengine a5 amp is overpriced. you can save some money by going with a cheap $20 lepai amp and audioengine P4's which from my understanding use the same drivers as the A5.

[h264]

... I am including the Xonar Essence STX, a great card. ... I am planning on getting AKG 701's ..

 

>great card

 

maybe for about 5 headphones:

 

Beyers w/ 80 Ohm + impedance

Tesla T1

HD600/650

HD800

 

I can't think of anything else off hand...

 

Other than that the damping factor is far too low.  From deeply depressing personal experience, when you get an AKG K701/2 just get an O2+ODAC and skip my pain.  I think when it sounded better in my old iPod is when I realized how much I had screwed up.

[Wasabiz]

I'm using a HD650 at the moment. Its great and all, but I still feel the stage of the sound isn't wide enough. Gonna have to try it with a tube amp soon

[OddballMV]

What is you're music preference? and would you be willing to go with an external dac/amp solution as the others have suggested to get the real benefit from headphones of that price? If so there are lots of great options.

[ShearMe]

This thread is rife with sadness.

[t0wer]

This thread is rife with sadness.

 

[RicebowlDavid]

i own the m50s and they have great sound though they are horribly uncomfortable after about 30 mins, but thats just me.  

[h264]

i own the m50s and they have great sound though they are horribly uncomfortable after about 30 mins, but thats just me.  

 

couldn't help myself