HD558, sound card?

[Megahurts]

Hello,

 

I'm going to get the HD 558 headset soon and I was wondering if my builtin sound chipset can drive the headset well. My motherboard is Z87x-UD3H (ALC898).

 

I've read the sticky (very helpful) and the 889 was mentioned in it, I'm not enitrely sure how does the 889 compare to 898, but I'm supposing according to what I gathered from the sticky, I should pass on the sound card upgrade.

 

I really felt the need to create a thread here because on some other forum some guy recommended that I don't go with the built-in realtek chipset. I'm not sure if what he recommended is just based on a whim or on solid knowledge.

 

From what I read on various websites, the 558 is easy to drive. But I don't want to pay that much for a headset and not get its full potential, so if a sound card is really needed, I'm more than happy to shell out some more bucks for it.

 

Thanks guys,

[needmorewood]

you dont need it. but if you really want to buy something a fiio e10 cant hurt 

[piplupgao]

Your onboard will be fine but a fiio e10 will improve sound quality a bit

[Vague]

You really don't need a sound card, you should just get fiio e10 or if you want to waste money get a sound card.

[Megahurts]

Thanks guys, I guess I'll just save the cash. Can anybody describe the improvements I'd get from an amp like the fiio e10? Louder volume? Better sound quality? If it's just a minor difference then I'd also rather save the $75 (fiio e10 price), as my budget is really running out after I bought a new rig.

 

Also one other question, is it possible to get virtual surround with the headset or should I forget about this? (There is an option in the Realtek app)

 

This is going to be my first real 'good' headset so rest assured I'm an amateur at this

[ShearMe]

Thanks guys, I guess I'll just save the cash. Can anybody describe the improvements I'd get from an amp like the fiio e10? Louder volume? Better sound quality? If it's just a minor difference then I'd also rather save the $75 (fiio e10 price), as my budget is really running out after I bought a new rig.

 

Also one other question, is it possible to get virtual surround with the headset or should I forget about this? (There is an option in the Realtek app)

 

This is going to be my first real 'good' headset so rest assured I'm an amateur at this

 

The FiiO can probably make them louder, and will have a minor improvement in sound quality, but it's probably not worth it. Internal soundcards are crap so everyone was just giving you an alternative.

You can try the realtek virtual surround option, and you can also try the Razer Surround software if you don't like the Realtek stuff. Most people think virtual surround sounds bad on good headphones, so you might not like either.

 

Stop calling headphones headsets. The distinction is big.

[mr moose]

Thanks guys, I guess I'll just save the cash. Can anybody describe the improvements I'd get from an amp like the fiio e10? Louder volume? Better sound quality? If it's just a minor difference then I'd also rather save the $75 (fiio e10 price), as my budget is really running out after I bought a new rig.

 

Also one other question, is it possible to get virtual surround with the headset or should I forget about this? (There is an option in the Realtek app)

 

This is going to be my first real 'good' headset so rest assured I'm an amateur at this

Just to add to the treasure trove of good information posted so far (because we usually get at least one guy saying his ubute soundwiz card is awesome).   The E10 will not so much improve the SQ (although  personal experience will be a little different for everybody) as just not be as susceptible to interference so you will get possibly less noise depending on how well your onboard works with the rest of your system.

[Megahurts]

Stop calling headphones headsets. The distinction is big.

 

Duly noted!

 

Thanks everyone for the help and the informaiton. Great forum and nice people :wub:

 

I'll get the headphones and see if I need anything after I try it out on my onboard chipset. I'm pretty sure I'll be mind-blown with whatever the results are, I never paid for more than $30 for 'headphones' before.

 

edit: Fixed a typo :rolleyes:

[N7_Zer0]

I'll get the headphones and see if I need anything after I try it out on my onboard chipset. I'm pretty sure I'll be mind-blown with whatever the results are, I never paid for more than $30 for 'headphones' before.

 

FTFY

[Megahurts]

The headphones should arrive at my place in 9 days or so. I have one more question if anyone can help, what is the best jack to connect the headphones to? Front or Rear?

 

The z87x-ud3h motherboard have a headphone amp (dvr632) and this chip is only effective on the front jack.

 

A quote from a review:

 ALC898 pictured above with a DRV632 which is a Texas Instruments Line driver/AMP, the results below are without this AMP, which would take up the performance. The reason is because this line driver/AMP only works on the front panel headphone output and you must use the internal header to get it.

 

In the manual though, this is what it says about the rear jacks:

Rear Speaker Out Jack (Black): This jack can be used to connect front speakers in a 4/5.1/7.1-channel audio configuration.
Line Out Jack (Green): The default line out jack. Use this audio jack for a headphone or 2-channel speaker. This jack can be used to connect front speakers in a 4/5.1/7.1-channel audio configuration.

 

What I was thinking earlier is that the rear jack (green) should be better, but with the 'amp' fact, I'm not entirely sure what's the best.

[ShearMe]

The only problem with front panel connections is they often fail or pick up EMI. I couldn't find anything wrong with the TI DRV632, but I could be reading the spec sheet wrong.

[Megahurts]

It seems that the DRV632 minimum load impedance is 600 Ω and the HD 558 impedance is 50 Ω. My knowledge in this is very poor but doesn't that mean the amp will be useless? I even remember that it's a bad thing to hook up speakers with lower impedance than the amps minimum.

 

Anyways, no worries. I'll be trying the headset on both ports and see the difference myself, I guess.

[ShearMe]

It seems that the DRV632 minimum load impedance is 600 Ω and the HD 558 impedance is 50 Ω. My knowledge in this is very poor but doesn't that mean the amp will be useless? I even remember that it's a bad thing to hook up speakers with lower impedance than the amps minimum.

 

Anyways, no worries. I'll be trying the headset on both ports and see the difference myself, I guess.

 

There's no way to tell - the motherboard circuits might not send the outputs directly to the headphone jack.

[mr moose]

That chip is specifically design to drive at line level into impedance's up to 10Khz, It has short circuit protection and can run from single voltage supply which maybe why it is being used as a headphone amp. 

If the manufacturer says it will be safe for headphones then they should have adjusted the circuit to accommodate for lower impedance loads.  The actual output impedance of that chip in mute mode is 0.1 ohm.

[Megahurts]

Thanks for the explanation ShearMe and mr moose.

 

I just tried a pair of headphones that I have, both on the rear and the front ports. The highest volume on the rear port is acceptable (with clear sound and bass), the highest volume on the front port is 'silly loud' to the point where you have to lower the volume down or your ears will get damaged, also if you focus you can hear some static (at highest volume/front port. No static whatsoever on the rear port.), I guess this is the 'DRV632' at work.

 

The headphones that I tried are supposed to have an impedance of 32 Ω and they're just your basic pair of headphones (nothing fancy).

 

Results will probably vary with different equipment, so I'll see what's best for the HD558.

[N00B_person]

you dont need it. but if you really want to buy something a fiio e10 cant hurt 

+1