Recommend me Speaker and Headphone for Sound BlasterX AE-5

[Sabir]

2 minutes ago, Dackzy said:

it is a version of the modi 2 that has more inputs and uses wall power instead of just power over USB. It sounds a bit cleaner than the normal Modi 2

What optical output do in modi 2 uber and is it for connection with TV , PC or laptop?

 

[Dackzy]

1 minute ago, Sabir said:

What optical output do in modi 2 uber and is it for connection with TV , PC or laptop?

 

Yeah the optical input can be used with your TV, PC or laptop if they have a optical output. It requires no drivers, so it really just is plug and play.

[Sabir]

1 minute ago, Dackzy said:

Yeah the optical input can be used with your TV, PC or laptop if they have a optical output. It requires no drivers, so it really just is plug and play.

Which one deliver great sound optical or USB? And is mangi 3 better than mangi 2 uber?

[Dackzy]

Just now, Sabir said:

Which one deliver great sound optical or USB? And is mangi 3 better than mangi 2 uber?

the sound is the same, optical just can't get interference like USB can. The magni 3 vs magni 2 uber is purely a taste thing. The Magni 3 is a bit warmer and a tad more laid back, while the magni 2 uber is leaner and more "clinical" (lack of better word)

[Sabir]

6 minutes ago, Dackzy said:

the sound is the same, optical just can't get interference like USB can. The magni 3 vs magni 2 uber is purely a taste thing. The Magni 3 is a bit warmer and a tad more laid back, while the magni 2 uber is leaner and more "clinical" (lack of better word)

Is sennhiser Game one will work well or HD598 or HD600 ? I want crystal clear and good bass. If it's blow my mind or eargasm.

[Dackzy]

8 minutes ago, Sabir said:

Is sennhiser Game one will work well or HD598 or HD600 ? I want crystal clear and good bass. If it's blow my mind or eargasm.

game one are basically just 598 and TBH not that great (technically HD 558, which use the same driver as 598). The HD 600 got good bass, but they don't extend very well. HD 600 are defiantly the best of those, but if you want well extended bass in your budget and open then you basically go HD 6xx or K612, both have clear mids. The HD 6xx are warm sounding though, so the treble is laid back a bit. 

[Sabir]

8 minutes ago, Dackzy said:

game one are basically just 598 and TBH not that great (technically HD 558, which use the same driver as 598). The HD 600 got good bass, but they don't extend very well. HD 600 are defiantly the best of those, but if you want well extended bass in your budget and open then you basically go HD 6xx or K612, both have clear mids. The HD 6xx are warm sounding though, so the treble is laid back a bit. 

How long HD600 will last or other headphones that you mention? What if it's one time like other headphones? How many years can i use?

[Sabir]

17 minutes ago, Dackzy said:

game one are basically just 598 and TBH not that great (technically HD 558, which use the same driver as 598). The HD 600 got good bass, but they don't extend very well. HD 600 are defiantly the best of those, but if you want well extended bass in your budget and open then you basically go HD 6xx or K612, both have clear mids. The HD 6xx are warm sounding though, so the treble is laid back a bit. 

What if i buy this DAC with HD600 or HD650?  http://www.schiit.com/products/yggdrasil

[Dackzy]

20 minutes ago, Sabir said:

How long HD600 will last or other headphones that you mention? What if it's one time like other headphones? How many years can i use?

depends on how well you treat them, you should probably expect to change pads every 1-2 years or so. This is quite normal. The drivers should be able to last a long time, I mean you can get HD 580 that still work and those are from the 90s and I have seen HD 600 that are like 15 years old.

12 minutes ago, Sabir said:

What if i buy this DAC with HD600 or HD650?  http://www.schiit.com/products/yggdrasil

that's quite overkill for those headphones. It is a great DAC, but again not worth much without a amp 

[Sabir]

1 minute ago, Dackzy said:

depends on how well you treat them, you should probably expect to change pads every 1-2 years or so. This is quite normal. The drivers should be able to last a long time, I mean you can get HD 580 that still work and those are from the 90s and I have seen HD 600 that are like 15 years old.

that's quite overkill for those headphones. It is a great DAC, but again not worth much without a amp 

If i buy it i can't buy my gaming PC ??.  Does Creative BlasterX Katana work with modi 2 uber and magni 3? 

https://us.creative.com/p/speakers/sound-blasterx-katana

[Dackzy]

5 minutes ago, Sabir said:

If i buy it i can't buy my gaming PC ??.  Does Creative BlasterX Katana work with modi 2 uber and magni 3? 

https://us.creative.com/p/speakers/sound-blasterx-katana

looks like it would, but it sounds like ass compared to LSR 305

[Sabir]

13 minutes ago, Dackzy said:

looks like it would, but it sounds like ass compared to LSR 305

I have Genius sw-g2.1 2000 doesn't it work with modi 2 uber and magni 3?

[Dackzy]

5 minutes ago, Sabir said:

I have Genius sw-g2.1 2000 doesn't it work with modi 2 uber and magni 3?

I mean it looks like you can hook the modi 2 uber up to it with RCA, but not also to the magni 3, unless you get a switch box for RCA.

[Sabir]

5 minutes ago, Dackzy said:

I mean it looks like you can hook the modi 2 uber up to it with RCA, but not also to the magni 3, unless you get a switch box for RCA.

So i have to buy any switch box i want? And then that DAC and amp together will deliver sound through the speaker right? And my speaker sound will improve i mean better quality.

[Dackzy]

4 minutes ago, Sabir said:

So i have to buy any switch box i want? And then that DAC and amp together will deliver sound through the speaker right? And my speaker sound will improve i mean better quality.

This is how the setup would go. 

It is probably limited how much better your speakers will sound, because they aren't that high quality. (not trying to be rude)

[Sabir]

1 minute ago, Dackzy said:

This is how the setup would go. 

It is probably limited how much better your speakers will sound, because they aren't that high quality. (not trying to be rude)

Why it's rude? You said the truth. Now i understand i think. So DAC is the main source of better sound it will deliver sound through the switch then switch will send this sound to speaker and headphone amp right? 

[GamerDude]

2 hours ago, Sabir said:

Why it's rude? You said the truth. Now i understand i think. So DAC is the main source of better sound it will deliver sound through the switch then switch will send this sound to speaker and headphone amp right? 

Yes, but tbh, with lower end or lower quality speakers and headphones, you'd be hard pressed to hear any difference between, say, mobo onboard audio vs soundcard vs external DAC. Also, bear in mind that even IF you can pick up on the difference in sound between a DAC and onboard audio (or soundcard)  you'd find that it'd be subtle at best, NOT 'night and day' difference as some (not the guys here) would say (unless the onboard audio/soundcard/DAC/speakers/cans that you're using is complete trash to begin with). 

 

For example, if you were to get the Katana, and with just gaming and watching movies as your main concern (only guessing here as you didn't state what the new gear would be used for), then onboard would suffice. Soundcard, nowadays, are pretty much not a concern for many as onboard is pretty good, but if you want 'better', there's always external DAC stack/combo. A stack like the Magni 3 + Modi 2 would be great IF one is also concerned with music appreciation as well, they do great with movies and gaming with headphones, a decent pair of headphones that is. Audio can be a money pit, but getting good lower priced gear like the Schiit stack, good speakers and a decent pair of cans can stave off the itch to upgrade for a good while. 

 

I have a Creative SB Zx + Logitech Z5500 for games and movies, it's a beastly setup for these usage scenarios, but together with the surround station I've had set up for it, it takes up way too much space, so I'll have to sell the Creative Surround Station and Z5500 before I move.....such a pity though, I love it! Takes me back to when I first played Dead Space with the Z5500, Dead Space has very good sound design, and I fairly leapt outta my skin when a metal bar was dropped onto the metal grilled floor......from my rear speaker! Gonna miss that with just 2.1/2.0 speaker setups.

[Sabir]

2 hours ago, GamerDude said:

Yes, but tbh, with lower end or lower quality speakers and headphones, you'd be hard pressed to hear any difference between, say, mobo onboard audio vs soundcard vs external DAC. Also, bear in mind that even IF you can pick up on the difference in sound between a DAC and onboard audio (or soundcard)  you'd find that it'd be subtle at best, NOT 'night and day' difference as some (not the guys here) would say (unless the onboard audio/soundcard/DAC/speakers/cans that you're using is complete trash to begin with). 

 

For example, if you were to get the Katana, and with just gaming and watching movies as your main concern (only guessing here as you didn't state what the new gear would be used for), then onboard would suffice. Soundcard, nowadays, are pretty much not a concern for many as onboard is pretty good, but if you want 'better', there's always external DAC stack/combo. A stack like the Magni 3 + Modi 2 would be great IF one is also concerned with music appreciation as well, they do great with movies and gaming with headphones, a decent pair of headphones that is. Audio can be a money pit, but getting good lower priced gear like the Schiit stack, good speakers and a decent pair of cans can stave off the itch to upgrade for a good while. 

 

I have a Creative SB Zx + Logitech Z5500 for games and movies, it's a beastly setup for these usage scenarios, but together with the surround station I've had set up for it, it takes up way too much space, so I'll have to sell the Creative Surround Station and Z5500 before I move.....such a pity though, I love it! Takes me back to when I first played Dead Space with the Z5500, Dead Space has very good sound design, and I fairly leapt outta my skin when a metal bar was dropped onto the metal grilled floor......from my rear speaker! Gonna miss that with just 2.1/2.0 speaker setups.

Holy shit Dead Space series is my number 1 favourite game all times. I have my own group it's call Dead Space Universe. Join with us. It's big Dead Space group on Facebook. And which speaker you prefer for me? If i buy modi 2 under and magni 3? And headphone 600HD or 650HD will be good enough i think. 

[vanished]

On 2/3/2018 at 1:05 PM, Sabir said:

JBL pLSR 305 is only one box lol. And what about HyperX Cloud 2 is it work well with modi 2 and mangi 3 and Sound BlasterX AE-5? Or should i buy razer man o wars 7.1 or kraken? 

Please take whatever you would spend on the sound card / DAC & amp and add it to your headphone budget, and I promise you it will sound better even on your onboard audio than a pair of these would with a fancy card.

[Necromundan]

19 hours ago, Ryan_Vickers said:

Please take whatever you would spend on the sound card / DAC & amp and add it to your headphone budget, and I promise you it will sound better even on your onboard audio than a pair of these would with a fancy card.

That's actually not really accurate. A great sound card or amp / dac can make very modest headphones sound amazing.

If you have great headphones being fed a non-ideal signal...you're basically wasting a great pair of headphones with a lot of capability pushing a non-ideal signal.

The "headphones are the solution" mantra is really a pretty massive misnomer.

If you're investing in headphones and want the most out of them...you want...

A good amp - A sound card like the AE-5 will be MUCH better than a motherboard amp as will any of the amps / dacs that have been mentioned on this thread.

A good dac with a decent signal to noise ratio - 118dB SnR or higher is ideal

THEN you'll get what you're paying for on the headphones.

 

[vanished]

Just now, Necromundan said:

That's actually not really accurate. A great sound card or amp / dac can make very modest headphones sound amazing.

If you have great headphones being fed a non-ideal signal...you're basically wasting a great pair of headphones with a lot of capability pushing a non-ideal signal.

The "headphones are the solution" mantra is really a pretty massive misnomer.

If you're investing in headphones and want the most out of them...you want...

A good amp - A sound card like the AE-5 will be MUCH better than a motherboard amp as will any of the amps / dacs that have been mentioned on this thread.

A good dac with a decent signal to noise ratio - 118dB SnR or higher is ideal

THEN you'll get what you're paying for on the headphones.

 

I know the importance of a good source, particularly as your headphones improve but I'm pretty sure you'd be better off spending $200 on headphones than $100 on a sound device and $100 on a gaming headset

[Necromundan]

6 minutes ago, Ryan_Vickers said:

I know the importance of a good source, particularly as your headphones improve but I'm pretty sure you'd be better off spending $200 on headphones than $100 on a sound device and $100 on a gaming headset

I get what you're saying as well. And I love a good pair of headphones. I own a lot of them.

But the fact is most motherboards are pushing out an atrocious 82dB SnR signal. Laptops are even worse. An entry level sound card like the Sound Blaster FX Is $35 bucks and pushes out 106db SnR. Thats 24 TIMES a cleaner signal than the crap RealTek stuff that is on most motherboards. Each 1 dB SnR is basically an order of magnitude in signal versus noise. Even a somple  amp / dac that's connected would be better than plugging headphones into the absolute crap that is on the majority of motherboards today. 

Then you spend another $150 or so on a headphone and you're actually going to get MUCH closer to the benefit of the headphones. The card has the right power to power those headphones right, and the clarity can be taken advantage of.

When you do an actual A / B comparison between the two..it is night and day. Especially when you are using headphones that are actually well designed and built. I totally agree that most gaming headsets are garbage when it comes to audio output. I'm always amazed at how many people marvel at them when similarly priced headphones are a lot better at the same price. But there are exceptions.

It's really easy to dismiss dedicated sound cards and sound devices because that's been the cool thing to do for a long time. But it's absolutely not true, and anyone that has a sound card knows exactly what I'm talking about. 

 

[vanished]

1 minute ago, Necromundan said:

I get what you're saying as well. And I love a good pair of headphones. I own a lot of them.

But the fact is most motherboards are pushing out an atrocious 82dB SnR signal. Laptops are even worse. An entry level sound card like the Sound Blaster FX Is $35 bucks and pushes out 106db SnR. Thats 24 TIMES a cleaner signal than the crap RealTek stuff that is on most motherboards. Each 1 dB SnR is basically an order of magnitude in signal versus noise. Even a somple  amp / dac that's connected would be better than plugging headphones into the absolute crap that is on the majority of motherboards today. 

Then you spend another $150 or so on a headphone and you're actually going to get MUCH closer to the benefit of the headphones. The card has the right power to power those headphones right, and the clarity can be taken advantage of.

When you do an actual A / B comparison between the two..it is night and day. Especially when you are using headphones that are actually well designed and built. I totally agree that most gaming headsets are garbage when it comes to audio output. I'm always amazed at how many people marvel at them when similarly priced headphones are a lot better at the same price. But there are exceptions.

It's really easy to dismiss dedicated sound cards and sound devices because that's been the cool thing to do for a long time. But it's absolutely not true, and anyone that has a sound card knows exactly what I'm talking about.

I definitely agree that if that is the state of your onboard, then I take back what I said - it needs to be replaced with something better.

 

However I question those numbers as being "typical".  For example my motherboard quotes a 112 dB SnR, and can do up to 192kHz/24bit, so unless this is a case of specs being patently misleading if not just plain worthless like they often are on monitors, I don't really see the problem.

 

Sure, having really good headphones on a bad source is a waste but having a fantastic source feeding garbage cans is not gonna help anyone either.

[Sabir]

3 hours ago, Necromundan said:

That's actually not really accurate. A great sound card or amp / dac can make very modest headphones sound amazing.

If you have great headphones being fed a non-ideal signal...you're basically wasting a great pair of headphones with a lot of capability pushing a non-ideal signal.

The "headphones are the solution" mantra is really a pretty massive misnomer.

If you're investing in headphones and want the most out of them...you want...

A good amp - A sound card like the AE-5 will be MUCH better than a motherboard amp as will any of the amps / dacs that have been mentioned on this thread.

A good dac with a decent signal to noise ratio - 118dB SnR or higher is ideal

THEN you'll get what you're paying for on the headphones.

 

@Necromundan Which will be better between AE-5 vs Modi 2 uber + Magni 3 ? Which one sound is more good and have lots of option?

[NinjaQuick]

Most important question is how much you are looking to spend. You answered that, so the best bet is get a good little amp, like the Sabaj Da2, a fair pair of headphones like the SHP9500 and a ModMic, and then throw oodles of money into studio monitor speakers, like the JBL that were linked. I personally have the Da2, and it is phenomenal. It is amazing what the ESS Sabre does.

 

The DAC in most onboard is bad, sure, but you will see more improvements from having great speakers and the mediocre integrated dac than from getting ok speakers with an OK dac. Headphones like the SHP9500 are excellent and cheap enough you will take them with you. A portable DAC/AMP like the Da2 lets you have the good sound wherever you go. And again, you are way better off with a good pair of self-powered speakers.