Dedicated soundcard for AKG550

[shaokim]

Hi,

I've recently bought the AKG550 headphones for PC use, and I'm very satisfied with them (seem to have improved a lot, even), but unfortunately, there's constant, pretty loud static throughout, which actually gets worse when there's movement on screen (anything from moving mouse cursor to video). It occurs both when they're plugged into front and back jacks. I'm not much of a techie, but supposedly this is because I have an onboard soundcard (Realtek ALC1200) and, because of lack of shielding, there's interference.

Now my solution is to buy a dedicated sound card. Unfortunately, the AKG550 has an impedance of 32 ohms, and the Xonar soundcards I'm looking at (DGX and STX) have an output impedance of about 10 ohms, which would result in some sound distortion. Is that correct?

Would buying a dedicated sound solve the problem of static? Would the impedance mismatch actually audibly affect sound quality, or would there still be a good improvement in audio quality? Would it be better to stick with my current onboard audio, and look for another solution, not requiring buying a soundcard?

Thanks for your help.

 

[Rimse]

In my opion the the best solution will be headphone amplifier with internal dac connected to your computer.You can look at pro headpone amps or other hifi headphones amps. Funny thing is that not always ohms result in higher sound level.For example grado ps1000 is 32ohms and sony mdr 7506 60ohms.At the same volume on beyerdynamic a1 amp or technics se-a3000 amp,sony sounds louder.Anyway , you have very high quality headphones which will be benefit from good headphones amp or dac.

 

[LMA]

If you plug your phones directly into the back of the computer the static should be gone. I had a problem with my Creative X-FI Titanium when using the extra thingy that plugs into it at the front of the PC case. Modern GPUS and CPUS are a real problem for internal audio cables. I would use an external sound interface.

Novation claim to have the loudest interface the Audiohub using Focusrite internals. It's not got any fancy stuff though it's for Audio production so only ideal for stereo output.

 

[SteveR750]

You could consider a separate DAC amp, like the Dragonfly, or the Dacmagic XS. I've got the latter which I use to bypass the soundcard in my laptops completely when I'm away from home. For £80 it's fantastic, though everyone's idea of value for money of course might be different

 

[shaokim]

Thanks for the replies.

You could consider a separate DAC amp, like the Dragonfly, or the Dacmagic XS. I've got the latter which I use to bypass the soundcard in my laptops completely when I'm away from home. For £80 it's fantastic, though everyone's idea of value for money of course might be different

So, these DACs, do they function as a kind of USB soundcard? Apparently its output impedance is 12 ohms, so the problem of impedance mismatch with my headphones wouldn't be solved by buying a Dacmagic XS, if I understand correctly?

 

[pauln]

There are many dac/amp combos with an output impedance of 1 ohm or less that would be fine with your headphones, eg the ODAC from Epiphany acoustics. Ideally the ratio of impedances would be 8 : 1 or more.

http://nwavguy.blogspot.co.uk/2011/02/headphone-amp-impedance.html

 

[SteveR750]

Thanks for the replies.

You could consider a separate DAC amp, like the Dragonfly, or the Dacmagic XS. I've got the latter which I use to bypass the soundcard in my laptops completely when I'm away from home. For £80 it's fantastic, though everyone's idea of value for money of course might be different

So, these DACs, do they function as a kind of USB soundcard? Apparently its output impedance is 12 ohms, so the problem of impedance mismatch with my headphones wouldn't be solved by buying a Dacmagic XS, if I understand correctly?

Yes, and a soundcard has a DAC in it too.

The XS will drive a pair of 550s to a loud level, my son has a pair, and I've truied them. Their impedance is fine with it, CA recommend headphones with an impedance of greater than 12 ohms, most on and over ear phones are a lot higher than that. IEMs are often between 10 and 30 but they still work fine.

 

[shaokim]

Thanks for the advice.

So, if I were to buy a HRT microstreamer, it would completely solve my static issues, and significantly improve sound quality with my AKG550s?

 

[Friesiansam]

I have been using a pair of AKG K550s with an Asus Xonar Essence STX for a few months now. Just after Christmas I changed the I/V opamps for a pair of texas instruments LME49720NAs and, to my ears, they seem to match nicely. I use the middle amp gain setting. The card is well shielded and I hear no unwanted noise. There is just a hint of harshness in the upper midrange which is sometimes apparent. The new opamps reduced that harshness, improved trebles a lot and reveal more detail.

 

[Vladimir]

The TI TPA6120A chip on ASUS STX will drive the AKGs like a boss (1W @ 32ohms). 10ohms output impedance wont be an audible issue since the AKG K550s have a very flat impedance vs. frequency.

 

[paulkebab]

I fitted a Xonar DS soundcard last week and it's far and away better than the onboard Realtek device. I also have AKG 550's as well as Grado SR60's, SR325's and all sound markedly better. For £35 it's a no-brainer.