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Audio Technica ATH-AD700 + ???

J

Jonesyy

Weaksauce
Joined
Jul 13, 2011
Messages
97
Hey guys,

I'm in the market for a good headphone set coming from basically nothing in the past. No room big enough for true 5.1 setup, and people who don't want disturbing by the volume levels I would want. Also ruled out a headset as they seem to be... shit. lol.

So headphones and clip-on mic it is!

I game a lot so that is primary, but I have narrowed it down to probably the AD700 set.

My problem lies with my ignorance to everything else. Sound cards, amps... I have no idea about amps. My biggest question is: are amps complimented by good sound cards or do they bypass the soundcard altogether? In which case should I get an amp, soundcard or both?

Looking for ideas on that specifically.

So far all I have come down to is the Xonar Essense STX which I have heard is slightly overkill for the headphones but this is good for me as it leaves room to improve if I feel it is worth the investment and I become an audiophile. Also I have heard it has an onboard amp which could eliminate the issue I described above, but I suspect it falls in the jack of all trades is a master of one category.

Any help and education would be really appreciated,
Cheers,
Dan
 
AD-700's are top-class for competitive gaming because they have an extremely large soundstage, so if you are gaming, that is an excellent starter headphone as it's also very cheap.

You don't need an amp with it, and I'd say ignore it for now until you either upgrade headphones, or are unsatisfied with the sound later on.

Amps don't bypass the soundcard as the soundcard has the DAC on it. Your stream has to go through both a DAC and an amp at some point. Most soundcards don't have a dedicated headphone amp so they just come out at line volume and you can tweak it with the Windows volume setting which is obviously fairly weak for high impedence headphones. You would connect a wire from the line-out of the soundcard to the line-in of the amp, and the headphone-out of the amp to your headphones.

That soundcard is best in class for sound quality on a computer in general, especially when also using speakers, and also for a card that is also a good headphone amp; that said you are right that it is a mismatch with regard to your budget. You'd be spending too much on the source and too little on the speakers. If you want to get a beefy soundcard, I'd at least up your budget to an HD598, or beyond that, a DT880/990. HD598's are considered a great all-rounder, and have second best soundstage to AD-700. The DT880 is a neutral-sounding headphone, the DT990 is more bassy.

What I would consider for source purposes, if you are sticking with the AD-700, is not to worry about the amp, but to make sure you have a soundcard that supports either Dolby Headphone or CMSS3D, because those will give you enhanced positional audio for gaming. So basically, a budget Xonar (I think they make a cheap headphone card called the DG or something), for DH, or a cheap X-Fi for CMSS3D.
 
Fantastic reply Valaire, couldn't ask for anything more.

I can either go for the AD-700/Xonar Combo
or
HD598/Essence Combo

The difference in price between the two is almost 100%, so for somebody who has never really experienced great sound from any source ever in my life, is it so worth the upgrade? It could even be HD598/Xonar Combo if this is recommended but should it really go with the Essence? Maybe even the AD900's?

Side Note: Who designed the 598's? Nice colour scheme lol.
 
I would say choose between the HD598 and AD700 based on how much of a priority music listening and movies are in addition to gaming. If you just game 80% of the time your headphones are on, and you are on a budget, I'd say get the AD700.

If you want an all-rounder that will last a long time, and is equally good for gaming, music, and movies, then the HD598 is a solid choice.

In terms of sources: Xonar DG for AD700 probably as you don't need a fancy DAC or amp with those headphones. For HD598 you can also run on a DG if you want to save money, or you can step up to the Essence. However, without music listening as a large priority, the DG will probably serve best here too.

The value from the Essence will come if you listen to music a lot, either on stereo monitors or headphones. That's where its DAC shines. It's amp isn't going to be a bang-for-buck for gaming alone to justify the purchase of the card.

HD598's color scheme is hit or miss, a lot of people won't try it cause they think they are ugly. I personally don't care as I'm not rocking them in public because I'm not that hardcore. :)
 
Haha, wish I could be that hardcore :(

I have basically settled on the AD700 and if I become an audiophile I will upgrade these to a super-pair in the future. I like the idea of the massive open soundstage and clarity, especially in games.

As for the sound-card, I might just get the Essence to save money in the long-run. Problem is I have heard sound card are usually either good, or bad. No inbetween. Does this mean any £30 card is basically a waste of money?

Thanks for your help.
 
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The Essence is a huge upgrade from the DG. If you have your eyes set on the Essence by all means splurge, you will not be disappointed. The DG is the kind of card you get to hold ya over for the short term, it just barely scratches that "itch" so to speak, while the Essence on 2nd or even 3rd gain grabs you by the balls and blows ya away. As long as you're running headphones lower than 150ohms.

With those headphones you'll need to boost the lower frequencies a bit in the xonar audio center to bring them back to balance since they are extremely bass light (out of the box). But since you'll be having a decent onboard amp, they will be much more capable and become alive.

Good choices. That was actually my first combo when I got into the can game not long ago.
 
Well if you made the choice then I can't go wrong :)

The essence will help with the lower frequencies, like you say, and will be good for whatever I plug into them later on. I am quite looking forward to getting them :)
 
I would probably get the DG for now and upgrade to the Essence when you get better headphones/speakers. The DG is a huge value at $30 and will do what it needs to do for the AD700 to shine.

Using the Essence with the AD700 is overkill and since you're talking about a $30 card vs a $200 card, that is a big difference where a 'holdover' card like the DG has merit, especially since you're probably not going to get new headphones anytime soon.
 
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