• Some users have recently had their accounts hijacked. It seems that the now defunct EVGA forums might have compromised your password there and seems many are using the same PW here. We would suggest you UPDATE YOUR PASSWORD and TURN ON 2FA for your account here to further secure it. None of the compromised accounts had 2FA turned on.
    Once you have enabled 2FA, your account will be updated soon to show a badge, letting other members know that you use 2FA to protect your account. This should be beneficial for everyone that uses FSFT.

SENNHEISER HD580

D

Darkatom

[H]ard|Gawd
Joined
Jun 2, 2006
Messages
1,185
Could someone somment on wether my X-FI xtreme music 5.1 sound card can properly run these headphones the way they're meant to be listened to or is an amp needed? I keep reading about poeple saying a sound card is enough, while others recommend an amplifier :confused: . I'm not really interested in purchasing an amp (even if they're are some inexpensive ones)and am really just looking for some great straight plug headphones.
 
Not like they are gonna sound horrible without an amp but you need an amp to get the most out of the HD580s.
 
Yeah you're most definately going to need an amp, those headphones can't be driven properly by any soundcard. They're pretty high impedance compared to the 5x5 line if I remember correctly
 
What would a person like me need to run a nice set of headphones like those Sennheisers? I'm a total noob to this kind of stuff. The highest quality piece of sound hardware is my X-Fi.
 
The X-Fi Xtreme Music can handle about 80-100 Ohm Headphones. I have these cans as a backup.

Since the HD580s are 250 Ohm cans, an amplifier will be a better match than the X-Fi by itself, however yes the X-Fi can drive the cans to more than decent levels. Bass however seems a bit lacking since these are not bass heavy cans in the first place.An amp brings the bass back so it is that much sweeter.
 
Any entry level amps you could recommend that won't break my bank? Sub 100 would be nice.
 
I would suggest allocating a little extra $ to your budget for the Portaphile X3

http://www.portaphile.com/x.html

It has very good synergy with the HD580s out of the box and it also has a clear upgrade path for when you feel so inclined.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top