Sound card for good in-ears

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Krilynck

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Jul 1, 2011
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Hi all,

I'm in the process of buying some professional in-ears, in first place for on stage, but I don't see why I wouldn't be able to use them as a regular "headphone". As I only have an onboard sound card (Asus P5E), that will probably be the bottleneck. So... I think I need to replace it with something else. I've been looking around and reading a lot on the subject, but the more I read, the harder a clear decision becomes.

Lets say, I'm not a pro with sound. There are some other guys in my band that know everything about setting up the hardware for a gig, so we depend completely on them for that matter. They don't have a lot of knowledge about computers, so they couldn't give me any advice.

The in-ears I will be getting, are comparable to the UE-11 Pro's. You can read about them here:
http://www.cinepaq.nl/?portfolio=iem-c4&lang=en
In the near future, I will probably buy a pair of Audioengine 5+'s for my computer.

At the moment, the sound card of my choice would be the Asus Xonar Essence ST or STX. I've read that the ST is slightly better. I currently have both a PCI as a PCI-e slot available. But would it be wiser to buy a Xonar, or a DAC and amp? Kinda lost here.
Budget: preferably less or around $250, with good arguments up to $600.
 
The STX is a great value IMO for speaker + headphone use (great DAC and a good headphone amp for $150 when it's on sale, tough to beat), but it'd be a terrible match for IEM's due to the high output impedance; it can be troublesome for some low impedance headphones but IEM are usually even lower at like <16 ohm. Other cards will probably be similarly ill suited, even if you end up with a cheaper Xonar for DH or whatever you'll probably want a better discrete amp for the IEM.

There's only one or two reasons to get a sound card: either you want virtualized surround for gaming with headphones (CMSS-3D or Dolby Headphone), or it's just a good value proposition (like the STX or SB Z can be under certain usage cases or when on sale etc., or a cheap DGX vs a more expensive external DAC). If none of those are overriding factors you might as well get an external amp/DAC combination like the Fiio E9 with one of their DAC, the O2 from JDS Labs, the Schiit Magni/Modi, etc.
 
Thanks! My gaming is next to nothing... I don't even need any sound at all for games like WoW, by the way. I'm more focused on watching movies. For some reason my family doesn't seem to like it when I turn on my woofer at night. ;) Good to know that a pc sound card and high impedance don't go together well. Just for my understanding: the IEM's will be at 28 ohm @ 1KHz, does that make any difference or is it still too low?

And thanks a lot for the options, that really helps! If I understand you well, I should buy a discrete amp like the Fiio E9 with a good quality DAC, correct? Or the JDS O2 + ODAC, etc. As long as it is a DAC + headphone amp, right?
 
I'd suggest something like the Fiio E10, unless you need a portable dac setup. It has a low output impedence on the amplified output for your iem, and a fixed line level output for when you get your speakers. It's not the best money can buy, but it is a very inexpensive and good solution for your intended use.

The amplifier on the E10 isn't a good match for some power hungry headphones, but those ciem are super efficient and won't need even a fraction of the power available to deafen you :)
 
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Pretty much Krykink, tho some of the Fiio DAC are also decent amps, just depends on whether you'll be using it exclusively with the IEM or what. I think the E9 itself has a 10 ohm output impedance so that was probably not the best choice in their lineup to recommend... Some of their other models are at or below 1 ohm which would be ideal for very sensitive IEM. NWAVGuy's site has a bunch of good reviews on Fiio's lineup if you don't wanna spring for something like O2 + ODAC or Magni + Modi.
 
The impedance of the IEM's is 28 ohms, so if my quick calculation is correct, the output impedance I'm looking for should be <3,5 ohms. I've looked into the JDS O2 as well as the Fiio E7 and they will both do. The big reviews from NWAVGuy show that the JDS is more accurate, but of course more expensive too. At first, I didn't know which one to get, but looking for the availability in my country made it easy: the JDS is nowhere to be found, while I can get the Fiio at several, but not too many stores and at Fiio itself aswell. That, and the fact that the Fiio is quite small, makes it a good candidate in my noobie mind. Nothing going wrong there, is it?

Then I have about 3 choices: the E7, E7k and E17. NWAVGuy says he'd like a better amp than that of the E7 and Fiio states that the E17 has just that. Unfortunately, NWAVGuy doesn't have any info on the E17. I saw that the output impedance is still about the same, so that part's fine. I kind of lean towards the E17, but like to hear your comments on that. :)
 
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Have read a lot on the subject, last days. But really a lot. :p I now understand the basics and can read most articles from NWavGuy without thinking about what he said and rereading two or three times. So... in the end I ordered a JDS ODAC XL and O2 at Head 'n Hifi, the EU supplier. That'll do perfectly for my desktop, because I'll be able to connect both the O2 and some speakers with RCA-input like the AudioEngines.

However, I kind of need a solution for my mobile needs too. The SGS2 has a horrendous output impedance of 49 Ohms, which makes it practically unusable for good audio. Always thought that that was because of my headphones, but that's clearly not the only cause. So, in the near future, my phone will be replaced or I'll buy something with a proper line out (or digital out) and hook up a Fiio E12/E17, depending on whether or not the media player has a DAC. Options: iPhone 4s/5, SGS3 (or other non-Apple phones with either line out or digital out) or iTouch 4g/5. Just for the info: the 5-series from Apple need a lightning to 30-pins adapter which has a DAC built in to be able to connect it to a headphone amp. :)

Thanks to you anyway, for showing me a good direction and pointing NWavGuy out! I really have the feeling that I otherwise would have bought something useless or of bad quality. ;)
 
If you haven't already, I'd suggest making sure one of the gain options is set to x1(unity gain). At x1 gain it will be just a buffer basically, but with sensitive ciem's you won't need lots of power and you'll enjoy a lower noise floor. With the ODAC you won't need or miss the x6 gain that's default on most commercial builds.
 
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