Getting 600 ohm headphones, questions on onboard audio and my mixamp

Delerium89

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Mar 8, 2014
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Im getting the 600 ohm version of the beyerdynamic dt880s. I currenty have an astro mixamp plugged in via optical cable directly into my mobo. My mobo is the Asus maximus VI formulahttp://www.asus.com/us/Motherboards/MAXIMUS_VI_FORMULA/ and it says its capable of driving 600 ohms with the onboard audio. Since I have the mixamp plugged in is my onboard audio being utlized at all> Or is it completely bypassed?
 
Solution
I would think the Astro Mixamp would ruin sound quality. But I'm not certain what it actually does, is it a DAC as well? I'm pretty sure if you just ran the headphones through your onboard 600ohm audio it would sound superior. But save for a real DAC.

You can try running them on your Astro Mixamp, not sure what kind of volume levels it will get to as I have no idea what it actually does.

random stalker

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Feb 3, 2013
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nope since its output should be rated at only 50 ohm /but can drive 250 ohm headphones if I remember correctly/ - you'll need an decent amp.
also, you really don't want to plug anything valued above $20 tesco grade crap into the onboard audio. trust me on that.
 

Lmah

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I would think the Astro Mixamp would ruin sound quality. But I'm not certain what it actually does, is it a DAC as well? I'm pretty sure if you just ran the headphones through your onboard 600ohm audio it would sound superior. But save for a real DAC.

You can try running them on your Astro Mixamp, not sure what kind of volume levels it will get to as I have no idea what it actually does.
 
Solution

Delerium89

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Mar 8, 2014
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I can buy a dac right now, I haven't done much research on the subject. Im very new to audio. Can you provide a few links on what dacs I should consider?
 

Lmah

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FIIO dac/amps if your on a budget, but I think most of them are only up to 300ohm, personally I use one based off NwAvGuy's design which is made my Mayflower, but you can build it yourself for like $40 at radioshack if you can figure it out. After that there are some high end tube amps which color the audio slightly but some of my friends really like them, but their cost is usually $1k+.
 

Delerium89

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A little confused. I'm very new to this. Im checking out mayflowers website and under products there are headphone amplifiers and dacs, seperate. Now would I want to get one of the headphone amplifiers or a DAC? If you could clarify a little on what they are/do that would be awesome
 

Lmah

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O2+ODAC probably is your best bet since you will be able to use it for every PC you have in the future and won't have to worry about an AMP since it's built in.
https://www.mayflowerelectronics.com/shop/digital-to-analog-converters/objective2-with-odac/
 

Delerium89

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Mar 8, 2014
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Ok thanks for all the information. Would just like to clarify a few things before I buy one. My dt880s come with the 1/4" jack adaptor. Should I get the one that has the 1/4" out? Will the sound quality be higher with that? Also getting a modmic from antlion. Would I plug that into the input on the amp or directly into my mobo? Will there be any connection from the amp/dac to my computer besides the usb connection? Sorry for all the questions, like I said this is all new to me and I just wanna make sure I'm thorough with it