studio headphones only push half volume on pc - normal headphones go all the way

wam98674

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Aug 26, 2011
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18,510
I got some nice AKG K553 pros with incredible sound quality... on a receiver. I don't own a receiver or amp so I can't do the obvious and hook it up to my pc, but I've never encountered an issue like this. My AKG headphones will only pump volume halfway up the green bar on the volume mixer (windows 10 pro) but the turtle beach headphones (also has a 3.5mm jack) will pump it all the way up... as do any headphones I've ever used. The impedance for these headphones is 32 ohms which I was wondering if it could be that I'm using an onboard sound card (Sabertooth Z77 mobo) but I read that Razer Krakens have a 32 ohm impedance as well... which are made for pc gaming, so that didn't make sense to me. I turned on volume equalization (as many have suggested) and it helped a little bit, but it's still very lackluster. I've tried both front and back headphones (headphones vs speaker jacks makes a difference so some... but not for me). I'm at a total loss. It's even louder on my phone than it is on my pc, which I find extremely ironic. I can switch back and forth between headphones and it comes down to this set of headphones, which I know aren't defective since I used them on a receiver and they work really well.

Is the only solution to get good sound quality to get a dedicated card/amp or is there some magic trick software or something I can use to push more power through these headphones? I'd rather do things on the cheap side, but if need be I'll force myself to use another set only once I've exhausted my options.
 
Solution
Yes, because your pc cant deliver the power the receiver can...Dedicated soundcard will only deliver a better sound quality not improve the signal output level...

You dont need a receiver, a simple micro/mini-HiFi system will do...or you might buy a USB DAC and Amplifier...

Lkaos

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Dec 13, 2014
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Yes, because your pc cant deliver the power the receiver can...Dedicated soundcard will only deliver a better sound quality not improve the signal output level...

You dont need a receiver, a simple micro/mini-HiFi system will do...or you might buy a USB DAC and Amplifier...
 
Solution

wam98674

Distinguished
Aug 26, 2011
5
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18,510


Do you have any suggestions that are relatively cheap that would be sufficient enough to get me by? I'm not running like a whole studio or anything, I just want to use some nice headphones (maybe upgrade in the future). Give me any and all suggestions. Maybe even some good companies to do some research in (I'm a man of research) or something to reference off of. I had a feeling that was the issue, sad days :(
 

Lkaos

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Dec 13, 2014
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4,610