Very Interesting Problem =\

[WRasada]

Hey! So I bought a sound card for my headphones, asus xonar DG. Overall, i'm happy with it but there's one thing thats really bothering me. I have a set of V-Moda Crossfade m-100s and ath-ad900. Here's the problem.. I've connected the front panel header to the sound card and both headphones work great on the front panel! Now.. when it comes to the front out/headphone input on the back the crossfade m-100s sound horrible! For one they sound a lot quieter and the vocals get completely wiped out on videos but there are some where I can still hear vocals just super quiet. Everything also sounds very distorted/robotic. Is there an explanation for this..? I appreciate all the help! I have a feeling this is going to be tough to answer though. =\ Thank you!!

 

[ssddx]

if you disconnect the front panel header.... and try the rear... same thing?

do your settings change (ie eq, driver settings) when you swap between front and rear?

 

[WRasada]

Alright, just booted down and unplugged the header and tried the rear, still the same thing unfortunately. =\ This is really odd. I actually purchased a sound blaster z prior to buying this new sound card cause I had the same problem. AD900 works fine front/back - M100 front good back horrible.. Maybe its the headphones? Going to return the creative card tomorrow, DG sounds great for my liking and will save me some money but it still doesn't make any sense to me why the front works and back doesn't. Maybe I'll contact V-Moda and see if they think its a problem with the headphones and send it back for a replacement. I'm hoping that would be the problem unless there's something else you have in mind. As far as the settings, they stay the same when switching front/back. Pretty odd huh?

 

[ssddx]

if only your m-100s sound bad on both cards then i'd say its something to do with them.

what resistance are they and is the card capable of powering them?

keep in mind some high end headphones are high resistance and normal soundcards might not power them. low resistance studio headphones work fine though. i know my ath-m50s works perfectly fine with even an ipod. i think it has 35ohm resistance. some high end headphones can be 300ohm... so check the specs. not sure why it would work on the front BUT not the back though!

do you have a fio or portable amp to put in line? if not perhaps you need to use the xonar essence which looks to have a 1/4 port so should support more of a headphone... or instead of going that route just get a mini amp right out the back of your pc sitting on your desk.

just a thought...

i love my ath-m50s... sound great... i use them amped though off the receiver (but they work with an ipod, phone, my soundcard and just about anything!). how are the ath-ad900s?

 

[WRasada]

The m-100s are 32ohms so its pretty low resistance and the card should power them.. and well... they do lol on the front panel?!? yea its really odd, kinda annoying tbh since I hear a faint whine from the front panel from the all routing I have in my case and I don't feel like hassling with the cables.. maybe eventually. The most subtle sounds will overpower it though so its not that big of an issue just an annoyance that its there when nothing is playing. lol I love the m-100s and they're great for portability just disappointed I have this problem but at least it works from the front panel so I'm happy to say the least. Unfortunately I don't own a fioo or portable amp but thats fine since these are low resistance. I was really looking for some phones with low sound leakage and good sound around $300 range which is how much the m-100s are. I probably could have found something better if I researched more but i'm happy with the purchase and they'll be great for traveling, etc. I'll still use them at home too! The ad900s are really nice, sound really great I just don't like the leakage and noise isolation but that goes without saying with open cans. At the time I just picked what was best lol didnt take much into consideration I've owned them for quite a while now and they've been great!

EDIT: Almost forgot! Thank you for your help!