Skip to main content ↑ ↓

Notice

Please note that most of the software linked on this forum is likely to be safe to use. If you are unsure, feel free to ask in the relevant topics, or send a private message to an administrator or moderator. To help curb the problems of false positives, or in the event that you do find actual malware, you can contribute through the article linked here.
Topic: Xonar Essence STX and Planar headphones? (Read 5507 times) previous topic - next topic
0 Members and 1 Guest are viewing this topic.

Xonar Essence STX and Planar headphones?

Hi, first time posting here!

Please be nice to me :)

I know that this card can drive high ohms dynamic headphones really well, but what about low ohms planars?

Can it drive, say, Mr Speaker's AEON (15 ohms planar, as measured by Tyll from Innerfidelity), just as well?

I'm looking to buy this headphones as it gets loud enough from my HTC10 without needing an amp, so no need for bulky accessories. I will also use it at home with the Xonar, of course.

I don't really know much about this kind of stuff, as I just buy any headphones that I like and can get loud enough without obvious artifacts, so any feedback would be greatly appreciated.

Thank you very much!




 

Re: Xonar Essence STX and Planar headphones?

Reply #1 –
objectively it performs better with higher impedance loads (see the bottom of the page: http://reference-audio-analyzer.pro/en/report/amp/asus-stx.php ) but even at its worst it performs very well and is beyond transparency. i've used it for about a year with the hifiman 400i and didn't notice any problems.

Re: Xonar Essence STX and Planar headphones?

Reply #2 –
Hey, thanks for your reply!

Yeah, I understand that it performs better with higher impedance loads, but I've read up a bit on this matter and it seems that planars seem to have some caveats that supposedly makes them perform well with amps with high powered output like the Xonar even with lower impedance loads.

I don't really get it, though, so I'm hoping if someone around here would be kind enough to elaborate on the matter, in layman's term, if possible. Thanks again!

Re: Xonar Essence STX and Planar headphones?

Reply #4 –
Thanks arkhh!

That's a lot of reading but I'm gonna try going through it.

But first, maybe someone can answer me if 15 ohms planars will be affected by high output of the Xonar to the point of being actually audible?

Re: Xonar Essence STX and Planar headphones?

Reply #5 –
Quote from: F4ng on
Thanks arkhh!

That's a lot of reading but I'm gonna try going through it.

But first, maybe someone can answer me if 15 ohms planars will be affected by high output of the Xonar to the point of being actually audible?

Depends on the impedance curve of the Planars in question. I am aware of the tendency of the technology they use to have flat impedance curves, but I've been around long enough to know that variations for unexpected reasons are always possible.

That all said, the alleged 100 ohm source impedance of the Xonar is hard to explain, except as a grotesque joke.  Of course inexpensive headphone amps with acceptable source impedances abound, but why should one be necessary?

Re: Xonar Essence STX and Planar headphones?

Reply #8 –
Hmmm... after reading through that long article, I guess I'll try RCA out from Xonar to O2 amp then.
I don't really get most of it but the O2 amp seems cheap enough and the creator seems to know what he is doing, so I'll just go with that option.

I'm still curious if it's actually audible, though.

My OPPO PM3 (26ohms) has been playing well with the Xonar to my ears, but I don't really know how that kind of impedance mismatch affect the sound in real life listening experience. Is there some kind of obvious audio artifacts to listen for?

Thanks again for all your answers!

Re: Xonar Essence STX and Planar headphones?

Reply #9 –
if the impedance curve of the headphones is indeed flat then xonar stx won't affect the frequency response, and you can always measure this phenomena yourself before buying  an additional amp. i've had the same question as you a while ago, and xnor explained it: https://hydrogenaud.io/index.php/topic,111280.msg916631.html

Re: Xonar Essence STX and Planar headphones?

Reply #10 –
Quote from: F4ng on
Hmmm... after reading through that long article, I guess I'll try RCA out from Xonar to O2 amp then.
I don't really get most of it but the O2 amp seems cheap enough and the creator seems to know what he is doing, so I'll just go with that option.

I'm still curious if it's actually audible, though.

My OPPO PM3 (26ohms) has been playing well with the Xonar to my ears, but I don't really know how that kind of impedance mismatch affect the sound in real life listening experience. Is there some kind of obvious audio artifacts to listen for?

Thanks again for all your answers!

A headphone amp with a 10 ohm source impedance can add  an approximate 3 dB frequency response peak at frequencies where the headphone has an elevated impedance. 

According to https://www.innerfidelity.com/content/oppo-pm-3-competent-comfortable-mobile-headphone-measurements  the Oppo PM3 has an unusuallly relatively uniform impedance curve. I wouldn't expect any audible difference in terms of real world listening.

Re: Xonar Essence STX and Planar headphones?

Reply #11 –
Hmmm... seems like there is a bit of a conflicting opinion there.
I'm really not sure how much that 3db difference will affect actual listening experience myself, though.
If it's audible, O2 amp might be worth trying out as it's relatively cheap where I'm from.

Would be nice if someone here actually have the Xonar+AEON combo to do some testing for me:), oh well.

Re: Xonar Essence STX and Planar headphones?

Reply #12 –
i don't think you're reading the things carefully enough - there are no conflicting opinions here, Arnold was simply more cautions regarding the possible impedance curves of planar magnetic headphones. 3db will be audible i'm pretty sure, but there won't be any such peaks with headphones with a flat impedance curve, and it seems like all of the AEONs listed on innerfidelity do have such flat impedance curve. so it's just up to you whether you trust their measurements or not (i would).

Re: Xonar Essence STX and Planar headphones?

Reply #13 –
My apologies.
Like I said, I really don't know much about this kind of stuff so I'm really struggling to fully understand what you guys are saying.
I take it that assuming the measurements of AEON from Innerfidelity are accurate, things should be fine, correct?

Re: Xonar Essence STX and Planar headphones?

Reply #14 –
yep

Re: Xonar Essence STX and Planar headphones?

Reply #15 –
Ok, that's comforting.

I just want to get rid of that nagging feeling that my headphones might be crippled by a bad source, so I won't get hit by a placebo and thinks it sounds bad, or something.