[Arin7]

I am planing to buy Beyerdynamic A20 amplifier for my Sennheiser HD 600, can I use my Sound Blaster Zx as DAC? If yes which output should I use, the regular stereo which are for speakers or the amplified output for the headphone. Many thanks in advance.

 

[ProtegeManiac]

I am planing to buy Beyerdynamic A20 amplifier for my Sennheiser HD 600, can I use my Sound Blaster Zx as DAC? If yes which output should I use, the regular stereo which are for speakers or the amplified output for the headphone. Many thanks in advance.

You need to use the line output normally used for speaker amps.

 

[Arin7]

You need to use the line output normally used for speaker amps.

Thanks, so I take it SBZx is ok as a DAC?

 

[ProtegeManiac]

Thanks, so I take it SBZx is ok as a DAC?

Good enough. I just prefer using DAC-HPamps to shorten the analogue signal path but since you have the SBZ then just use the analogue output for now.

I'd worry more about the high output impedance on Beyer amps. It's like they only care about their 250ohm/300ohm/600ohm headphones. Depending on how much you'll pay for the A20 you can look into the Meier Corda Rock instead.

 

[Arin7]

Good enough. I just prefer using DAC-HPamps to shorten the analogue signal path but since you have the SBZ then just use the analogue output for now.

I'd worry more about the high output impedance on Beyer amps. It's like they only care about their 250ohm/300ohm/600ohm headphones. Depending on how much you'll pay for the A20 you can look into the Meier Corda Rock instead.

hmm, as you surely know HD 600's impedance is 300 ohms and many people have recommended A20 for driving them, telling me it is a absolutely great choice, so I had made my choice, now after reading this I am bit worried tbh. Thank you for the answers btw.

 

[PurpleAngel]

I am planing to buy Beyerdynamic A20 amplifier for my Sennheiser HD 600, can I use my Sound Blaster Zx as DAC? If yes which output should I use, the regular stereo which are for speakers or the amplified output for the headphone. Many thanks in advance.

The Creative SB-Zx card will make a very decent DAC for use with an add-on headphone amplifier.
The SB-Zx's Front Speaker jack is technically better at feeding an analog audio signal to an amplifier, then the SB-Zx's headphone jack.
But the SB-Zx can not feed it's SBX Headphone surround sound thru the Front Speaker jack, but you have no need for surround sound for music and other stereo audio sources.
Check out the Darkvoice 336SE OTL tube headphone amplifier ($199) sold thru Massdrop.
https://www.massdrop.com/buy/dark-voice-366se
The SB-Zx can send it's SBX headphone surround sound thru it's S/PDIF optical port, so you have the option of getting a DAC (with optical input), to connect between the SB-Zx and external headphone amplifier.

 

[Arin7]

The Creative SB-Zx card will make a very decent DAC for use with an add-on headphone amplifier.
The SB-Zx's Front Speaker jack is technically better at feeding an analog audio signal to an amplifier, then the SB-Zx's headphone jack.
But the SB-Zx can not feed it's SBX Headphone surround sound thru the Front Speaker jack, but you have no need for surround sound for music and other stereo audio sources.
Check out the Darkvoice 336SE OTL tube headphone amplifier ($199) sold thru Massdrop.
https://www.massdrop.com/buy/dark-voice-366se
The SB-Zx can send it's SBX headphone surround sound thru it's S/PDIF optical port, so you have the option of getting a DAC (with optical input), to connect between the SB-Zx and external headphone amplifier.

Thank you PurpleAngel for the answer, but I am a bit confused, what do you mean by "Front Speaker jack", I am easily confused btw, you mean the jack next to the amped headphone jack then I should choose "Front Speakers" from the creative control panel?

 

[PurpleAngel]

Thank you PurpleAngel for the answer, but I am a bit confused, what do you mean by "Front Speaker jack", I am easily confused btw, you mean the jack next to the amped headphone jack then I should choose "Front Speakers" from the creative control panel?

Yes, the panel of the SB-Zx, that sticks out on the back of the computer, the "Front Speaker" jack.
(there is also the Sub-woofer/center jack and Rear Speaker jack and Headphone jack and Mic jack).
So you would set the SB-Zx's control panel to "2-channel" & "Speaker" output.

If you need SBX headphone surround sound for gaming or movies, you can always just plug the headphones into the Headphone jack.
Sound quailty might not equal the tube amp, but audio quality should still be somewhat decent.

A program like Cyperlink PowerDVD (for Blu-ray or DVD movies) can preprocess headphone surround sound, before sending the audio to the sound card.

 

[ProtegeManiac]

hmm, as you surely know HD 600's impedance is 300 ohms and many people have recommended A20 for driving them, telling me it is a absolutely great choice, so I had made my choice, now after reading this I am bit worried tbh. Thank you for the answers btw.

If you're sure you won't be using anything with impedance lower than 150ohms then the A20 will be fine.

 

[PurpleAngel]

hmm, as you surely know HD 600's impedance is 300 ohms and many people have recommended A20 for driving them, telling me it is a absolutely great choice, so I had made my choice, now after reading this I am bit worried tbh. Thank you for the answers btw.

Check out the Audio-GD NFB-11.28
http://audio-gd.com/Pro/Headphoneamp/NFN1128/NFB1128EN.htm

 

[Arin7]

Yes, the panel of the SB-Zx, that sticks out on the back of the computer, the "Front Speaker" jack.
(there is also the Sub-woofer/center jack and Rear Speaker jack and Headphone jack and Mic jack).
So you would set the SB-Zx's control panel to "2-channel" & "Speaker" output.

If you need SBX headphone surround sound for gaming or movies, you can always just plug the headphones into the Headphone jack.
Sound quailty might not equal the tube amp, but audio quality should still be somewhat decent.

A program like Cyperlink PowerDVD (for Blu-ray or DVD movies) can preprocess headphone surround sound, before sending the audio to the sound card.

Thank you.

 

[NickT23]

Is it best if we burn in Beyerdynamic A20 and A2 ?