Amp/soundcard for Audio-Technica ATH-M50

[ExpertTrigger]

Hey guys,

I just bought some Audio-Technica ATH-M50 for use with my computer. Here are my questions.

1. Would an amp help these cans? Their impedance isn't very high from what I can see.

2. Also, would a dedicated sound card be worth the money for this kind of setup?

I listen to a large variety of music and budget is still undecided.

I just want them to be receiving the best possible sound.

The motherboard I'm currently using for audio output is an Asus M4A78T-E

Thanks Guys!

 

[Maxvla]

Not well versed on this headphone. Might want to do some searching on www.head-fi.org to see what people are using it with. I wouldn't guess they would need significant amping, so maybe something like an Objective 2, a transportable amp (not something you would listen to on the go, it's a bit large for that, but does have batteries so you could listen at your destination sort of thing) that is about $150. There are decent inexpensive dacs that will perform nicely and some have headphone outputs also. If you are handy with a soldering iron you could put together a really nice kit (amp and DAC) for $100-200.

 

[Pinky]

Sound card won't matter. Will need some form of amplification though. I use a Rolls HA43 Pro. About $40.

 

[WonderingSoul]

Can check out the E7.

I've used the M50s before. They don't sound every different when amplified IMO.

 

[Pinky]

I've used the M50s before. They don't sound every different when amplified IMO.

True, but you won't have much volume/gain on them without additional amplification.

 

[raevien]

Sound card won't matter. Will need some form of amplification though. I use a Rolls HA43 Pro. About $40.

Please oh please don't use onboard sound. The onboard sound in my two desktops and the sound from my laptop is terrible. So much background noise. I have an e7 I use and it makes worlds of difference.

 

[Pinky]

Considering he must get an amp anyway, I say get the amp then decide if your onboard is good enough. If it aint broke, don't fix it. Not everyone's onboard sound is bad. If he hears background noise, then he can get a sound card. Nothing says he has to buy both items immediately/together.

 

[mrgoodkat]

This has been debated into the ground. AnandTech and others used to do onboard roundups, but I haven't seen any in the last two years. But they definitely highlighted the idea that onboard was getting damned good.

Modern onboard is going to be a 7/8 channel HD audio codec with max 192KHz/24-bit audio output. That puts it up there with the best cards. Depending on licensing, most are going to feature EAX emulation. Realtek is limited to 2.0 for some reason. But the ADI2000B chipset (ADI/SoundMAX) on my board is EAX 4.0, and I'm very happy with it. I went back to that after my $160 Auzentch X-fi forte died. I simply added an amp for $20. The forte had a dedicated amp that I missed. Even with my easily driven headphones, I noticed a difference.

Then you have drivers and software. Ive definitely heard bad things about Realtek, although my previous board was RTek and I didnt have any issues. I liked it over my Creative Audigy card. That was awhile ago.

So then you get into things like signl-to-noise ratio, Dolby support, dedicated headphone amps and DAC, and whatever else they might toss on a card. Ive been thinking of trying a Xonar DX 7.1 due to Dolby, but that would be the lowest I would even consider going in terms of trying to best my onboard. Again, I just went back to this after owning an audiophile card for 2+ years, so the differences are fresh in my mind. There are differences, but not to the point I'm going to drop another $100+.

I mean, I'd love a $200 Xonar card, but I don't have the speakers or headphones to justify the price. I have a pair of AD700's and 558's.

Asus M4A78T-E

VIA® VT1708S 8-Channel High Definition Audio CODEC

Supports 44.1K/48K/96K/192KHz DAC Independent Sample Rate
All ADCs Support 48K/192KHz Independent Sample Rate
Built in High Quality Headphone Amplifier
Exceeds Microsoft PC2001 Requirements

Various Output Format

4 Stereo DACs Support 24-bit, 192KHz Samples
DAC with 100dB S/N Ratio
2 Stereo ADCs Support 24-bit, 192KHz Samples
ADC with 95dB S/N Ratio
8-Channels of DAC Support 16/20/24-bit PCM Format for 7.1 Audio Solution
16/20/24 bit S/PDIF TX Supports 24-bit, 44.1K/48K/96KHz Samples
VT1708 supports S/PDIF out; VT1708A supports S/PDIF in and out

So according to the VIA site you have an integrated headphone amp on that board. Which I actually haven't seen before for onboard. Im a bit jealous. It might not be any good, but you can do some research on it. Sometimes they can actually be based off of existing stereo amps. But overall, those specs are pretty comparable to cards under $100-150.

Then there is the confusion about drivers. My board offers no less than 3 different drivers (AC'97, DTS, vanilla), so you need to make sure you get the correct driver, and probably get them off the the VIA website as the Asus site is updated very infrequently.


Personally, Id invest the money in an open pair of headphones so you have all bases covered. Seems to me Ive heard about M50's being used for gaming, but I cannot imagine how a closed solution would be good.