Sundara/Soundblaster G6 + AMP Desktop Setup

[VanGore78]

Hello,

I am pretty new to the entire HiFi world. I hope this thread is not already answered somewhere.
As I am more and more working from home I want to upgrade my desktop listening experience. I currently own a pair of BD MMX 300 headset for the occasional gaming, connected to a Soundblaster G6. I like it for gaming but listening to music is just not that great. It sounds harsh.
Now I narrowed down my search for new headphones to the Sundara. Here on the forum I read that the G6 is actually a more than capable DAC. So I would like to purchase only the AMP and the cans. My questions are

• how would I connect the G6 to a headphone amp? It has only an optical out and a 3.5mm headphone output.
• What Amp would be a good match? I am considering the iFi CAN, iFi CAN HFM edition, Pro-Ject Pre Box S2, or Monoprice Monolith THX AAA. I am of course open to any suggestions as long as it is available in EU.
• Maybe at one point I may consider a dedicated DAC if needed. Would it be worth it?

 

[twsecrest]

Hooking an external headphone amplifier to the G6's line-output, might not fix the harshness issue.
Unless it's the G6's headphone amplifier is causing the harsh issue, external amp would not fix issue.
Go thru all the sound functions on the G6, one or more unnecessary functions might be enabled, causing the issue.
Try connecting the G6 to a different USB port.
Install the free program Foobar2000 (with WASAPI installed), see if you still get harshness.

 

[Tremolo]

Your dac/amp has a combo digital/analog line out. So you can connect an external amp with a 3,5 jack to rca cable. But I suggest you try to eq your headphone first (I see a strange tuning in Oratory1990 mesurement). If you still don't like it, choose a new headphone first and see if your amp can drive it to your usual listening levels. If not you can think about a better amp.

 

[twsecrest]

Hello,

I am pretty new to the entire HiFi world. I hope this thread is not already answered somewhere.
As I am more and more working from home I want to upgrade my desktop listening experience. I currently own a pair of BD MMX 300 headset for the occasional gaming, connected to a Soundblaster G6. I like it for gaming but listening to music is just not that great. It sounds harsh.
Now I narrowed down my search for new headphones to the Sundara. Here on the forum I read that the G6 is actually a more than capable DAC. So I would like to purchase only the AMP and the cans. My questions are

• how would I connect the G6 to a headphone amp? It has only an optical out and a 3.5mm headphone output.
• What Amp would be a good match? I am considering the iFi CAN, iFi CAN HFM edition, Pro-Ject Pre Box S2, or Monoprice Monolith THX AAA. I am of course open to any suggestions as long as it is available in EU.
• Maybe at one point I may consider a dedicated DAC if needed. Would it be worth it?

You might try posting to a dedicated SoundBlasterX G6 forum, ask about harshness issue.

 

[Dunring]

I've had that combo for 4-5 years. Put it in low gain and direct mode and try it first. If gaming, use 5.1 but not SBX which put the treble forward and is probably the harshness you're talking about. I used the MMX300 for years and if the treble is too much, one ply of toilet paper over the driver (AKA Taming the treble article from Diyaudioheaven) and the foam disk on it will reduce the treble peak. It's sharp but shouldn't sound harsh unless you have SBX surround turned on. It just puts thing out of phase for the illusion of sound stage, you're not getting any more information than in stereo with direct mode. If your game does well, use 5.1, not 7.1 which loses too much detail.