Reddit mentions of Creative Sound Blaster E5 High-Resolution USB DAC 600 ohm Headphone Amplifier with Bluetooth

Well. That's a good question. If you are in a budget then pretty much 60-70% who read this will agree. The Fiio E10K. It will set you back less than $100. It is brushed aluminium. Includes a bass gain switch, if you need some additional drive or jaw shocking bass. It's nice and small. And a good DAC/amp.

Mayflower objective 2. This DAC/amp is for more audiophiles with a higher budget. It can drive high impedance headphones and people's listening experience on the Objective 2 was superb on multiple headphone types, that were geared towards different ways of listening. It has superb clean sound.

Sound blaster E5 by creative. It is capable to drive up to 24 bit/192 khz audio files. It is capable to drive headphones up to 600 ohms or 2 300 ohm impedance sets of headphones. It has very good quality sound for what it is.

That'll be that.

Links:

Fiio E10K: https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B00LP3AMC2/ref=mp_s_a_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1523895090&sr=8-2&pi=AC_SX236_SY340_FMwebp_QL65&keywords=fiio+e10k

Mayflower objective 2:
https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B00TQ2JDAG/ref=mp_s_a_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1523895186&sr=8-1&pi=AC_SX236_SY340_FMwebp_QL65&keywords=mayflower+objective+2&dpPl=1&dpID=31qJvgmNIwL&ref=plSrch

Sound blaster E5:
https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B00MXJYDUO/ref=mp_s_a_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1523895254&sr=8-1&pi=AC_SX236_SY340_FMwebp_QL65&keywords=sound%2Bblaster%2Be5&th=1&psc=1

Sure!
Amp

The amp is fantastic for gaming but it really shines listening to music with the DT770s. For Siege I rarely put the volume over 36/100 and that's with the gain on low. Basically that means those headphones and amp will blow out your ear drums if you crank it haha. I use the optical link connection on the amp for the most clarity as sometimes transmitting sound through USB can cause interference.


And mic

It's very cheap but don't let that fool you on quality. I was speculative at first but that mic has been traveling around with me for 6 years now and still sounds great. You can clip it to your shirt or do what I did and wrap it around the headphone cord, then clip it on the headphone cord at mouth height to make your own headset.

> good alternatives to these headphones with good bang for my buck

I got a chance to demo those Sonys. Can't say enough good things about them.

Also worth looking into Audio-Technica AT-M70X ($223). AT's new flagship monitor headphone with an amazing sound. Definitely gives the Sonys a run for their money, especially with such a competitive price. I might even like them better.

I'm also quite fond of NAD Viso HP50 ($249). Just an incredible closed-back can.

>amp designed for headphone listening, that I can plug into my Macbook pro and that is hopefully less than $100.

Nothing really worth looking at under $100. Maybe Creative E3 ($99) or Topping TP30 ($99).

However, if you save money on headphones by going with the AT-M70X or the Sennheiser Momentum 2.0 (which are on sale for like $149), you could put the money you saved towards a better amp/DAC.

So if we assume a budget of, say, $200 for an amp/DAC, you can step up to something like Creative E5 ($189), Fiio E17 ($139) (it's even portable!), or Topping TP32EX ($159). Fiio probably makes the best offering in this range.

You mean like this?

I imagine there are cheaper alternatives if you look around.

I'd recommend a USB sound card unless you're into good audio and don't want to spend a ton - if that's the case, just get a Xonar.

Else, USB does everything you'll need. It can either be cheap with just your average audio output, or it can get better with a USB DAC & headphone amp. Do not fall for the gimmick of hardware accelerated audio - it's a thing of the past that died with DX9 & Creative's dominance on the market.

Creative's USB options are decent, if you want a better external card to run everything off of:
https://www.amazon.com/Creative-High-Resolution-Headphone-Amplifier-Bluetooth/dp/B00MXJYDUO/ref=zg_bs_3015427011_24

https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B00MXJYDUO/ref=mp_s_a_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1479070378&sr=8-1&pi=SX200_QL40&keywords=sound+blaster+e5

This is the one that I use in my car, doubles up as a solid Bluetooth Dac for home. Bit expensive but it has a bunch of features and sounds noticeably better than the audio from my headphone jack

Soundblaster E5. Love mine.

https://www.amazon.com/Creative-High-Resolution-Headphone-Amplifier-Bluetooth/dp/B00MXJYDUO

No worries! Like Foghat: I'm on the slow ride.
I'm in Salt Lake City. (Google has led me to this site for local headphones: https://www.performanceaudio.com )
I'm seeing that they have a handful of various brands I've started to learn about. (I have a pair of AKG earbuds that came w/ a Samsung work phone that have a surprisingly great sound...but I still dislike earbuds.)

I've heard that a lot of the audiophile community likes to ignore PC based equipment\manufacturers, but it seems like something along the lines of this DAC+amp would be a logical deeper dive into the hobby?


Just to make some heads explode: I'd make sure to tell everyone I'm pairing it with my Bose QC25s. Haha!

I have the E5 which I actually enjoy a lot. I think it sounds better than my FiiO e10k with most cans. There's noticeable degradation of sound quality switching from USB data mode to Bluetooth but that's the sacrifice you make for portability. It drives most headphones well, with the except of some of the more power hungry pairs. The monolith M1060s in particular don't sound very good with this DAC.

I'm getting the DT 770, but i don't know if i'll go with the 80 or 250 ohm since they're at the same price on amazon, i don't know what is the difference between them, is it that the one with most ohm (250) is louder even with less volume?

So apart from that, i'm also getting a DAC, but i don't know which one should i get Creative Sound Blaster E5 i don't know if this is actualy an DAC or an AMP, or Micca OriGen+ DAC, the mothergoad that i have is the Gigabyte GA-Z170X-Gaming 7 and it does have Creative® Sound Core 3D chip.

For the electronics you could use the Fiio E10k which is a USB DAC/amp or the Creative E5 which is another USB DAC/amp but supports virtual surround.

For the headphones, HD598, K612. AD900x, A900x, K550, DT770 and DT770.

For the mic, something like this or this.

Thoughts?

Yeah it's confusing. If it has a headphone jack and a volume knob you can call it an amp. If it also has a digital or USB input you can call it a DAC/AMP. If it only has analog audio input then it is a dedicated amplifier. If it only has RCA or XLR outputs and no headphone jack than it's a dedicated DAC with no headphone amplifier.

Some decent combination DAC/AMPS are Schiit Fulla at $90, Audioengine D1 at at $170, Soundblaster E5 at $200, Fiio E10k $80. Those are all USB and easy to use and install.

You could also go with a PCI sound card and install it in your computer. If you do I highly recommend any of the Asus Xonar or Essence soundcards which vary in price from $50 up to $270

A cheap stand alone amplifier would be something like a Fiio K5 $109, Schiit Magni 2 $120

A cheap stand alone DAC would be something like a Musicstreamer III $160 , or a Schiit Modi 2 $120 (i didn't like it's sound but others do), etc.

Would you recommend these? http://www.amazon.com/Creative-High-Resolution-Headphone-Amplifier-Bluetooth/dp/B00MXJYDUO

Depends on the DAC. For instance, the DAC I use Sound Blaster E5 is USB. Kinda makes sense that most "PC" DACs would be USB since the whole point of a DAC is to keep the audio signal in its most "raw" format and if it's sent through a sound card before the DAC, it's being processed (potentially) which conflicts with a DACs purpose.