The best card for gaming use? Headphones only.

I've been through several sound cards in the last couple of years and I'm still on the move to find something else.
After Creative's Audigy, Audigy 2 and X-Fi Fatality I went on and had a Prelude, a Forte and now the HTHD.
The reason to get rid of the HTHD came when I tried to connect it to my AV receiver (Onkyo 608) which didn't work as well as expected (most of the time I didn't get a signal), the other reason is that I'm going to change my monitor too and want to try something 3D. HDMI and 120Hz won't work, especially not as a pass-through, so there's little reason for me to keep the "big" card when I'm not using much of its features.

What I'm searching for now is a PCIe card with swappable OPAMPs and a very well-built heaphone amp section. I'll only connect headphones so I'm not interested in fancy 7.1 circuitry or digital outs. The card should have a good way to process an incoming 7.1/5.1 signal down to stereo and provide good positional audio while using headphones.
I'd also fancy a well made grounding as the HTHD has always had some issues in that regard (just like the Forte) and I'd rather have little to no background noise while using it.

I stumbled across the Asus Xonar STX and the Creative Titanium HD, which both look like they feature a full analogue surround section, and was wondering if there are any cards available / announced that are broken down for headphone use only. If not, should I prefer any one of these cards for a specific reason?

 

Xonar STX has a good built in headphone amp, so if you're using high impedance headphone this is the one to go for. It also has swappable opamps. 3D positional is done through dolby headphones

I just bought one for myself a couple of days ago and already ditched the stock opamps

 

The Titanium HD does not have a built-in headphone amp, but other than that, it is a fantastic card. I find that CMSS-3D with headphones works great for gaming. I can't speak about the other cards you mentioned because I have not used them.

 

Both are stereo analog only.

The STX looks like your best choice right now. Try checking out www.htomega.com also. Claro halo might interest you:

http://www.htomega.com/clarohalo.html

 

I'll take a closer look at the HT Omega card. I only heard of them and the specs look promising.

I also didn't know the Titanium HD had no headphone amp at all. My cans are low impedance but they need some juice to shine.
Thanks alot for the info so far!

 

Well, according to the site the Claro Halo is a PCI card. I had quite some trouble with some earlier cards in that regards and, to make things worse, no free PCI slot.

Reading reviews and impressions of the Essence STX I'm curious what the "sporadic loud noise" problem is all about and I'm a little worried about driver support.
I'm not exactly happy with the release schedule Auzen has shown lately but both Asus and Creative updated their drivers the last time somewhen last summer. Are those drivers that good already?
I also saw that most reviews are already quite old. It's been 3 years since the Essence got tested and the Titanium got reviewed 15 months ago.
Would it be safe to assume that some new product may surface anytime soon?

One more or less "practical" question: Do both cards, the Titanium and the Essence STX, feature dual-mono OPAMPs for their analogue output? The ones I have here are stereo...

 

Driver for STX is fine. If it's working properly, then no need for updates right?
STX uses stereo opamps. if you want to use mono opamps like OPA670 then you'll need an adapter

 

Right, I re-read the review another time and found the information. Stereo OPAMPs is good news!
You're right about the drivers, no need to update if everything is working fine.
Reading on Head-Fi it doesn't seem as if the high noise issue has been fixed and these folks, who obviously "mod" the drivers, don't seem to be too happy with them either: http://brainbit.wordpress.com/category/uni-xonar/
I'm just trying to sort this out as better drivers / features has always been a reason for me to stick to a certain company. So far it looks as if they were pretty even and the hardware itself would make the difference.

 

I kept reading and found something about the intended headphone use:

My headphones only have an impedance of 35 Ohms. According to what I've read the Titanium HD is better-suited for low impedance phones.
On the other hand, it also has a sharp drop-off in frequency response according to Robscix' measurements (http://www.guru3d.com/article/sound-blaster-xfi-titanium-hd-review/6).
I still have an impedance adapter I could use for the STX but I always thought it somehow muffled the sound (it eliminated background noise on my old amp but it also killed some of the details). I'm not sure whether the Audio-GD opamp I'd like to use (which I'm currently using in my HTHD) would help curing that issue or not.

 

The Titanium HD doesn't have headphone amp so it only drives low impedance headphones.
The STX on the other hand is able to drive headphones with impedance up to 600 ohms.
There is a selector in STX's control panel where you can select the proper gain for your headphone.
If your headphone is only 35 ohms, then both card will serves you well. Just find the cheaper one

 

The cheaper one is easy to find (even though the Titanium HD would cost me more in the end if I have to get a new pair of OPAMPs).

I was just curious if anyone had some experience with low impedance headphones and the STX. The built-in amp of the Forte/HTHD for example couldn't drive them to their full glory in its standard configuration so I have always been using a desktop amp to feed them.
This was fixed by the discrete Audio GD OPAMP but it also revealed alot of background noise as it is so sensitive.
From what I've read on Head-Fi it seems as if this card already had some trouble with low impedance and wasn't exactly silent with very sensitive cans. The Forte and HTHD both had problems with grouding (in my case and with lots of other people) so I had to "fix" alot of things before I was able to fully enjoy the sound.
Grounding and power for example look much better on the STX and I love how the card seems to be built (from photos and raving reviews ).

I already have/had a nice setup here and I want the new setup to be nicer, with less problems overall. All the "better" sound cards are in the same price range so the first thing for me was to ditch unneeded features like multi-channel support in order to get better components for the remaining tasks at hand.
Apart from that I want to find the "best" card for gaming and music as that's what I use the machine and my pair of cans for. I'm not planning to get a new set of cans too soon as I love their sound and paid a fortune for those ethiopian sheepleather earpads...

 

My headphone, sennheiser HD 437, is only 35 ohms too. Using my old auzenteh x-plosion I have to turn the foobar's dan windows' volume bar all the way up to get enough loudness. Using the STX, with foobar's volume at 100% and windows' volume at 25% I already get the loudness that I want. If you're not sure that the titanium HD could drive your headphones properly, then the STX is a good option.

 

So you don't have any issues with your cans in combination with the card? Good news, definitely

 

You asked about opamps, the TitaniumHD, it uses dual single channel opamps for the buffer section.

 

Thanks alot for the info! So if I wanted to change them all I'd have to get two single and two dual opamps, right?
If I read your review correctly the two single ones should be the "main" ones?

 

Yes, you would require two dual channel opamps for the Current to Voltage Converters(I/V) and two single channel units for the buffer.
The I/V opamps need to be the same and the buffers need to be the same units. I would say the I/V units are the Main opamps, producing most of the signature the buffer can help "tune" the signature a bit further.

 

Perfect! Now I'll only have to choose Honestly it hasn't been this hard for me to choose a new soundcard... not a bad situation at all though It seems I'll have to read your reviews another time, side-by-side

 

If your headphones are only 35 ohms, the Titanium HD should drive them just fine. I don't see what the issue is. Just pick the card that gives you the features you want.

 

No issue at all, but keep in mind that my headphone is not high end and quite easy to drive

 

@nikavelli: The issue, for me, is that I'm trying to upgrade from an already good card to a somewhat better card. Both of these cards have the features I'd want. I'm just trying to find out which means the least trouble and which might have the nicest sound.

@elkosith: I don't think they'd need to be highest end to reveal basic problems. If you were able to tell a difference between those opamps you changed I'd guess the phones are sensitive enough to give some feedback on basic trouble, even if it was just a glimpse here or there.