Hi there,

I am thinking about buying a sound card (probably USB) for listening with my SR325s. I know nothing about sound cards, and would appreciate some advice.

Some background on my listening level: My first vaguely serious headphone purchase was some SR125s about two years ago. At the time I thought they were the best things I had ever heard. About six months ago, I decided that I could afford to spend more on headphones and went looking. I almost bought some SR225s by reflex, but decided to take a risk by listening to some SR325s as well :-). I found the difference was profound -- I would describe it by saying that the SR325s had all the extra presence and detail of the SR225s but they didn't sound as if they were trying. I got hooked, and spent the extra cash. I'm extremely happy with them. Despite all the complaints about the over-emphasised high frequencies in the SR325, I'm a big fan of the detail.

I currently listen through either an iPod mini or my iBook's sound card. I've tried some double-blind software-controlled tests to work out if I can tell the difference between lame-encoded MP3s at about 200 kbps VBR and WAVs -- I can't tell the difference. However, I can definitely tell at 128 kbps, and I can tell when I use iTunes encoding MP3s at 200 kbps (yuck).

I listen mostly to classical and jazz, but some other things occasionally.

So given all that, what are some recommendations of sound cards to try out? At $50? At $100? At $300?

Thanks so much in advance,

David

E-MU 0404 and E-MU 1212 are highly regarded sound cards, so you could try these. As for USB, I have an M-Audio Transit USB sound card (~80 $/EUR) and like it very much.

Not that although the EMU cards are great soundcards for music listening purposes, none of them seem to feature a built in headphone amp.

So in case you get one of them you will need an external dedicated headphone amp.

picmixer i used to drive my grado labs sr-60's directly from my audigy, according to grados website they have the same impedance as the 325i so he should be ok but will probably need some sort of adapter due to the funky connections on the 0404.

do the 325i come with the flat pads? if they do you might want to replace them as when i had my sr60's they were painfully uncomfortable after 2-3 hours (i wear my headphones all day long though some times). i think it comes down to the shape of your head and if you have big ears as many users say there fine while many hate the fit.

all i can say is yes grado's sound nice, even the cheap ones are very good but if you want comfort over a long period there may be better cans for you. dont buy anything without testing them. i currently use sennheiser hd-570's and can wear them all day with no ear strain or discomfort.