For me, I use an Asus Xonar DX -- great upgrade from my ASUS Maximus' onboard sound.
ANd the difference between a DAC (usually with headphone amp) and a soundcard is just the fact that one is external and the other is in the case. Furthermore, a headphone amp is needed for audiophile-grade headphones as they have a high ohm impedance (basically higher threshold for the thing to actually function in your system.)
always use an external dac if you can...
anything that touches your PC's electrical is most likely to become noisy when the PC is running on High load..
always use an external dac if you can...
anything that touches your PC's electrical is most likely to become noisy when the PC is running on High load..
I had some Asus soundcards for a while, I agree with TP4, an external dac is always better. I think massdrop has the Aune T1's still, I personally use a schitt stack and it outperforms the soundcard by miles. (or decibels hue)
Your gaming experience will definitely be better with a better sound system.
It does make a difference from a listening quality experience.
You always select your audio equipment based on what you're matching it with (in your case you need to pick a dac and amp that can be paired with your specific headphones).
A dac and amp is necessary because they drive your headphones and clear up ambient distortion from your mobo/system.
The question now will your headphones actually benefit from a dac and amp?
If yes get a DAC/AMP
If no, then get something cheap that helps filter out your mobo/system distortion to a tolerably level like a soundcard that you can directly plug into.
Your gaming experience will definitely be better with a better sound system.
It does make a difference from a listening quality experience.
You always select your audio equipment based on what you're matching it with (in your case you need to pick a dac and amp that can be paired with your specific headphones).
A dac and amp is necessary because they drive your headphones and clear up ambient distortion from your mobo/system.
The question now will your headphones actually benefit from a dac and amp?
If yes get a DAC/AMP
If no, then get something cheap that helps filter out your mobo/system distortion to a tolerably level like a soundcard that you can directly plug into.
sound card does NOT filter anything.. it tries,, but there's just too much current going through pcie these days.
especially if ur getting high fps
Depends how good is your hearing, what headphones you have and how much you're willing to pay. And another thing, what kind of mic you use.
For me, the best solution is a budget sound card. I have Xonar U3 and M-Audio Fast Track, in particular. Before that, I had some old soundblaster and M-Audio Revolution.
I don't see any point in getting a dedicated headphone amp for anything but vintage or some high-end equipment. It only amplifies the signal and slightly changes sound signature. I don't care about either; the latter isn't worth the price IMO and I haven't used any headphones that couldn't be driven by my budget sound card to level that would severely damage my hearing.
Depends how good is your hearing, what headphones you have and how much you're willing to pay. And another thing, what kind of mic you use.
For me, the best solution is a budget sound card. I have Xonar U3 and M-Audio Fast Track, in particular. Before that, I had some old soundblaster and M-Audio Revolution.
I don't see any point in getting a dedicated headphone amp for anything but vintage or some high-end equipment. It only amplifies the signal and slightly changes sound signature. I don't care about either; the latter isn't worth the price IMO and I haven't used any headphones that couldn't be driven by my budget sound card to level that would severely damage my hearing.
that's cuz ur sound card already has an "amp" so to speak..
I am curious to know what headphones you use. I am new to all of this and don't have a dac/amp yet, but I have been reading a little about the subject searching for one and what I learned so far is this:
1: The best improvement in sound comes from the headset itself.
2: The headset will be a big factor when choosing your dac/amp. For example, the output impedance of the amp should be chosen based on the impedance of the headset. If you use an amp that is designed to power some 600 ohm headset, they will have more output impedance than an amp designed to power some 32 ohm headset. For this there's a general guideline of 1/8 ratio that is supposed to be a good reference.
But there's also many different features to look for. Asynchronous usb for the dac, tube vs no tube for amp, etc.
I am still very n00b in this, but choosing something is not easy. Yet my advise would be to get a good pair of headset combined with a dac/amp that has a good dac and maybe a built-in amp that you could replace by an standalone amp if you choose so later. I would also aim for a more neutral sound.
I am curious to know what headphones you use. I am new to all of this and don't have a dac/amp yet, but I have been reading a little about the subject searching for one and what I learned so far is this:
1: The best improvement in sound comes from the headset itself.
2: The headset will be a big factor when choosing your dac/amp. For example, the output impedance of the amp should be chosen based on the impedance of the headset. If you use an amp that is designed to power some 600 ohm headset, they will have more output impedance than an amp designed to power some 32 ohm headset. For this there's a general guideline of 1/8 ratio that is supposed to be a good reference.
But there's also many different features to look for. Asynchronous usb for the dac, tube vs no tube for amp, etc.
I am still very n00b in this, but choosing something is not easy. Yet my advise would be to get a good pair of headset combined with a dac/amp that has a good dac and maybe a built-in amp that you could replace by an standalone amp if you choose so later. I would also aim for a more neutral sound.
all you have to know is... audiophile stuff > $200 is a bunch of "unsubstantiable- fluff"..
By that I mean.. even if there was a measurable engineering difference, Ur ears / brain doesn't know or care...
The typical audiophile excuse to this is "sub-sonics" "sub-conscious" perception.. well... that's a $1000 question which could never be answered, because the difference is "subconscious"
It's like arguing the existence of God... / audio-nirvana... HUMANS are not qualified to be the judges.. let along some random internet consumer with no comprehension of music theory and even less engineering competence.
^^ that is your typical audiophile....
Kinda like Topre (fanbois)...
virtual surround isn't nearly as good as real surround in terms of positioning..
the algorithm to convert surround to virtual surround is also NOT designed for fidelity and accurate reproduction.
WHICH MEANS your super expensive headphones will be receiving what is "more/less" garbled input signal..
If you want surround and preserve the audio fidelity.. you're better off getting a Home Theater in a box (HTIB).. and using the HDMI output on your graphics card..
This way your the receiver from the HTIB can do all the decoding and not corrupt the signal with weird algorithms..
If you go with the headphones route:
The $300 into the headphone and $100 into a dac/amp.. you'll get a very competent stereo setup..
^^ I'd rather have this, over what would be a budget HTIB @ $400...
The guys I asked advised specifically against getting true surround headsets. They explained it as:
true surround has a bunch of cheap tiny drivers positioned properly.
Stereo has two much much better drivers, which can be emulated into surround.
is that correct? does the emulation actually mess it up that much?
EDIT:
I am looking at two Sennheiser headsets, the PC 360, and PC 363D. They are very similar to one another. My confusion is whether or not the 363D actually has 7.1, or is it emulated on Stereo drivers.
Here is the amazon comparison chart. Again, the PC 360, and PC 363D. Far right.Show Image(http://i.imgur.com/yVM20Cy.png)
http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/1004410-REG/blue_nessie_adaptive_usb_microphone_headphone.html (http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/1004410-REG/blue_nessie_adaptive_usb_microphone_headphone.html)
(ATH M50's go on sale regularly for $100-125, pays to shop around.)
http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/1004410-REG/blue_nessie_adaptive_usb_microphone_headphone.html (http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/1004410-REG/blue_nessie_adaptive_usb_microphone_headphone.html)
(ATH M50's go on sale regularly for $100-125, pays to shop around.)
That's not an awful price for that combo if someone was looking for both since both of those separately on sale would cost around that amount and would cost more at regular price. Unless I'm missing something.
I'd still go with an external dac+amp combo... it'll be miles ahead of any internal sound card in terms of clean sound...
The mic part, you can just use onboard, because through most games the chat transmission is heavily compressed anyway.. a better setup makes almost no difference..
my price range is lowered a lot from what I originally thought. Someone I talked to has the PC 360 http://www.amazon.com/Sennheiser-360-Headset-Pro-Gaming/dp/B003DA4D2U/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1390527729&sr=8-1&keywords=pc360 (http://www.amazon.com/Sennheiser-360-Headset-Pro-Gaming/dp/B003DA4D2U/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1390527729&sr=8-1&keywords=pc360)
They really like them. They're also only $170 on amazon. That is a good price point, but I would like to go a little lower. Keep in mind that I can always buy used.
I want to have some money left over to put towards a 770, my 660 is getting a little insufficient for the games I play. o___o
I've gone through 3x pc 360s... they really aren't that great. Build quality is ****e but the features are nice.
I've gone through 3x pc 360s... they really aren't that great. Build quality is ****e but the features are nice.
Hmmm.....
Do you know of any similar headsets with better build quality? Or even headphones that I could put a modmic on (or something like that)
I've gone through 3x pc 360s... they really aren't that great. Build quality is ****e but the features are nice.
Hmmm.....
Do you know of any similar headsets with better build quality? Or even headphones that I could put a modmic on (or something like that)
getting a HD558 or 589 would be a serious step up in terms of quality
slap on a mod mic or get yourself a cheap usb and you'll be in business
http://www.amazon.com/Sennheiser-504631-HD-558-Headphones/dp/B004FEEY9A/ref=sr_1_1?s=aht&ie=UTF8&qid=1390685374&sr=1-1&keywords=hd558
budget?
budget?
I'm trying to stay $170 or below. The PC 360 is very very tempting. The specs and features are nice, and it comes with a mic, only $170 too..... Is the build really that bad? Keep in mind I don't rage and slam my head on the wall. I'm not that gamer.