Spec me a *downgrade* from Essence STX II

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Hi

I had a moment of madness at the start of the year and purchased a new set of Sennheiser G4ME headphones (which are superb) and also thought i'd throw in the top dog STX II to pair it up with

The problem is however, i did very little research on the sound card (very unlike me, it was an impulse purchase remember!), and now realise that literally all i use the PC for is gaming, so it was a dumb purchase really.

I don't listen to music on here, don't watch films, don't have any stereo equipment setup to it etc, literally just the Sennheiser headphones.

I'm not even using all the Dolby features. I've played around with it loads and read everywhere Dolby Headphone is brilliant for FPS gaming and positional audio, but under my tests i just can't see why, it sounds too echoey for my liking, and doesn't (to me) improve positional audio or accentuate better what i can hear or am supposed to hear.

So i literally have it set to 8Ch audio, 192kz, which i'm aware a £30 Xonar DG could do.....

I was drawn in by all the Opamps, high quality caps this, high quality chipset that etc, and to be fair the sound is crystal clear, but it's wasted on me for what i'm using it for.

Therefore could somebody please spec me a downgrade, for purely gaming? (FPS games), because as much as this is a truly brilliant soundcard, i am just not using it to its potential!

Either that or could somebody please point me to where i am going wrong and how i can get the most out of this for FPS games :)
 
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Soundcards like the STX II are capable of powering high-end headphones (up to 600 Ohms) and will make them sound MASSIVELY better than any on-board setup ever could. Anything up to 32Ohms is usually easy to power and on-board/smart phones/etc can power headphones like these very easily, so your headphones will not require a soundcard with a powerful amplifier.

But, as you say you're not using it for music and don't find the software any use. Compare the headphones back to back with the onboard and if you don't find any improvement in sound by the sound card, you could just sell it for money back and go for a cheaper soundcard or use the on-board setup.
 
Soldato
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If you want virtual surround and the ability to use speakers ....

SoundBlaster Z (OEM) - £50

If you just want straight stereo and headphones only...

FiiO E10K external DAC & Amp - £60
 
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Thanks gents.

My headphones are only 50 ohms lol. Will give the onboard a go first. I have a Z170 Gene with supremefx iii, so should be half alright.

Rids - i'm not sure what i want or what i need or which is best for FPS games thats the problem! I might drop back to onboard to start off with, if not give both those options a go and sell on what i least prefer. Is the soundblaster better than the Xonar options at that price point?
 
Soldato
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some prefer the virtual surround of SBX while others prefer Dolby Headphone, it's swings and roundabouts I think.

The sound quality from the SB Z is better than from the Xonar DGX and it's also a lot more powerful, though that won't be an issue in your case.

As it is literally just going to be used for gaming then on-board will probably be good enough.
 
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Ok thanks for all your help. Will give onboard a go first

Does the soundblaster able to do dolby headphone? I take it not?
 
Soldato
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I also have the Z170 Gene. I found the Asus Sonic Studio software to be very clunky and so I now run the onboard audio with the Sounblaster X-Fi MB3 software. This gives you all the SBX goodies without needing a separate card. It costs about $30 I think.
 
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