Best soundcard for positional audio while gaming with Hifi headphones?

I have a Xonar DX.

I have avoided Creative like the plague for many years owing to their terrible customer service and treatment of Daniel_k.

Turns out Asus are no better regarding soundcard support.

I game using Goldring DR150's.

Surely 5.1/7.1 headphones are not much good? Always saw them as overpriced and gimmicky.

What are the options, if any over the DX.

Dolby Headphone or CMSS-3D.

I am playing a lot of Arma 3 recently and the audio is superb, I just feel it could be better. Also, for me, Dolby Headphone just adds a "echo" effect, it does not feel natural.

For music and movies though, the DX is superb.

Thank you.

I just use a asus dg to be honest does ok i guess tho in arma 3 its hard to figure out where the heck im getting shot from with or without dolby hp. I doubt any of the other asus cards would be any better as there all pretty much the same i would have though.

Creative do get positive notes on positioning compared to asus cards i believe with their cmss tho. So theres them i guess but no way in hell im going back to them cards as they never update their drivers properly and actually force ppl to upgrade due to limiting features which older cards can do but they wont update the software for them cards i.e daniel k to the rescue in some respects there.

Not really sure which way ppl can go for better positional audio these days. Maybe a dedicated hp dac and amp solution or somit i guess might help i dunno.

One thing i do know is that a lot of games for me and with positional audio for me is that i can hear things left right and behind me ok ish but things right in front is never picked up i have found in certain games at least. I.e if say im in star trek online i can hear things around me but if someone is walking in front of me i dont think i hear their footsteps but as soon as i turn the camera i can so its on the sides. I think arma does this too but i cant recall as its been awhile since i really looked at this and just got used to it all.

SBX headphone surround on the Soundblaster Z series of cards is an option. It's different from CMSS-3D. I've not used it for gaming but from youtube videos I'd say it's more spacious sounding than CMSS-3D but the rear direction can be a bit vague. Bear in mind that lossy audio compression can lessen the effect. Make sure to select a well recorded video and high resolution to get the audio effect.

Dolby Headphone suits me very well, both in touch of space and direction. However, I find I only get the effect well with DH1 and DH3. DH2 just doesn't do it for me. Have you tried all three? Also is in game auido set to 5.1 or 7.1 with channels on xonar control panel or windows to match (6 or 8 channel)? I prefer DH1 for gaming, as I find the direction good and it's the least echoey.

There are software otions. I thought Myears was OK when I tried it a couple of years ago. They have a free 14 day trial at the moment. http://myears.net.au/

Blue Ripple Audio is similar ( www.blueripplesound.com ) but last time I checked, it only worked with OpenAL games.

Of course - there's this if you happen to have a couple of grand going spare - http://hometheaterreview.com/smyth-research-realiser-a8-headphone-audio-processor-reviewed/

There is also the Razer Surround software to try. http://www.razerzone.com/gb-en/surround

I have the Creative Z, the Asus DG and an old X-fi,

Of the three the Z is the best by far. Like you I didnt find dolby headphone that good.

So I recommend the Z, if you don't need the microphone or the emi shield, get the OEM version for around £50.