My last question - I PROMISE

[WU-TANG]GZA

[WU-TANG]GZA

[WU-TANG]GZA

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Hey all,

I have a Gigabyte EX58-UD3R Intel X58 Motherboard currently using the onboard sound from that. Don't know how good or bad that is but I want to upgrade my sound (gaming purposes mostly although I do watch the occasional movie/listen to music) , 98% gaming....ANYWAY I've narrowed it down to two options but are obviously different prices so please take that into account when you vote for either option 1 or 2 - thanks....

Option 1: ASUS Xonar DS - Sound card - 24-bit - 192 kHz - 107 dB SNR - 7.1 channel surround - PCI - ASUS AV200 with Sennheiser HD555 headphones
£112 (ish)

Option 2: Logitech's G35's (as they won't use my onboard soundcard)
£85 (ish)

I don't NEED a mic but the G35s come with one so ignore mic please.

I know most of you will say Option 1 but as I said try to take pricing into account but if u STILL feel option 1 is better, obviously feel free to say so.

So, option 1 or option 2. I'm gonna order this as soon as I get enough votes.

Thank you all very much in advance.

Damn now I have another question: Which card will be better for Option 1 (using W7 64bit) The Asus DS above or Creative SoundBlaster X-Fi Xtreme Audio PCI-Express - ???

Thanks again
 
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Well the main issue with option one is, no positional sound. Xonar DS has no Dolby headphone, so you will get only plain stereo. Xonar DX would be a better buy, and the minimum Xonar for gaming with headphones. The DS is more suited to gaming with speakers, whereas the DX or D1 is good with either speaker or headphones. It is £20 more expensive though.

Steer clear of the Xtreme Audio, it's not an X-Fi, just a repackaged Audigy.
 
Marsman said:
Well the main issue with option one is, no positional sound. Xonar DS has no Dolby headphone, so you will get only plain stereo. Xonar DX would be a better buy, and the minimum Xonar for gaming with headphones. The DS is more suited to gaming with speakers, whereas the DX or D1 is good with either speaker or headphones. It is £20 more expensive though.

Steer clear of the Xtreme Audio, it's not an X-Fi, just a repackaged Audigy.
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Cheers marsman, I will see what price I can get Xonar DX for then plus HD555
I take it seeing that you ignored the G35 with my onboard you're choosing option 1 (albeit modified)

thanks again
 
C64 said:
Option 3

http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=SC-004-AS&groupid=701&catid=11&subcat=
+ goldring ns1000 = £104-99
+ goldring dr150 = £115-99

The sennheiser hd555 are stupidly overpriced they are worth no more than £50-£60, which was the normal price but for some weird unexplained reason they have gone up.
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I was look at that card after Marsman's comment. I didn't realise that I had only looked at the ns1000's which I don't like the look of but the DR150's are pretty good looking like the Sennheisers

Think I might give option 3 a go....it comes in at about £100 which ain't terrible.

thanks C64
 
The D1 is the exact same as the DX only difference is ones PCI other is PCI express.

If you plan on going dual gpus I would probably go with the DX as it can go in the pci-e x1 slot above the first gpu slot should you need room for other pCI stuff below the secondary slot.

All that matters is sound quality and comfort cant believe you'd be bothered about how something looks unless you are using them in public.
 
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I have the DR150's, and an X-Fi Xtreme Music and Xonar Essence sound cards, albeit in different PC's. Both CMSS 3D and Dolby Headphone work fine with the DR150's. Some people prefer CMSS, some DH, I can live with either. X-Fi is in the gaming PC though, Essence I have in the media PC for music and movies. I was eager to try out DH in a game or two when I got the Essence, and I was not disappointed. DH is great for movies too, far better than CMSS 3D on the X-Fi.
 
Just one more thing:

// Do NOT post competitor links especially Google shopping - First and Last Warning - Phil

Some of those are grey and some are silver - are the greyer ones the wrong picture or are they new versions of the DR150 - if so which one is the newer (presumably better) version? Or it is just diff colours?

I ordered the silver ones and prefer the look of the greyer ones but also want to know which ones are newer if either.

Thanks again.
 
It's the camera being used I would say, they are all the same colour to my knowledge. Different cameras and different settings mean the pictures will vary, so in some they look more silver, some they look darker.

The pictures where they look darker are more faithful.
 
[WU-TANG]GZA;16160720 said:
Just one more thing:

// Do NOT post competitor links especially Google shopping - First and Last Warning - Phil

Some of those are grey and some are silver - are the greyer ones the wrong picture or are they new versions of the DR150 - if so which one is the newer (presumably better) version? Or it is just diff colours?

I ordered the silver ones and prefer the look of the greyer ones but also want to know which ones are newer if either.

Thanks again.
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Sorry Phil - it WAS for the pics though I shud have just linked google images
cheer up though man :D
 
Just want to say thank you to Marsman and C64 for your advice.

I got my DR150s today and they do sound good. I get my sound card in a few days so I guess that's when they will really come to life.

Cheers
 
Super! :)

I got my 150's 2nd hand, so they were already burned in. I did quite a bit of reading opinions from people who bought them on Head-fi.org, before I decided to get them. A lot of people mentioned they get better when burned in for several hours. That is the case for a lot of headphones, some get better the more use they get. Some people seem to think that the sound doesn't really change, that it's more the user getting used to the sound they provide. However, some people have compared brand spanking new phones to their own same model used ones, and said they can easily tell a difference. So there has to be something in it, rather than just a kind of placebo.

Some people just play music, or pink noise through them for several hours, sometimes even a hundred or so, to burn them in before they use them. There are people who like to burn them in as they use them, so they can notice and appreciate the change in sound. I think it would be more fun to burn them in as they are being used, rather than just go from point A of how they sound brand new, to point B of being burned in.
 
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