Headphones and soundcards

Bromhead · 16 Dec 2012 at 03:41

I know this is probably sacrilege in this part of the forum, but I've never owned a sound card in my years of gaming. I've always used the on board stuff...is there really much difference between quality?

I was considering getting one, but would want to know I would definitely see an improvement? Additionally I'm in the market for a pair of headphones right now so looking for something awesome in the department if anyone can spec me one?

Main requirement is extreme comfort over quality though!

Rroff · 16 Dec 2012 at 03:50

I've given up using soundcards for gaming - both creative and asus seem to be slow in supporting newer games properly - sadly realtek and similiar onboard sound hardware seems to have better compatibility.

Bromhead · 16 Dec 2012 at 04:00

Yeah, I feel that my onboard sounds is fairly good - I just wanted to check I wasn't missing out on a party in my ears

Secondly, what about these headphones? (It doesn't list them as 5.1 or 7.1 though so I'm guessing that they're neither?)

http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=SP-021-ST

delta0 · 16 Dec 2012 at 10:17

Bromhead said:
Yeah, I feel that my onboard sounds is fairly good - I just wanted to check I wasn't missing out on a party in my ears

Secondly, what about these headphones? (It doesn't list them as 5.1 or 7.1 though so I'm guessing that they're neither?)

http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=SP-021-ST

They are stereo but you can use virtual surround sound to improve the spatial sound of the headphones.

Mr Krugga · 16 Dec 2012 at 14:20

Best to just buy an external DAC/amp combo IMHO.

Asus Xonar DG is good enough for most affordable headphones too.

synixx · 16 Dec 2012 at 16:28

You can do a lot better than the ALC892 chip on your motherboard - it's pretty standard these days. Even an old x-fi xtreme music is a significant upgrade from that chip. How much is your budget for headphones?

Bromhead · 19 Dec 2012 at 04:01

Probably no more than 40-50. I'm just not sure what I'm looking for. I do enjoy a game of CS Source so surround sound would be the best to get

varkanoid · 19 Dec 2012 at 14:48

I have these, cant fault them and you dont need a soundcard as they have one built in.

Plantronics GameCom 780 7.1 Surround Sound USB Gaming Headset

having a dedicated soundcard or decent headphones will be like listening to another world over onboard sound.

Uncle Petey · 19 Dec 2012 at 15:13

Dolby Headphone always worked well for me. Never tried proper surround cans though...