PC 360. Sound Card?

nathanael91

nathanael91

nathanael91

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Colchester
I was talking to my bf3 clan yesterday and we talked about headsets and discussing prices when i told him that i havnt got a sound card he was almost very upset that i am not making the best use out of the headset. I told him that there is no need as it is not a usb headphone and that i would waste my money for no reason.

Was I wrong for not buying a sound card? If so what is a good card card for maximum of £110 I could get? Its mainly for playing games bf3 and listening to music.
 
If you have the PC360 headset, then in my opinion, you're missing out on the better sound quality a good sound card can provide. Some onboard audio solutions are better than others, so it depends on what motherboard you have. A decent sound card is considerably better than any onboard audio in my opinion. You do get some people that find a sound card is no better, but the majority of people find that a good sound card is worth getting.

Ultimately, it really comes down to the quality of the headphones/headset or speakers used. Onboard audio is fine for cheap speakers and cheap headsets. There would no point in spending £60+ on a sound card, if the headset or speakers cost £30. When you're talking about £100+ though, then the improvement a sound card brings is going to far greater.

I'd go for something like a Asus Xonar D1/DX, D2/D2X or maybe a Creative Soundblaster Z or Zx.
 
nathanael91 said:
YOUR BASKET
1 x Gigabyte Z77X-D3H Intel Z77 (Socket 1155) DDR3 Motherboard £112.99
Total : £122.89 (includes shipping : £8.25).



thats what I have at the moment
Click to expand...

That board uses VIA onboard audio, which is not that good if truth be told.

Xonar DG/DGX is very good budget card if you don't want to spend a lot.

Xonar DX is better and a very good card for what it costs, but it doesn't have a headphone amp though like the cheaper DG/DGX does.

Creative SB Z and Zx, have headphone amps and have been getting a lot of good comments from users.

They are best choices I'd say. If it were my choice, I'd probably go for the DX. If you like insanely loud volume, then maybe a sound card with a headphone amp would be a better choice for you.
 
YOUR BASKET
1 x Asus Xonar Essence STX Sound Card £129.98
Total : £138.68 (includes shipping : £7.25).



I might fork out a bit of cash and go with these but still undecieded between the two. Or even just start with the simple £25 soundcard then go up later. maybe as time progresses through ill be getting a better card just to appreciate the sound coming from within the card itself
 
" I told him that there is no need as it is not a usb headphone and that i would waste my money for no reason. "

Reverse that, USB Headphones use there own inbuilt "soundcard". Analogue headphones such as the PC360 don't have a soundcard built in and rely on the equipment at the end to do it.

The better the equipment the better the sound, especially with a pc360, you would be daft not to.

Something in the Xonar range would be best.

DG
DGX
or the STX you linked.

You really are limiting yourself without a soundcard.

Get one with a headphone amp in aswell to get the best out of the 50ohms the 360s are rated for.
 
He's saying holy moly because 5 and a half hours to install a soundcard is insane!

I have a Gigabyte board and a DGX, I took the side panel off, plugged the card into the PCI-E, put side panel back on, booted machine, installed drivers. Downloading the drivers took the longest at about 10 minutes.
 
VaderDSL said:
He's saying holy moly because 5 and a half hours to install a soundcard is insane!

I have a Gigabyte board and a DGX, I took the side panel off, plugged the card into the PCI-E, put side panel back on, booted machine, installed drivers. Downloading the drivers took the longest at about 10 minutes.
Click to expand...

Same for me, although I had a DG. Some people have had issues getting the card working to be fair. If it was simple as putting the card in and booting up then installing drivers, I'm guessing he would have had it done a lot sooner. It should be that easy, but some have had issues with the card not being detected or the machine not booting at all with the card fitted. Some have found it only works in a 16x PCIe slot.

I did see in another thread that some guy said he was surprised that this motherboard was still being recommended. Seems it does have some issues.
 
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