Have I missed one of the key parts of my new rig?

alfordc

alfordc

alfordc

Associate
Joined
16 Sep 2005
Posts
39
Location
Bristol
I am expecting delivery of my new gaming machine in a couple of days, I have spent a considerable amount of cash on it and have realised I have completely neglected thinking about the quality of the sound.

Will the motherboard (ASUS Z77 Sabertooth) be ok or is it worth buying a sound card? if so what is a good recommendation?

I also planned to use my iPhone head phones but thinking that wont be up to the job, so if anyone can recommend a good headset set that would be great.

Budget wise, I think if I can spend around £150-200 that would fit nicely with my budget.

thanks!
 
I have the Gamecom 780 which are the USB, 7.1 versions of those. I'll be honest, I can't really tell the difference from my Beyer 770's (although this is the only surround sound headset I have tried).

I'm sure someone else will tell you otherwise but that is just my personal experience with them. Ruddy good headset though!
 
How much will you use headphones over speakers?
Do you have any speakers? :D

How much will you be listening to music and how much does it mean to you?

If you won't be listening with headphones much and not fussed about music, then the onboard will more than likely be fine with some half reasonable speakers.

Personally I like to spend on a good dedicated sound card, speakers and headphones, but I love my sound! Which does include games and movies as well as music.

If you want any of the above then give a budget and we can recommend something for you.
 
To start with I will only be using headphones, I may then get some speakers but it won't before at least a year.

I will be listening to music/ movies some times but predominantly I will be playing games.

My budget is £150-£200 for a sound card and headphones

Cheers!


Hicks said:
How much will you use headphones over speakers?
Do you have any speakers? :D

How much will you be listening to music and how much does it mean to you?

If you won't be listening with headphones much and not fussed about music, then the onboard will more than likely be fine with some half reasonable speakers.

Personally I like to spend on a good dedicated sound card, speakers and headphones, but I love my sound! Which does include games and movies as well as music.

If you want any of the above then give a budget and we can recommend something for you.
Click to expand...
 
Speakers can be complicated so you should decide now which route you'll take. A simple set of "PC" speakers will usually accept a normal stereo minijack (or 3 of them for a 5.1 set) in which case the DGX JamieH linked above is fine. Some speakers have digital inputs which means they can do the processing, so if you wanted to use that connection you would need something more sophisticated, perhaps the D2X. If you go down the hi-fi route of an amp+speakers it's a similar story, they usually have either analogue ins, digital, or both, but the choice of amp affects the choice of soundcard.

By the way, that mobo already has an optical S/PDIF jack at the rear, so you could dispense entirely with the soundcard if you get an appropriate DAC/integrated amp to plug your speakers + headphones into.
 
Good point joeyjojo.

I already have an AV amp with hi-fi speakers for my main TV so it would be great if I can connect my machine to that when I want some big screen gaming. An optical S/PDIF will be just fine for that setup.

I would use the headphones as my main source of sound though as my office is on the other side of the house compared to the lounge
 
The Xense bundle is very good value. Pretty much the same sound card as the Essence, just with 5.1 analogue speaker connections, rather than stereo. With the Xense bundle you're getting a £140 sound card with what used to be a £110 headset. Sennheiser have recently released the 350SE, which is pretty much the same headset apart from probably some minor differences, for £170. The 350SE is possibly a bit better, but certainly not enough to justify it's whopping price tag. Unless one has a good sound card already, they'd have to be mad in my opinion to buy the 350SE over the Xense.

If you want a 'high end' headset, that is the best option in my opinion. Neither of the 350SE or the 363D are worth what they retail for, and they are probably the best two headsets currently available. If you don't require an attached microphone, and are willing to use a clip on one, a pair of headphones is another option. Beyerdynamic DT770/990 are superb headphones, leaving enough money for a decent sound card.

If your wallet feels really adventurous, you could go for the Beyerdynamic's + a Xonar Essence. From a sound quality point of view; better than the Xense bundle, but obviously more expensive.
 
JamieH said:
I have the Gamecom 780 which are the USB, 7.1 versions of those. I'll be honest, I can't really tell the difference from my Beyer 770's (although this is the only surround sound headset I have tried).

I'm sure someone else will tell you otherwise but that is just my personal experience with them. Ruddy good headset though!
Click to expand...

Can't tell the difference in what way? in terms of sound positioning potentially not much in it but in terms of sound quality and detail the difference will be massive.

That motherboard uses the ALC892 audio chipset which isn't terrible, while its nothing special its got respectable enough audio quality and perfectly fine for gaming and casual music/movie use. Only reason I'd really buy a soundcard over it would be if I wanted to play a bit with positional audio in games or was being a bit more demanding in terms of music listening.
 
Last edited:
Yeah I meant the positional audio in games and movies. Not a great difference. I am not arguing that the sound quality won't be better (as it will more than likely be).
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom