Siberia 800s upgrade?

Soldato
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I have been looking into the whole soundcard versus external DAC and it seems like a really mixed affair.
Well, most marketing is all about FUD and messing things...

Some basic crossfeed isn't hard to add for game developers, but actual binaural simulation isn't that simple.
I mean wasn't BF4 supposed to be with good sound engine?
Still its headphone setting seems garbage.
So it's awfully much up to how much game developers bother with it, when already whole sound side is often such badly secondary to graphics.
And less surprisingly videos with Microsoft's Windows Sonic for Headphones weren't exactly impressive when checking them.
(what a surprise the way MS has been screwing desktop PC)
Though in Windows 10 you could pay for Dolby Atmos for Headphones.

Support from Asus is sure spotty with them giving mid finger/thumbs down for not so old Phoebus cards, while Creative still offers Win10 drivers for dozen years old Audigy 4 cards.
Just don't know why would anyone even want to use Audigy 4 which was just tweaked up Audigy 2...:confused:
But better support also for old obsolete products than no support for even newer products.

DT770 is bass heavy so old Dolby Headphone of Asus Xonars would anyway be bad fit.
Creative's binaural simulations are bass neutral so those have lot better starting point.

SB Z actually has step better D/A converter than that Fiio, though having lower voltage headphone out.
Then again that 80 ohm DT770 isn't exactly hard load with very reasonable voltage demands.
Actually despite of all hype current Fiio E10 isn't that strong headphone amp with its PR BS peak-to-peak output voltage advertising.
SBX AE-5 goes all they the way to 5+ Vrms level, which gives pretty much hearing damage in seconds level volume with about any headphone.
(Objective2 to near 7 Vrms)
 
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So the Creative SB Z is what you'd recommend for a DT setup? I am thoroughly enjoying the DTs. They are amazing for music compared to the Siberia's.

Or would you say the Sound BlasterX AE-5 is really worth 2 times?
 
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Soldato
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Well, if headphone is good for requirements of binaural sound then it's competent also for music.
With bass neutralized in equalizer DT770 might be one of the best affordable closed headphones for competitive gaming.

With its current pricing SB Z is definitely that bang per buck card.
In biggest Finnish PC forum quite many have gotten it for 250ohm DT990.
Just wouldn't try it with 600 ohm Beyers, and with fashionable 32ohm cans damping factor would suffer.
And with SBZ Switcher it would be easy to disable binaural processing for music.

Actually with low output impedance not being any standard in audio equipment lots of people might be using cans with less than optimal damping factor.
Few decades ago some lame brain even invented that headphone outputs should have crazy 100 ohm output impedance...
(for protecting them from deliberate short circuiting of jack?)
 
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I was looking at the DT 770s which from my understanding is the MMX300 but without a microphone?

My main confusion is over the 32ohm, 80ohm and 250ohm and what implications it has in regards to a MSI Z170A motherboard. Ha. So complicated.

For the money you're talking about, grab a soundcard with better 5.1 over stereo options. (SB-Z, Xonar or Senn GSX1000 depending on taste).
Headphones wise, AKG K7?? (most in that sort of range or the Q700) would probably do rather nicely for gaming audio. I had the K550, went to Senn 598SR... something of a sidegrade but easier to mic.
 
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I've now got the DT 770s - I won't be looking to upgrade from them for some time I don't think.

I still keep reading a lot of disagreement on whether Soundcards are worth it the moment. I can distinguish directions on my cans easily on PUBG.

Just not convinced it's worth it when I've got a more than powerful enough DAC.
 
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PUBG, for the moment, doesn't have a good positional audio setup. The devs have basically said that the sound engine is... pretty crap at the minute. Good stereo and solid headphones will beat any 5.1/7.1 setup by a country mile for now.
 
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PUBG, for the moment, doesn't have a good positional audio setup. The devs have basically said that the sound engine is... pretty crap at the minute. Good stereo and solid headphones will beat any 5.1/7.1 setup by a country mile for now.
Ah that's cool. Other games I play are predominately MMO or RPG in nature so positioning audio isn't needed.

Loud and clear audio is and I've definitely achieved that! With the DTs and FiiO.
 
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May all change tomorrow ofc. PUBG gets it's full PC V1.x release 20/12/17.
I play on the test server the moment anyway (new map / vaulting is too good to not have) and the audio is cleaner to be fair.

I could probably convince myself to spend £60 on a new card like the Soundblaster Z - £120 on one though for basically a slight UI overhaul or RGB on a soundcard? No thanks.
 
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I play on the test server the moment anyway (new map / vaulting is too good to not have) and the audio is cleaner to be fair.

I could probably convince myself to spend £60 on a new card like the Soundblaster Z - £120 on one though for basically a slight UI overhaul or RGB on a soundcard? No thanks.

My solution on this was the most dirt cheap SB-Z I could find (with the EM shield for what it was worth). I think I paid £40 for mine. You could go much more mental with better soundcard but for a decent enough DAC and one of the better considered positional audio setups... it's not bad for it's money.
I think your post count gets you MM access now ;)
 
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My solution on this was the most dirt cheap SB-Z I could find (with the EM shield for what it was worth). I think I paid £40 for mine. You could go much more mental with better soundcard but for a decent enough DAC and one of the better considered positional audio setups... it's not bad for it's money.
I think your post count gets you MM access now ;)
MM Access? Is that the mini market on the forum? I think that's a 1,000 posts! I do have free next working day delivery by going over 250 though. Haha.

I may cave and get one after Christmas who knows. With just PUBG, WoW and games like Divinity or The Long Dark being played 5.1 just can't quite convince me!
 
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Ahhh, maybe member market (close :p ) has been raised a good bit. To the bay of E's then :)
Any setup with a good DAC, good positional audio setup and a headphone amp will make a massive difference.
The SB-Z happens to have it all (though not the best of each) for cheap :) Pair it with good headphones with the right sound signature for gaming (imo Senn/AKG/some ATH) and you're laughing :)
 
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