Sound upgrade

clone · 12 Jan 2018 at 11:35

im almost finished with my new pc build and the only part left to change is my headphones Sennheiser HD555 and Asus DGX 5.1 sound card.

The Sennheiser's have been great so far but they are a little worst for wear now,i use them for games most of all with a little music here and there.

I don't want to go to mad on price so I'll say about £150 odd for both.

Any help will be much appreciated .

EsaT · 12 Jan 2018 at 12:40

Considering how old HD555 model is I would say you've had jackpot in durability lottery.
(my HD595 started cracking in 2½ years)

Do you have any specific needs for sound?
Like same neutral bass for best distinguishing of foot steps and such details or more "fun factor" with good bass impact?

Not that for total price can think that much of choises.
Though besides that HD579 mentioned here Beyerdynamic DT990 Pro would leave some more room for soundcard.
God mode/wall hack level competitiveness AKG K701/702 with neutral bass would go little over £110.

For sound card with better DAC Sound Blaster Z is first card.
https://www.overclockers.co.uk/search?sSearch=sound+blaster+z
And SBX Pro Surround is better binaural simulation than Dolby Headphone.

Sound BlasterX AE-5 with top level DAC and one of the best headphone outputs of any soundcard wouldn't leave much room for headphones.

If you haven't used Dolby Headphone you should have.
While it's overall average because of bass bloat and echo tendency it's heck lot better than stereo.
Listen with 2.0/stereo without any effects/processing:

clone · 12 Jan 2018 at 15:07

Thanks mate that's some nice imformation

clone · 13 Jan 2018 at 10:47

Ok so I'm looking at the following.
AKG K701

1/Creative Sound Blaster X AE-5 (Black) RGB Gaming Sound Card

2/Strix SOAR 7.1 PCI-E Sound Card

Marsman · 13 Jan 2018 at 13:09

I'd buy the AE5 over any of Asus' strix sounds cards.

K701/2 are a good shout for headphones that are among the best for positional sound when gaming. Another good choice is Sennheiser HD 579 which can be had for the crazily cheap clearance price of £54 from a catalogue shop.

clone · 13 Jan 2018 at 13:23

Ok mate thanks for the help

clone · 13 Jan 2018 at 14:30

Ive ordered this set up.

K701 Reference Class Premium Headphones
Creative Sound Blaster X AE-5 (Black) RGB Gaming Sound Card

EsaT · 13 Jan 2018 at 14:57

If you play FPS multiplayer games that setup will make many other players miserable from always getting "warm welcome" when coming around corner or some obstacle...

Besides being capable to driving basically any headphone that sound card will likely have driver support nearing up to 2030.
Creative literally still offers Win10 drivers for dozen years old "Why would anyone want to even use one?" cards.

clone · 13 Jan 2018 at 14:59

Great I remember when I had my first card the drivers stop and never updated

clone · 23 Jan 2018 at 10:16

Got the AKG K701 headphones they are amazing got a question can I buy something like a cloth cover for the ear part to keep them clean while I wear them ?

foster grant · 23 Jan 2018 at 11:44

Am I right in thinking that if one does not care about the RGB lights on does not need to connect the Molex power connector ?

clone · 23 Jan 2018 at 13:04

Yeh looks like it ma8 not had a chance to install it yet as I'm waiting on parts for my new build

foster grant · 23 Jan 2018 at 14:12

Hm be interesting to see how the card is with music , my daughter has a sound blaster z and she says its muffled when shes on FL Studio ( krk 8400 Headphones) but in game is good .

ToTheMax · 23 Jan 2018 at 18:31

foster grant said:
Hm be interesting to see how the card is with music , my daughter has a sound blaster z and she says its muffled when shes on FL Studio ( krk 8400 Headphones) but in game is good .

I just recently upgraded from the Z to AE5, running AKG 712's both cards were plenty loud enough but the newer AE5 produces much more detailed and fuller sound for music, a worthy upgrade for me. It also has easy control whether you want processed or unprocessed output although the software can be a little buggy at times which will hopefully be fixed over time.

Robert Manziel · 31 Jan 2018 at 09:20

Anyone can have a comparison between wired headsets with wireless one? Which one is better?

Marsman · 31 Jan 2018 at 11:05

If you're looking at similar money on both, then wired. Wireless has a bunch of extra electronics which cost money to make; so, either a wireless headset must cost more for similar quality, or cheap parts are used to meet a strict budget.

Just looking on the OcUK store, there's a couple of wireless headset for £160. I doubt either would match Sennheiser Game One or Zero wired headset for quality which costs similar money.

EsaT · 31 Jan 2018 at 15:46

Robert Manziel said:
Anyone can have a comparison between wired headsets with wireless one? Which one is better?

There aren't even much any wired headsets comparable to better for gaming wired headphones.
And audio makers simply don't even really make much any wireless headphones aiming for high end sound quality.
Lots of those are just fashion stuff for mobile use etc.

And then we have gaming brands selling cheap Chinese junk trinkets at huge profit margins.
(there wouldn't be much of gaming branded headphones if profit margins were more normal)