A bit of help please

ncncore

ncncore

ncncore

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So to start with my trusty Asus Orion's have pretty much given in. So now is the time for something new and shiny. With an upcoming 'Big' Birthday the wife has given me the £200-250 price range for some new headphones. If it comes in a little less than happy days!

While I don't consider myself an audiophile (Have been more than happy with the asus) I would like to treat myself to the best I can afford and hopefully open myself to something a lot better.

Initially I looked at the following headsets -

Sennheiser PC 363 D Gaming Headset

SteelSeries Siberia Elite Prism - Black

Turtle Beach Z7 SEVEN Series PC & Mac Headset

Astro A40 Headset and MixAmp Pro


These all appeal to me as they have a usb sound card bundled in and I have no sound card or in fact the space remaining on my mobo to fit a sound card.

Then I noticed the AKG and mod mic bundles and thought hey the reviews on these are incredible and nearly bought the AKG K702 + mod mic there and then. A little more research opened up the fact I would need more than just my onboard sound to power these though, is that correct?

Then I looked at the AKG K612 bundle and thought with these I could get an amp as well and keep within budget but I have no idea where to start really.

So finally given my current set up and my rough price range how would you spend your cash? To the untrained ear if i go for the Turtle Beach or Steel series will other pricier options blow me out of the water with a better sound?

finally I predominantly want these for gaming (CS:GO, Battle Field, COD, Elite Dangerous, witcher etc) but i do watch movies and listen to music too.

Thanks for reading and TIA for any help
 
Yes the "other options" would be better !

I guess if you are happy with the sound that the ASUS gave you then why look to spend money ? Now, I always thought the same until I bought a good headphone & now I can't go back....

If money is a issue then out of what your listed I think the sennheiers would be the best, I've always bought Sennheiers headsets & been more than happy.

If your looking to get the best sound then a sound card or USB external sound card would suit premium headphones better. It's an expensive route but the ear pleasure is sooooo good even in games !
 
further reading has made me look at my mobo onboard sound.

I have a gigabyte GA-Z77X-UP5 TH

with this built in -
Realtek ALC898 with High Quality 110dB SNR HD audio

Would this be sufficient enough to power the k612?

also to add is there software I can D/L that would give me the virtual surround sound as well?

Apologies for the many questions
 
nipnosis said:
further reading has made me look at my mobo onboard sound.

I have a gigabyte GA-Z77X-UP5 TH

with this built in -
Realtek ALC898 with High Quality 110dB SNR HD audio

Would this be sufficient enough to power the k612?

also to add is there software I can D/L that would give me the virtual surround sound as well?

Apologies for the many questions
Click to expand...
If you want decent audio for your headphone, then stay as far away from onboard as possible and look at getting a dedicated soundcard or DAC with headphone amp.
 
Unfortunately I have no free lanes, I have 2 massive evga 680's and a large phanteks cpu cooler so the only way to do it would be to buy an raiser cable or something as the physical connections are there but the sound card won't fit in the slot with the other parts in as well.

So the u7 and k612 would be a good option then, might go with that then
 
U7 + K612 will give you a very good overall sound for music, movies and gaming. The K702 would be even better, specially for gaming but they need more power to drive them.

Also, even if you could fit an internal sound card you would most likely run into EMI problems with two graphics cards, so an external solution is your best way forward anyway.
 
So the 702s would require an amp as well as the u7? If I allowed myself closer to the 250 mark is there a set up option including the 702 you would recommend?

As a side note I only use team speak and Skype would a speedlink clip on mic be sufficient?
 
Just been looking again, would some thing like the -

FiiO E10K Headphone Amplifier and DAC

Be a better option and would that drive the 702 aswell?
 
No, the K702 needs a more powerful amp than either the U7 or the E10K - even though they are only 62ohms they are not very sensitive so end up needing more power than my 300 ohm Sennheisers.

If you want to keep all of the surround sound features of a sound card or motherboard audio then you need to go with an external sound card such as the Asus U7. It has a built in amplifier but it's not powerful enough to drive difficult loads (neither is the E10K).
If you take the route of an external HiFi DAC such as the E10K or a Modi 2, then you will be limited to straight forward stereo as there are hardly any hifi Amp/DACs that have the necessary DSP on board - the Creative X7 being the only exception I can think of without going down the whole AV receiver road.
 
The U7 does have an amp, I think rids is saying that the 702's might need a bit more oomph than it can provide.

Also, the U7 has Dolby Home Theater, which provides some surround sound tweaks which a standard stereo DAC, like the Fiio does not.

Personally, I use a normal stereo DAC (Arcam rPAC) and I have not missed the surround sound features in games as a lot of them, like BF4, have excellent surround sound audio anyway.

*edit*

Beaten. :o
 
Ok so best bang for buck without spending a lot more than budget would be the U7 with the K612's.

Thank you for helping me through with this, it's a mine field for better audio wanting noobs haha. Earlier I was close to just buying the 363d's and having done with it.

Also mod mic or speedlink spes for team speak/skype purposes?
 
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