Best sound card for gaming.

phil128

phil128

phil128

Permabanned
Joined
5 Sep 2010
Posts
274
Location
In front of my computer
Hi all.

I don't really know the best soundcard for gaming is. I dunno if I should buy this Asus sound card:

http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=SC-059-CL&groupid=701&catid=11&subcat=

http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=SC-005-AS&tool=3 <---- Thinking about this card.

Or this:

http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=SC-072-CL&groupid=701&catid=11&subcat=

I mainly play games and I don't have any sound system in my room, plus I'm looking to buy a 7.1 headset soon. Any advice please?

I'm not too sure if EAX will work on ASUS sound cards, and if any of these will support Linux too (summat i'll looking into).

Thanks.
 
Last edited:
The HDAV isn't really designed as a soundcard per say, but more of a output device to home cinema equipment.

Look at some of the cheaper Asus cards for a cheaper/better sound card option, but if your buying a '7.1' headset soon will you need a soundcard at all? Many of them are USB thus won't make sure of a soundcard.
 
If you buy one of those cards, then you can use any headset and use the cards surround sound emulation feature. This is by most actually considered better than "real" surround headsets.

for creative it is called cmss-3d and for asus it is dolby headphone.

cmss-3d is considerd more accurate and also take heigh into account.

but a lot of people find dolby headphones a more "believable and immersive" effect.

I think this is right anyway.

Also both of those cards only support stereo output you wouldn't be able to connect real surround headphones to them or surround sound speaker setups unless it used an optical cable but then you wont benefit from the sound quality of the sound card. Worth keeping in mind if you ever plan on doing anything like that.
 
Last edited:
+1 for an Essence STX.

The DAC in the STX is high quality and you'll have to spend far more for a superior DAC and amp combo which would be wasted on a 7.1 gaming headset!

Also, don't buy a 7.1 headset, get decent stereo headphones (e.g AD700 is great for soundwhoring) and use Dolby Headphone to simulate surround sound.
 
Something to think about when comparing an external DAC to the Essence. A lot of people assume a similar priced external DAC is going to be superior, that isn't necessarily the case. I think that's a little unfair on how good the Essence actually is. Someone not so long back bought an Essence for his PC. He has a separates hi-fi with an Arcam rDAC. He was interested in findng out how the Essence compared to the Arcam. Most would expect the Arcam to be easily better at 2x the cost of the Essence. To his amazement, it wasn't. Connecting them both to the same speaker system, he was surprised how well the Essence performed against the Arcam. The Caiman is a DAC/amp for only a little more than the Essence, whereas the Arcam is a DAC only and £300. I just can't see how the Caiman would be easily better.
 
The STX apparently has one of the best specced DAC chips on the market, the PCM1792. Obviously this is only one component, but it's a good start.
 
I feel that you are not going to get what you want with a 7.1 Headset.

The emulated virtual surround available on the ASus and the Creative cards are much better I feel.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom