I used to live somewhere that I couldn't really have sound at any volume, so I used headphones, and then IEMs. I had a set of Shure 535s and I wanted a decent sound card for them, so I got an Xonar Essence STX. Did the job just great...
I've now moved and I don't use IEMs very often at all, I have a 5.1 setup with an Onkyo 609 and Q-Acoustics 5.1 setup. I use that for gaming, and I have my sound card connected to the receiver with an optical lead. It outputs in DD.
Could I see any benefit in getting a gaming sound card rather than the Essence?
I've now moved and I don't use IEMs very often at all, I have a 5.1 setup with an Onkyo 609 and Q-Acoustics 5.1 setup. I use that for gaming, and I have my sound card connected to the receiver with an optical lead. It outputs in DD.
Could I see any benefit in getting a gaming sound card rather than the Essence?