Help needed for sound setup

[Katsumoto]

Hello. Need some help as the title suggests for some sound equipment upgrading.

Current system is a (now broken hence time to upgrade) Sennheiser HD 598 headphones and they are just hooked up to the PC normally. I have no fancy DAC/AMPs currently. Motherboard is the Asus Rampage IV extreme LGA 2011.

For some background on the usage, I do a lot of gaming. Currently playing The Witcher 3, Starcraft II Legacy of the Void, Rebel Galaxy and Planetside 2 (still I know). Alongside that I listen to a large amount of music, primarily through but not limited to Spotify Premium.

My music tastes are quite heavy, featuring a lot of metal both recent (The Agonist, Amorphis, Nightwish and Be'lakor for more recent stuff and obviously the goes without saying class of Black Sabbath, Iron Maiden and Metallica). There's also country music, basically the type that appears on the Rebel Galaxy soundtrack. I listen to this less than metal however. I dabble slightly into rap but only slightly and mainly just Eminem and have a large catalog of classic rock albums from the greats such as Guns 'n' Roses, Queen and Led Zeppelin.

Final point, i'm looking for good, accurate sound quality because i'm potentially looking into some music production eventually. Well, more accurately my housemate is and while i'm a work she can use my equipment. Oh and I do watch movies/series on this thing too.

Now you know my usage, is the following setup any good for it? I have a total budget around £600-£700 I think.

Sennheiser HD 700 (heard these are great for the rock genres and have a big soundstage which is good for gaming too I believe).

Asus Xonar Essence STU USB DAC and Headphone Amplifier (concerned over people saying it doesn't support virtual surround? apparently that isn't good for gaming).

Antlion GDL-0420 Audio ModMic V4

Also a big question. What is the deal with 'surround sound' headphones and the stuff I hear about that Asus Xonar not having surround/dolby support. I don't understand why this is a big deal but i've read it means games won't be as good on them.... but surely stereo sound with a headphone that has a good soundstage like the HD700's or my old HD598's doesn't need it? I also read that the virtual surround stuff is gimmicky to make gamers buy useless ****.
Any suggestions/help would be much appreciated. Thank you.

 

[Katsumoto]

First, sorry for the late reply. I have the worst shift patterns.

Anyway, thank you very much fora prompt reply. I do however still have a couple of questions which i'm really struggling to resolve through a basic level of research into the subject. Bearing in mind i'm the main user but not the music technology savvy guy.

.First up is the whole deal with 5.1/7.1 headphones. I'm find multiple things on this topic ranging from avoid them at all costs, they suck because it's just multiple really bad speakers in the headphones to stuff about at least virtual surround being necessary for gaming/movies on headphones. Can you enlighten me on this topic? As the primary use is still gaming, just with someone who can appreciate good sound quality and who enjoys movies too, do I need headphones with 5.1/7.1 actual or virtual capabilities? If so, which? And finally on this topic, does the DAC/AMP need to support virtual surround too for it to work? If so which DAC/AMP can you recommend.

.Second question is regarding tube amps. I previously was unfamiliar with them. Can you explain how they differ from ordinary ones and why I might find it preferable for my usage?

.Finally, those Nighthawks do appear nice. The last thing to ask regarding them is simply because I do still use things like Skype/Teamspeak, just less than I used to, can they be modified with things like the Modmic 4.0 (never used these before but they seem highly regarded) to make it so I have quality headphones without the drawbacks of headsets but without losing the ability to use a mic. I lack desk space to have a proper mic.

Thank you in advance and you've been quite helpful already.

 

[Katsumoto]

Unfortunately yes it has to be external. Beefy GPU's are beefy.

I'll look into the X7, looks interesting. I presume it supports the 7.1 surround sound stuff? Another question for me, sorry i'm not the best read on this subject, but how does the surround sound work on stereo headphones?

Edited: Another question, how does the onboard audio of my motherboard (Asus Rampage IV extreme) compare to these external solutions? Is the built in DAC good enough for what i'm looking for, as i'm lead to believe it supports up to 7.1 surround etc. If so, is an option for the levels i'm looking for to simply have JUST a headphone amp + headphones instead of headphone amp/DAC + headphones?