need a sound card and maybe an amp?

pgi947

pgi947

pgi947

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Hi all!

I'm on the look out for a sound card but have no idea what I'm looking at/for. I only use headphones, I have a limited experience with sound cards but remember being blown away by eax surround (I think?) On bf3, so something that can achieve similar effects would be desirable. Also nothing that relies on a floppy power connector and preferably pcie. If it looks sexy that's an added bonus as my layout is inverted atx so it would be on show.

Next question is do I need a headphone amp and what should I be looking for? Using a pair of bayerdynamic dt990 pro 250ohm and I feel I'm not getting the best from them at the moment.

Cheers :D
 
I find they're not too bad when being powered from my phone and iPad, but it requires more power than my other headphones that are 40 Ohms. But, as expected, they are even better when they're powered and are brilliant at surround.

No mention of budget, but something like this offers both sound card and amp, which would deliver what you're after. :)
 
Wow I had completely overlooked that card, the specs tick every box, EAX, AMP, not too shabby looking!

I think we may have a winner - thanks :)
 
Really? Damn, I haven't use Creative for around 4 years, my last card was a Xonar DX (I think) which worked pretty well but had to go due to requiring a floppy power connector. What would be the Asus equivalent?

Have more recent externally powered sound cards moved away from the floppy connector? Surely be easier to shove a 6pin PCIE power connector on it.

Edit: Xonar Pheobus looks the next best thing from Asus.
 
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I use the Asus Xonar Essence STX with Beyer DT990's for gaming and music - it's a very good pairing.
 
Personally, I would spend more money and get a dedicated amp/DAC. Yes, it will cost more money but there benefits are numerous - chiefly, better sound! The second best option would be soundcard + headphone amp, finally the third best option, just a soundcard.

Suggestions for each of the options:
EHP-O2D (~£150)
Asus Xonar DGX+EHP-O2 (~£110)
Asus STX (~£134) - STX is the best soundcard hands down atm for actual sound quality.
 
rids57 said:
I use the Asus Xonar Essence STX with Beyer DT990's for gaming and music - it's a very good pairing.
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I concur. :)

My response was without any sort of budget to aim at, and I've never looked into Creative stuff to be honest.

If you can afford it OP, the 'new' STX II is out soon. I'd certainly go for that, and it will last a good while. :)
 
It's worth noting that the EHP-O2D will cost about the same as the new STXII and is unquestionably a better setup.
 
unquestionably a better setup? That's a pretty bold statement considering they are not even any reviews out there yet.
 
rids57 said:
unquestionably a better setup? That's a pretty bold statement considering they are not even any reviews out there yet.
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Look at the components and specs on both of them. One is a soundcard, the other is a dedicated very well reviewed and capable amp (that's more powerful than that of the STXII), and it has, again, a dedicated and well reviewed DAC that punches above its weight quite substantially. It's not a bold statement, it should be pretty apparent.

EHP-O2D >> STX, so unless they do something extremely drastic (which for a rrp of only £20 more than the outgoing card, I doubt) the same will be true versus the STX II. Dedicated setups will nearly always out-perform a soundcard at an equivalent or greater price.

EDIT: By no means am I saying its a bad soundcard, as far as soundcards go, it's excellent, as the STXII appears to be on paper - but it wont beat a dedicated setup.
 
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On head-fi I would agree with you because they deal almost exclusively with listening to music but this is a computer forum and most threads, including this one, involve gaming and movies too. To have anywhere near the same audio experience you would need to add a sound card anyway, to get dolby headphone for the positional audio and that would negate the DAC on the O2D.
A pet gripe I have with the O2 lineup is the aesthetics, it looks like a hobby project. NwAvGuy did a brilliant job of designing the circuitry but neither Epiphany or Mayflower have changed the prototype layout at all. I can't for the life of me see why they can't move the power socket and the input to the rear of the case, even if the case had to be slightly bigger.
Then you have the convenience of being able to leave headphones and speakers plugged in all the time and just switch over with a couple of mouse clicks, rather than fishing behind the computer to switch the plugs around.
Sure, a dedicated headphone amp & dac has it's place and for listening to music in stereo they will sound wonderful but they are not a blanket solution for every other thread.
 
RavenXXX2 said:
You will get positional audio audio as good as a sound card with the odac, in fact better sound.
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In games like BF4 that have a headphone driver built in, yes but not in games like Skyrim that don't - you need dolby headphone for that.
 
rids57 said:
Sure, a dedicated headphone amp & dac has it's place and for listening to music in stereo they will sound wonderful but they are not a blanket solution for every other thread.
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This is, of course, correct and not something I am trying to do. However, the OP only mentions one game - BF3 (presumably BF4 as well to) - both of which have their own drivers, and thereby negating a real need for soundcard-based positional audio.

DT990s really deserve something more than your expensive-but-otherwise-run-of-the-mill soundcard to do them real justice for music imo, they are fantastic cans for the money.
 
Cookeh said:
This is, of course, correct and not something I am trying to do. However, the OP only mentions one game - BF3 (presumably BF4 as well to) - both of which have their own drivers, and thereby negating a real need for soundcard-based positional audio.

DT990s really deserve something more than your expensive-but-otherwise-run-of-the-mill soundcard to do them real justice for music imo, they are fantastic cans for the money.
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+1

Although I am leaning onto DT880 more :)

Beyerdynamics is a very dynamic can suitable for gaming AND for music.

If you feed it with a sound card, you are just wasting about 80% of your money on the cost of this headphone. - Sound cards are horrible in sound quality music wise.

All in all, if you just want an headphone for gaming ONLY, why don't you save yourself the problem and get someone like Corsair Vengeance headphone which already have a dedicated dolby decoder in it? The sound quality is going to be horrible no matter how you hook it up.

For a music quality, get a dedicated DAC and a pair of fairly decent can, DT770 is also very nice for all-rounder, although I would prefer AKG K701 for clarity.
 
oh well, guess I'd better sell up my STX and get an O2 and some expensive cables to do my DT990's justice then :D
 
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