sennheiser 363D/sound card

[springy1989]

Would you get better sound or any sort of improvements if I used a sound card instead of the 3D game1 USB sound dongle you get with the sennheiser 363D? if so the sound card I'm planning on using with this headset is the asus xonar DX 7.1, also would this sound card make full use of the 7.1 virtual surround sound as intended like the original USB dongle would? and one more thing I need clearing up I know this sound card does not have an amp the 363D has an impedance of 32ohm, do I need an amp to get the best out of this headset? or will I get the full experience this headset has to offer without the need of an amp? the only other reason for asking this other than the impedance is I cant find a 7.1 sound card with an amp, I don't even bother with creative, any help would be amazing, thanks

links for the headset and sound card below

http://en-uk.sennheiser.com/pc-363d-surround-sound-gaming-headset#product_data

http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=SC-002-AS&groupid=701&catid=11

 

[Rroff]

The dongle on the 363D is fairly decent - end of the day its an off the shelf c-media USB chipset but its one of their better ones - xonar would be better but purely for gaming you may not notice a huge difference in sound quality compared to music listening, etc.

That headset is fine unamped - you will get very mildly better bass amped IIRC but nothing significant (its designed to run off the USB dongle effectively).

Xonar has dobly headphone, etc. functionality so you won't lose any of that - though I'm not too familiar with the different models of xonar and which support what but I think that one does DH ok.

 

[springy1989]

The dongle on the 363D is fairly decent - end of the day its an off the shelf c-media USB chipset but its one of their better ones - xonar would be better but purely for gaming you may not notice a huge difference in sound quality compared to music listening, etc.

That headset is fine unamped - you will get very mildly better bass amped IIRC but nothing significant (its designed to run off the USB dongle effectively).

Xonar has dobly headphone, etc. functionality so you won't lose any of that - though I'm not too familiar with the different models of xonar and which support what but I think that one does DH ok.

Thank you for the information Rroff, much appreciated

 

[springy1989]

If I pair the sennheiser pc 360s with the Asus Xonar DX 7.1 would it be capable of utilizing full 7.1 virtual surround sound? because if I get the 360s I'll save money by not getting the USB 7.1 sound dongle with the 363Ds just makes no sense to buy something that I wont use due to replacing it with the sound card + I cant find any 363Ds in stock in the UK anywhere, thanks

 

[Rroff]

Xonar has pretty much the same Dolby Headphone thing as the dongle.

Alternatively you could always have a play with Razer Surround - quite a few people like it better for gaming than DH.