Sound Card advice

stuie · 13 Nov 2012 at 11:12

Hi guys im toying with the idea of getting a sound card and quality headset sorted

I currently have an old creative 5.1 actually running 3.1 without any rears plugged in running off my onboard sabertooth audio along with a cheapo creative fatilty headset that is ok but was an impulse buy when in was on offer for about 25 quid thats plugge into the fornt panel headers on my switch

Id really like to be able to keep my speakers available to me so thinking about either a card with 5.1 and a dedicated headset socket or a dedicated card for my headset and leaving the speakers plugged in for occasional use that i can just switch to

Whats the better option? As this is mostly for gaming a surround solution would be great, As for a budget there isnt one really im thinking value for money but happy to spend a little extra if its worth it Also I dont really need a microphone as i dont do teamspeak stuff

melmac · 13 Nov 2012 at 12:35

The xonar DG might be good enough for what you need. It comes with a front panel connector so you can plug your headphones in there and leave your speakers plugged in the back. Then switch between them using the Asus control panel.

stuie · 13 Nov 2012 at 12:41

Would a 26 quid sound really be better than the onboard ive already got?

melmac · 13 Nov 2012 at 12:50

A definate yes through the headphones, plus you get dolby headphone.

And I am pretty sure it will sound better through your speakers too.

melmac · 13 Nov 2012 at 12:53

If you have a budget of £80 then another option is the Creative Z. It comes with a seperate headphone socket at the rear of the card, you can plug both speakers and headphone in at the same time.

stuie · 13 Nov 2012 at 13:50

red only though it would kill my black and white colour scheme

stuie · 13 Nov 2012 at 16:46

Does the front panel on the gdx support the headphone amp and dobly headphones of do i need to plug into the back for that?

melmac · 13 Nov 2012 at 18:48

stuie said:
Does the front panel on the gdx support the headphone amp and dobly headphones of do i need to plug into the back for that?

yeah the front panel has the headphone amp and dolby sound. But, some people have had trouble with the front panel connection.

stuie · 14 Nov 2012 at 15:53

the dgx is on offer this week so ordered one to try for 23 quid its worth a shot

melmac · 14 Nov 2012 at 16:01

good luck with it, let us know how you get on :-)

stuie · 16 Nov 2012 at 11:54

Ok so my gdx arrived today looks very basic but will see later, what are the best drivers to use the asus ones or the open source ones?

melmac · 16 Nov 2012 at 15:56

I used the unified ones. It just wouldn't installed right using the Asus ones.