Tempted to get a sound card

[DStruct]

Hi all
Currently using the SteelSeries Siberia 800 Headset, Sound connected to my motherboards Optical port and the mic is used by USB.
Also using some fairly basic speakers from Logitech, very similar if not these were closest I could find https://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16836121034

I am thinking mainly to get the most out of my headset, to buy a proper sound card, nothing too fancy nor expensive but aslong as Its better than my motherboards then Im happy.

Can anyone recommend me any please?

 

[EsaT]

Sound Blaster Z has very good "bang per buck" and Creative's binaural sound simulation algorithms are among best.
https://www.overclockers.co.uk/search?sSearch=sound+blaster+z

You can also automate switching between headphone and speaker outputs/modes behind hotkey using this program:
https://forums.guru3d.com/threads/s...s-headphones-mode-switching-available.381416/

As for actual gaming immersion no matter how good signal they're given those gaming trinkets are likely very mediocre at best.
Disable any Realtek processings and Dolby things of that headset and watch/listen these:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B8xZp0WPwxs
Besides good 360 directionality there should be clear sense of distance.
And first minute of this is excellent quick test for sound stage:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d1_20T8x_OI

 

[Marsman]

Siberia 800 is a wireless headset. The box that connects to the PC provides Dolby Headphone to the headset. Not sure how a Creative sound card providing SBX is going to work, unless the Dolby Headphone can be disabled?

 

[DStruct]

Dolby surround sound can be disabled on box yes

 

[DStruct]

Thanks EsaT, I will probably go for this then https://www.overclockers.co.uk/b-gr...ound-card-retail-70sb150000001-bg-049-cl.html

 

[DStruct]

Before I go ahead and buy that card, just noticed it is only a 5.1 sound card when my headset is 7.1, would I be better getting a 7.1 equivilant sound card to be sure?

 

[Marsman]

5.1 applies to the physical connections on the card for speakers. Onboard audio and many sound cards have 7.1 connections, but there have been no 7.1 speakers for years now. Probably why Creative decided to ditch the connections for rear speakers.

 

[DStruct]

oh ok, after posting this I read somewhere else that in the case of siberia 800, digital is digital.. presuming that aslong as I have an optical port on my motherboard that I can use then there would be very minimal difference if I was to get a £50 soundcard with the same optical port, if any difference at all... in other words its a waste of money and to just continue using my onboard optical port.... is there any truth to this?

this is my motherboard if it helps https://www.gigabyte.com/Motherboard/GA-Z68A-D3-B3-rev-10#ov

GIGABYTE strongly believes that in 2011, HD audio playback is a standard specification, and as such, we have made Blu-ray audio playback a standard for all of our motherboards.
All of GIGABYTE's 2011 motherboards feature higher capability audio solution with 108dB Signal-to-Noise ratio (SNR) playback quality to deliver high-performance, multi-channel HD audio. SNR is a comparison of the amount of signal to the amount of noise such as hiss present in the signal (expressed in Decibels). A higher SNR equals a better audio experience. For example, 108dB, is a high audio specification, as this means the audio signal is 108dB higher than the level of the noise.

 

[Marsman]

If you're talking about sound quality when using optical, then yes; digital is digital. It's data that is being sent, not actual sound. That data is processed into an analogue sound signal, by whatever is connected to other end of the optical cable. In this case the Siberia 800 base station.

If someone were to use optical out exclusively, then different features aside, a £200 Xonar STXII is no different to a £25 DGX. What makes the STXII better is the much better DAC, headphone amp and analogue signal components. So headphones with a standard 3.5mm/6.35mm plug and stereo speakers with analogue input.

For your headset, the only benefit of getting a Soundblaster Z, is if SBX prostudio works better in place of Dolby Headphone. I suppose it depends how well the base station will translate SBX prostudio over wireless to the headset. Purely from a sound quality point of view though, there's no benefit to getting a sound card.

 

[DStruct]

I wont bother then, I am quite happy with the sound I am getting currently, I just thought to treat myself and spend abit of money as its my birthday monday, to get a sound card but I dont want to waste money on something worthless, so thank you for the help, I shall continue with my onboard audio

 

[EsaT]

oh ok, after posting this I read somewhere else that in the case of siberia 800, digital is digital..

Any optical output will give out stereo PCM, but without DD/DTS encoder you won't get 5.1 out of it so Dolby Headphone of that headset won't work.
Except in case of movies with soundtrack already in DD5.1 format.

 

[DStruct]

So what are you saying exactly?
When I disable dolby on the station box thing, I can hear a difference in sound between dolby enabled and dolby disabled, though I admit I can distiguinsh left and right sounds more easily when disabled
It is said that for the dolby to work and make full use of this headset, that optical is the best way to connect. Are you saying USB would be best or?

 

[JasonM]

If your using digital out then a sound card makes no difference. If you do hear a difference it will be down to drivers / software differences only as some drivers can process sound differently. However things like stereo separation, depth of sound, basically all those things audiophile people talk about, that's normally in the DAC.

I tested back-to-back a Realtec SPDIF against an Asus Essence ST SPDIF, this was into quite a good Hi-Fi setup (Pioneer Digital amp, Yamaha floor standing speakers) the result was there was zero difference in quality and actually went back to the Realtec.

The DAC on the Asus Essence ST compared to Realtec, well that's a totally different story!

 

[DStruct]

Either way, so you went back to using the Realtek?

 

[JasonM]

Either way, so you went back to using the Realtek?

Downstairs on HTPC yes.

I actually have 2 Asus Essence ST's, I have one running on my main computer, I planned on using the other in my HTPC. However the HTPC is connected to a Pioneer digital amp (with it's own DAC) and I decided that I preferred the DAC inside the Pioneer amp. Incidentally the Pioneer amp/DAC and the DAC inside the Essence ST were the same in terms of sound quality, however the Pioneer amp/DAC won out as it had less interference. So in the end I removed the Essence ST and just used the motherboard Realtek SPDIF to feed the Pioneer.

The problem with any soundcard is interference you won't notice it on regular desktop speakers, however if you have quite a good HiFi setup and sensitive ears you will hear it if you feed no sound output and turn the volume loud up on amp.

To try and put some perspective on the level of interference from the Essence ST, it's about 150% more then a typical good quality external CD player, where as the DAC inside the amp is maybe 50% of the interference of a typical good quality external CD player. So i'm talking about relative tiny amounts that most people would never hear.

The Essence ST has a precision digital clock to remove jitter, and I did a lot of back to back testing between the Essence ST and the Realtek, and the result was I could not detect anything with my ears. I've certainly never heard any jitter or anything that effected sound in this regard with the Realtek. If I felt some improvement here I would have kept the Essence ST just for the SPDIF out to feed the Pioneer.

Also just to add one last thing. Although I don't use the Essence ST in the HTPC there still the best sound cards i've ever owned, I also have a Creative Sound Blaster Titanium HD and the DAC inside the Essence ST is better quality than the Soundblaster.

 

[DStruct]

When I was younger living in parents house, I used to have the very loud Logitech Z5500 speaker system setup, I used to hear weird electronic sounds with that, even when moving my mouse and stuff there was some interference you could hear.... when they were turned up loud but not outputting any sound, if that is similar to what you mean then I understand

 

[JasonM]

When I was younger living in parents house, I used to have the very loud Logitech Z5500 speaker system setup, I used to hear weird electronic sounds with that, even when moving my mouse and stuff there was some interference you could hear.... when they were turned up loud but not outputting any sound, if that is similar to what you mean then I understand

Yes that type of interference, however with a sound card i'm referring more to internal interference from a graphics card or computer PSU.

In my post above i'm still talking about small relative amounts of interference that most people would not notice however.

 

[V F]

The z5500 hums even with nothing connected to it.