Reputation from Terranamics

Terranamics reacted to aithos in What is the best amp, dac, soundcard for gaming (no speakers) September 18, 2017

A couple things:
1) You're mostly correct about the wireless thing - you won't see any benefit by adding an amp, but a nice dac would still make a difference as that is what handles the signal that is sent to your headphones. Although on principal I don't like or advise the use of wireless headphones except as a last option.

2) I agree that buying "gaming" equipment is dubious at best, the focus of most gear aimed at gamers is on being "cool" rather than being good. It's a stigma that is very slowly changing in certain areas, but the fact is that most gaming stuff is overpriced and a bad value when you consider price/performance.

3) I disagree emphatically with your point about buying audio equipment for gaming. Good audio equipment will drastically improve your experience regardless of what you're doing - gaming, movies, music, etc. A good set of HD headphones with a decent amp/dac will provide significantly better gaming audio, including positional audio and the more obvious stuff like clarity and accuracy.

4) Onboard audio is only good enough if you don't care. I have a high end enthusiast motherboard with HD audio capable of driving high impedence headphones that is on a separate logic board from the rest of the chips (IE: one of the best "on-board" audio solutions you can buy) and it doesn't even begin to come close to the performance of even a mediocre dedicated amp/dac. A soundcard is better if you pick the right one, but again... it's not even close.

To the OP: we really need more info if you want serious recommendations, the question "what is the best" is entirely dependent on your budget and how serious you are about audio.

Some basic amp/dacs:
- A decent Fiio is the entry point for a lot of people, not sure what the current model is called but the decent ones usually run $80-$100~
- A Schiit stack (modi/magni) or an o2+odac is the go-to for most audio people on a budget, both can be had for between $200-300 and are capable of running almost any headphones you can throw at it in the sub-$1500 range.
From there you're going to start to get into specific pairings and some more expensive stuff, but if you have the budget I HIGHLY recommend the Grace Design M9XX from Massdrop. Those guys are known for extremely high end audio equipment and for $500 it's got the guts of their M920 that retails for several times more, it's a really good amp/dac and by far the best thing you'll find under $1000.

For Headphones:
- Sennheiser HD598s are the entry point for a lot of people, if you get them on a good sale they are extremely affordable (less than many high end gaming headsets) and they sound significantly better. They can be powered decently without an amp, but they sound MUCH better with a decent one.
- AKG K7XX are a slight step up and are a really good value for $200, especially considering that AKG is a respected name that are known to be excellent gaming headphones. They have a very clear/neutral sound so the clarity is excellent, and the soundstage is fantastic which also means very good positional audio. They are a little picky about amplification, but something like the mid tier amp/dac above would be fine.
- Sennheiser HD650 are what many people consider the best all-around headphone for the money in the world. They easily compete with stuff that is double or even triple the price, they have a very pleasing warm sound and they aren't too picky about amplification so you can start small and upgrade your amp/dac later if the higher price for the headphones stretches your budget. These are my every day headphones and they are great.
Beyond that you're going to start getting into specialty stuff and a bit pricier options. Although there are some good products from companies like Audio Technica (ATH series) that if you like more bass are a good option, and the Fostex TH-X00 from Massdrop are amazing as a second set of headphones for music and occasional gaming if you have more to spend...

Note: I saw the poster above mention the focusrite scarlett 2i2 and I think they are confused about what that is for. That's an interface intended for connecting and powering balanced audio devices such as high end microphones, guitars and so forth. You can use it as an amp for your headphones but you would still need a DAC and frankly it wasn't intended to be a headphone amp. The headphone jacks on those are meant for studio usage, not sound quality. I have one and use it for playing guitar through headphones and for recording with my expensive condenser mic, but I NEVER use it for audio or gaming.

Terranamics got a reaction from yt1993 in did i just download youtube? September 18, 2017

HA, that would be hilarious if all of a sudden you downloaded all of Youtube

Terranamics got a reaction from valentineh20 in I need feedback on my gaming PC September 18, 2017

If I were you I would be looking for a better quality PSU, maybe something that is fully modular or 80+ Gold

Also, there are many great cases out there that are much better than the Enthoo Pro for even cheaper

Third, if you want to save about ~$100 you could go for a mini-itx build, which would perform just as well, but it would be smaller