Mogwai

To me, receivers over sound cards any day. Way more options and benefits. Plus just having a receiver looks nice

Don't drop $300-400 on new audio equipment when you are using 558's, which aren't very demanding and no offense; half-ass Logitech speakers. Get new headphones first. Get a pair of DT990's or 770's if you want closed, AKG 701, or ATH-AD700x. Try your new headphones on your on-board if you then feel you need something more to power them then get a O2/ODAC combo, and FiiO E10, or if it were up to me a TubeMagic D1 Plus. Here are some links to some of the headphones DT990: http://www.amazon.com/beyerdynamic-990-Premium-250-Ohm/dp/B00193FT26 DT770: http://www.amazon.com/Beyerdynamic-770-PRO-250-ohms/dp/B0006NL5SM/ref=sr_1_1?s=electronics&ie=UTF8&qid=1380605042&sr=1-1&keywords=DT770 AKG 701: http://www.amazon.com/AKG-K-701-Headphones-White/dp/B000EBBJ6Y/ref=sr_1_1?s=electronics&ie=UTF8&qid=1380605059&sr=1-1&keywords=AKG+701 AD700x: http://www.amazon.com/Audio-Technica-ATH-AD700X-Audiophile-Open-Air-Headphones/dp/B009S332TQ

Haha, I would think the on-board on that MOBO would be efficient enough for some Logitech speakers, and a pair of 558's.

Out of those, I would go with the Fostex's or the M-Audio's.

+1 an amp is going to give you better sound, it's only going to amplify it obviously. a DAC will give you much better quality.

What headphones are you using, headphones are always number one priority and the Z87-G45 is supposed to have pretty nice on-board by the way. Don't buy anything till you try the on-board with whatever you are using.

+1, Get a nice pair of headphones first, use your on-board for now and if you decide later on that you want a little something extra to power them get a FiiO E10 or O2 amp.

+1 on the AT2020 Focusrite 2i2: http://www.amazon.com/Focusrite-2i2-USB-Recording-Interface/dp/B005OZE9SA/ref=sr_1_7?s=musical-instruments&ie=UTF8&qid=1380144780&sr=1-7 AT2020: http://www.amazon.com/Audio-Technica-AT2020-Condenser-Microphone/dp/B0006H92QK/ref=sr_1_15?s=musical-instruments&ie=UTF8&qid=1380144916&sr=1-

+1 JBL make some fantastic speakers, never heard any of their IEM's or Headphones though. JBL have a pretty good rep for making nice quality stuff so it should be a good choice.

I'm going for 100% complete and so far I'm at 72%, I need to do 3 more street races but only the first 2 are showing up at night and I already did both of them, does anyone know how to complete the other races. I saw some other people also having this same problem

Ignorance of the weak minded my friend, people will buy about anything if you pitch it well enough. I could come up with something stupid like underwater socks and still probably sell it to half of America as long I have a good catchy commercial and some half-ass advertisement.

I've noticed that haha, so I assumed they must be good

Just wondering how are those pioneer's? have you got to listen to them yet? And yea that's a no go on the modmic, so if you want a cheap alternative get a zalman clip-on.

Yep better quality at a fraction of the of the cost. But man if you want to look cool and fit in you got to get beats. haha

Haha , +1 for intimidation factor, maybe people will be scared to steal them now

+1 headphones are always number one priority

If you have that MSI G45 board then you will definitely be fine while using something like Siberia V2's. In the future though if you plan on upgrading your audio solution do yourself a favor and try to refrain from buying a sound card

Awesome, I'm glad Linus is doing other audio unboxings besides Xonar sound cards haha

Well on top of what everyone else already stated, the phoebeus has horrible driver problems and is pretty unstable, I wouldn't want either in my personal opinion though. The only benefit I see to the STX is being able to swap out OP amps. Out of curiosity what headphones, headset, speakers, etc. do you use? inb4 Mayflower, IF you serious about buying one of those, get an O2+ODAC combo, undoubtedly a better deal http://www.mayflowerelectronics.com/objective2-amplifer-with-odac.html

+1 but there is only so much you are going to be able to get out of a pair of Logitech speakers.

Yes dad, yes it is.

Like I said, I don't know too much on that, but I'm sure it is. Better there are plenty of trustworthy people on ebay. General rule of thumb, if it seems to good to be true, it is too good to be true.

+1 it's a great deal if you can solder, I might pick up just as a side project for a little something to do in my spare time

HD 518's are highly recommended for glasses users Almost anything sennheiser are glasses friendly. Take a look at HD558's for sure as well. HD558:http://www.amazon.com/Sennheiser-504631-HD-558-Headphones/dp/B004FEEY9A/ref=sr_1_2?s=electronics&ie=UTF8&qid=1379530783&sr=1-2&keywords=HD+598 HD518:http://www.amazon.com/Sennheiser-HD-518-Headphones-Black/dp/B0042A68R8/ref=sr_1_1?s=electronics&ie=UTF8&qid=1379531142&sr=1-1&keywords=HD+518 I will let you know now that the 518's ear pads are supposed to be softer and more comfortable than the 558's, both are great for your circumstances though. If you want to save few bucks get a pair of 518's

+1 eBay is usually safe, you do know as well if you use paypal and you receive counterfeit items you can dispute it and file a claim with eBay and paypal. Maybe it's just me, but I haven't seen to many people counterfeiting headphones really