So do I need a soundcard?

[Webkitnote]

Linus has made 4 videos about soundcards. About 0 with actual clear answer. And Googling it up, is just like viewing Linus's video, get through the material, and you're left as idealess and you already were.

 

I plan to visit HiFi store and get myself some fancy ~200 euro headphones, Sennheiser seems like popular and good choice. Because I was told that the sound is way better than regular 5 euro headset. I plan to play triple-A video games, and I'm willing to pay some more for ultimate audio experience.

 

This will be huge jump between potato laptop and a serious gaming rig. It would huge disappointment if the headset and the game would fail my expectations. Obviously game can't be wrong, neither the headphones, the only problem would be the output of sound card...

 

Do I need the frickin' soundcard for 100-200 euro or not?

[Dackzy]

 

[spartaman64]

it depends if it sounds fine with your pc then no but if it doesnt sound fine dont get a sound card get a usb dac

[Bananasplit_00]

you dont NEED it but you might want one because motherboard audio itsnt always the best, i have one because there was one on the floor so put it in my PC, and then i had to go through a pain with drivers and shit to get it to work because its like 10 years old  

[Webkitnote]

7 minutes ago, Dackzy said:

 

Are "AMP" the soundcard? It is electrical signal density. You talk about DACs but not about soundcards. Aren't DACs "Digital Audio Converters" that are external?

 

6 minutes ago, spartaman64 said:

it depends if it sounds fine with your pc then no but if it doesnt sound fine dont get a sound card get a usb dac

Hi Linus.

 

4 minutes ago, Bananasplit_00 said:

you dont NEED it but you might want one because motherboard audio itsnt always the best, i have one because there was one on the floor so put it in my PC, and then i had to go through a pain with drivers and shit to get it to work because its like 10 years old  

Yea, you've provided closest answer.

[Dackzy]

Just now, Webkitnote said:

Are "AMP" the soundcard? It is electrical signal density. You talk about DACs but not about soundcards.

Well a sound card has a amp and dac in it. It is the same princip.

[Bananasplit_00]

2 minutes ago, Webkitnote said:

Are "AMP" the soundcard? It is electrical signal density. You talk about DACs but not about soundcards.

 

Hi Linus.

 

Yea, you've provided closest answer.

glad to help, you can always get the sound card afterwards and test your motherboards audio first  

[Webkitnote]

1 minute ago, Dackzy said:

Well a sound card has a amp and dac in it. It is the same princip.

The soundcards are PCIe, right? And "AMP" is? 

[Dackzy]

1 minute ago, Webkitnote said:

The soundcards are PCIe, right? And "AMP" is? 

a amplifier and all sound cards has them.

[spartaman64]

5 hours ago, Webkitnote said:

Are "AMP" the soundcard? It is electrical signal density. You talk about DACs but not about soundcards. Aren't DACs "Digital Audio Converters" that are external?

 

Hi Linus.

 

Yea, you've provided closest answer.

sound cards are usually a combination of dacs and amps the dac converts the digital signal to analog that the headphone understands and the amp amplifies that signal and dacs are not always external in fact everything audio needs an dac. the pc motherboard has a dac, a sound card has a dac, usb headphones have a dac built in

[SSL]

Simple answer, you should not be spending money on a soundcard, DAC, amp, or any kind of audio voodoo at a 200 euro/dollar/whatever budget. Period.

[Webkitnote]

32 minutes ago, SSL said:

Simple answer, you should not be spending money on a soundcard, DAC, amp, or any kind of audio voodoo at a 200 euro/dollar/whatever budget. Period.

An argument on that?

 

Is there 0 improvement on high-end boards? So why does it exist? I don't believe that mid/low-end users are going to afford this.

[SSL]

1 hour ago, Webkitnote said:

An argument on that?

 

Is there 0 improvement on high-end boards? So why does it exist? I don't believe that mid/low-end users are going to afford this.

 

Take another look at your budget and then take another look at what I wrote.

[Mrhappyjolly]

SSL is correct. In softer terms he means 200 euro headphones arn't anything special enough that anything over a half decent onboard sound motherboard can't handle.

[rm -rf]

6 hours ago, Webkitnote said:

Linus has made 4 videos about soundcards. About 0 with actual clear answer. And Googling it up, is just like viewing Linus's video, get through the material, and you're left as idealess and you already were.

 

I plan to visit HiFi store and get myself some fancy ~200 euro headphones, Sennheiser seems like popular and good choice. Because I was told that the sound is way better than regular 5 euro headset. I plan to play triple-A video games, and I'm willing to pay some more for ultimate audio experience.

 

This will be huge jump between potato laptop and a serious gaming rig. It would huge disappointment if the headset and the game would fail my expectations. Obviously game can't be wrong, neither the headphones, the only problem would be the output of sound card...

 

Do I need the frickin' soundcard for 100-200 euro or not?

Short Answer.... No.

 

[Webkitnote]

10 hours ago, SSL said:

 

Take another look at your budget and then take another look at what I wrote.

You mean 4000 euro gaming PC, and 200 euro sound card, compared to your "Simple answer, you should not be spending money on a soundcard, DAC, amp, or any kind of audio voodoo at a 200 euro/dollar/whatever budget. Period."
With no real argument.

 

10 hours ago, Mrhappyjolly said:

SSL is correct. In softer terms he means 200 euro headphones arn't anything special enough that anything over a half decent onboard sound motherboard can't handle.

Ah, okay, so no external soundcard. Thank you for answering.

 

7 hours ago, rm -rf said:

Short Answer.... No.

 

Yea, you didn't read the first topic at all. You should rm -rf yourself from here.

[rm -rf]

9 minutes ago, Webkitnote said:

You mean 4000 euro gaming PC, and 200 euro sound card, compared to your "Simple answer, you should not be spending money on a soundcard, DAC, amp, or any kind of audio voodoo at a 200 euro/dollar/whatever budget. Period."
With no real argument.

 

Ah, okay, so no external soundcard. Thank you for answering.

 

Yea, you didn't read the first topic at all. You should rm -rf yourself from here.

Sorry,

 

If I were you I wouldn't get a sound card, I'm running a quality computer with a $150 headset and have experienced no issues not having a soundcard or DAC.

Unless you're going for a really low quality mobo, I don't think you need a sound card or DAC.

[Dackzy]

34 minutes ago, Webkitnote said:

You mean 4000 euro gaming PC, and 200 euro sound card, compared to your "Simple answer, you should not be spending money on a soundcard, DAC, amp, or any kind of audio voodoo at a 200 euro/dollar/whatever budget. Period."
With no real argument.

gratz that you have a expensive PC. It is not worth getting a sound card or amp and dac for some 200€ headphones, you will get way better sound if you invest the money into better headphones.

[Webkitnote]

Okay. So it all resorts to, if the motherboard is medium/high quality, better spend money you expect on soundcard, to spend it on headphones.