Which sound card should I get?

[Guest MarcoTheNoob]

Hello, humans!

 

I want to buy a sound card, and no, Im not insane or something.

I sense that I will get many responses that will say ”But your MoBos audio is decent ooga booga”, screw that.

I want to have even better quality, out of the heaphones, and the microphone, too.

 

But there are many options, but I am wanting to get one of these:

 

1. ASUS STRIX SOAR
2. Creative Audigy RX

 

...thats pretty much all.

I know that the Creative Sound Blaster Z is excellent, but I cant find it anywhere here in my country.

 

So, which one is better? I will mainly game at 7.1 channel audio, and talk a lot into the mic (when Im gaming, because I like to game when I game.)

Im mostly eyeing the ASUS STRIX SOAR tbh, looks soooooooooo goood!

 

I know that a DAC or Amp will be good too, but that extra ”oomph” would be excellent. (And look awesome in my PC too!)

 

Thanks in advance!

[Majestic]

But your MoBos audio is decent ooga booga

[Firewrath9]

What headphones do you have?

[Guest MarcoTheNoob]

Just now, Firewrath9 said:

What headphones do you have?

Sennheiser HD 4.40 BT.

 

I dont use the Bluetooth mode when Im using my PC.

[Guest MarcoTheNoob]

1 minute ago, Majestic said:

But your MoBos audio is decent ooga booga

>:[

 

[Firewrath9]

Just now, MarcoTheNoob said:

Sennheiser HD 4.40 BT.

 

I dont use the Bluetooth mode when Im using my PC.

yeah, even if you have a 5000$ DAC/AMP, Nothing will change. first invest in higher end headphones, if audio is your thing, then get a 100$ external dac/amp.

the point of a dedicated DAC is to be isolated from circuit sound, but being in your pc won't help

[Kalm_Traveler]

I use a Sound Blaster Z because I want DTS Connect to encode everything to 5.1 over optical, and to have their surround nonsense make a fake surround signal out of stereo sources. 

Outside of that the only sound card I might consider (for actual audiophile use) is EVGA's new card - but on first glance it seems like simply buying a half-decent external DAC/amp or combo of those would be a better option, especially given how expensive it is. 

 

That all being said, depending on why you're wanting 'better' sound... I might strongly suggest just going with external. On my gaming-only rig I'm just using a little piece of Schiit Fulla 2 DAC/amp combo with some Sennheiser HD6XX headphones and it sounds fantastic.

 

On the big totally unnecessary rig I've got a Mayflower Electronics ARC DAC/ADC/amp + AKG K7XX + Modmic 5 for gaming, and an Oppo HA-1 DAC/amp + Oppo PM1 headphones for pure music enjoyment.

 

IMO start small and decide if you really need anything better because this stuff gets very expensive VERY quickly and for not a lot of improvement in perceptible quality.