Sound Card for Sennheiser PC350

[Wesley]

Hey just ordered the Sennheiser PC350 as i've been looking for a new headset i couldn't help myself they where in flash sale on NCIX Canada for 119.99 i thought that was a good price and heard alot of good things about these.  But i have onboard sound which will not cut it my last headset was 7.1 virtual usb.  Could somone suggest a sound card that will make use of this headset but not break the bank on me will i need to buy a expensive sound card to compliment the Sennheiser PC350 or will something more cost effective do almost just as good a job?

 

Thanks.

[AMICLG]

Just use your on board it should be fine or get an E10.

[Dmon]

Yeah, I'd personally recommend a Fiio E10. Pretty cheap and its external.

[Wesley]

Just use your on board it should be fine or get an E10.

Would the E11 be just as good as the E10 does not have a MIC input where the E11 does

[hawaiims]

Hey just ordered the Sennheiser PC350 as i've been looking for a new headset i couldn't help myself they where in flash sale on NCIX Canada for 119.99 i thought that was a good price and heard alot of good things about these.  But i have onboard sound which will not cut it my last headset was 7.1 virtual usb.  Could somone suggest a sound card that will make use of this headset but not break the bank on me will i need to buy a expensive sound card to compliment the Sennheiser PC350 or will something more cost effective do almost just as good a job?

 

Thanks.

onboard sound should be more than enough for your usage. Only reason why I would get an external dac is if the hiss with your motherboard on board audio is too annoying (these days on newer motherboards you can't really hear it). Just use onboard audio, and it should be more than good enough.

[hawaiims]

Would the E11 be just as good as the E10 does not have a MIC input where the E11 does

E11 is not that good IMO. And I wouldn't buy either with a pair of $100 Senny headphones. It seems kind of silly to spend just as much for a dac/amp combo as the headphones themselves. 

 

PC350 will not need an amp, and you can get really cheap external dacs (i'm talking less than 20$) that won't hiss like some motherboard audio.

 

Like I said I highly recommend you try it with the onboard audio first. Usually rear io has less hiss or no hiss compared to the front panel audio connector

[Wesley]

E11 is not that good IMO. And I wouldn't buy either with a pair of $100 Senny headphones. It seems kind of silly to spend just as much for a dac/amp combo as the headphones themselves. 

 

PC350 will not need an amp, and you can get really cheap external dacs (i'm talking less than 20$) that won't hiss like some motherboard audio.

 

Like I said I highly recommend you try it with the onboard audio first. Usually rear io has less hiss or no hiss compared to the front panel audio connector

 

I have had some analog headphones as well and had terrible hiss from the rear inputs so i will have to get something.  Any reccomendation on something cheap then?  I'd get like interferance when like moving my mouse and crap like that.

[hawaiims]

I have had some analog headphones as well and had terrible hiss from the rear inputs so i will have to get something.  Any reccomendation on something cheap then?  I'd get like interferance when like moving my mouse and crap like that.

this cannot be beaten as far as dacs for anywhere near that price, it's a Chinese clone (with the same components) as more expensive dacs:

 

http://www.ebay.com/itm/MUSE-AUDIO-X5-MINI-HIFI-USB-DAC-PCM2704-SOUND-CARD-BOARD-BLACK-/130907884865?pt=US_Home_Audio_Amplifiers_Preamps&hash=item1e7ab7cd41

 

However it doesn't have a mic input, so if you want that, you can get something like this:

 

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Creative-SoundBlaster-X-Fi-Go-Pro-USB-SB1290-Sound-Card-70SB129000000-/181265822854?pt=US_Sound_Card_External&hash=item2a3448f486

 

It's not as good as the muse, but it's basically like a usb stick so it's more portable and it has the mic input. They also sell that one on amazon, but it's $10 more expensive there. I bought this one myself a couple years back and it's not bad at all for the price.

[Wesley]

Cool thanks for the suggestions.... Would a Asus Xonar DGX do the job?  I'm kinda just looking for a solution i can integrate into my system then have it dangle off it.

[AMICLG]

Would the E11 be just as good as the E10 does not have a MIC input where the E11 does

The E11 is a battery powered potable amp for smart phones not a DAC/Amp for a computer.

[t0wer]

http://www.ebay.com/itm/MUSE-AUDIO-X5-MINI-HIFI-USB-DAC-PCM2704-SOUND-CARD-BOARD-BLACK-/130907884865?pt=US_Home_Audio_Amplifiers_Preamps&hash=item1e7ab7cd41

 

unless that has an amp other than what's in the pcm2704, that won't be able to drive headphones well at all.

read my skeletondac review in sig. it uses the same chip.

 

@ShearMe has some new syba thing he might recommend.

[atrash]

Wesley, on 27 Feb 2014 - 2:38 PM, said:

Cool thanks for the suggestions.... Would a Asus Xonar DGX do the job?  I'm kinda just looking for a solution i can integrate into my system then have it dangle off it.

 

If you said you have interference hiss when using the onboard, would getting a DGX be just the same as using the onboard cause you're going to put it right back into the source of the issue which is the pc case internal?

[ShearMe]

@ShearMe has some new syba thing he might recommend.

 

This isn't a thread I intend to get involved in.