Should I get a soundcard?

[Jay123]

I currently have Tritton AX180s as my headset. I was wondering if it was worth buying a low-end soundcard and how much difference this would make. I only have a PCIE x1 slot free and I was looking at this:http://www.amazon.co.uk/Asus-Express...I2UZZLH4ZW9JM4 it's nice and cheap but will I even be able to tell the difference?

[Oisin Maguire]

Everybody should have a dedicated sound card. if you have the likes of a maximus formula you wont really see a huge difference with the sound card you picked out but if you have a normal motherboard sound quality wise then yes you will see a massive difference for gaming, movies and music.

[Jay123]

Everybody should have a dedicated sound card. if you have the likes of a maximus formula you wont really see a huge difference with the sound card you picked out but if you have a normal motherboard sound quality wise then yes you will see a massive difference for gaming, movies and music.

But will I hear much of a difference with a low end headset and sound card?

[frink]

In this case, the sound card you are looking at will give you the capability to do a 7.1 setup and some software enhancements to alter the sound (DSPs). On high end headphones and speakers this would be meaningless and would rather distort the sound. However, on your headphones it should improve sound quality a fair bit. The DSP options will allow you to experiment with surround and bass management options, which can help during gaming (for music listening the bass DSPs may also be of interest). Also, from a hardware perspective, the on board audio on 95% of motherboards are made by Realtek, which is really designed to just output sound and give you a standard set of features. Just so you know these onboard DACs are literally pennies in cost. Stepping up to a DAC that costs even $1 is exponentially better than what on board audio has to offer (btw, I'm only referring to the cost of the DAC chip and not the sound card itself). Additionally, a separate sound card will allow you isolate the electrical noise generated by your motherboard. What this means is that when you listen to music or play games, you will hear less hissing and distortion.

For the listed price you really can't go wrong, however, with audio products, you really do pay more for sound quality. There are other options out there; if you play games most of the time, a USB headset in the future would be a better investment and you could forgo the analog sound card. However, if you listen to music a lot a good pair of headphones and a mid range sound card can offer what $500 speakers can at a much lower price. Creative makes nice external USB sound cards, however, driver support on Windows 8 is horrendous and Creative's drivers are not that great to begin with.

If you do buy a card, listen/play games with it installed and then after 2-3 days later, listen to your on board sound. I guarantee you will notice a significant difference (unless of course you play your music very loud and are half dead :p).

***A quick side note: if you use USB headsets, you will bypass the on board or dedicated sound card. Thus, you will not benefit from getting a separate sound card. However, your headphones should have standard headphone/mic connectors (3.5 mm) so you can utilize your new sound card if you choose too.