Sound Card options

[Guest]

So I recently bought my self a set of Senheiser HD558's and LOVE them, great improvement from the poor headset sound I was used to. But i'm not debating the purchase of a sound card, now the volume's fine, which I know is normally what pushes people to getting a sound card, but would it improve the quality of sound? Don't get me wrong, the sounds fine as it is, but it'd be nice to push it a little further, would also be useful to have more inputs/outputs (At the moment I use the front case port for my cans, because I cant be arsed to go round the back and switch my speaker jack to my headphone jack). Anyway, what's your opinion and if you recommend using a sound card or DAC, which would you suggest?

 

Thanks!

 

EDIT: Note my PCIe slots are somewhat blocked by my GTX 770, so there would be next to no room between a PCIe soundcard and the fans on my GPU. http://www.asus.com/Motherboards/M5A97_LE_R20/

[Cokeman]

Sound cards are a waste of money

[nanowatt]

Sound cards are a waste of money

Not really.I got some 5.1 speakers and there's a big difference between on board audio and my sound card.

[Cokeman]

Not really.I got some 5.1 speakers and there's a big difference between on board audio and my sound card.

But the difference is never worth the price. Unless you an audiophile

[nanowatt]

But the difference is never worth the price. Unless you an audiophile

And a DAC does?what if you buy speakers in near future for movies or something?

[Guest]

Guy's... Really, if you're going to argue, please do it in private.

[Jääger]

I'm in a same situation, and my headphones are Sony MA-900's..

The sound quality is so much better on my laptop, and it tends to be louder there.  =( 

So I'm looking for something under $100

[nanowatt]

Guy's... Really, if you're going to argue, please do it in private.

We are not arguing mate.I am just curious...i never had a dac.i am just asking here that;s all

Sorry if i got too offensive

[Guest]

Does this seems like a fight?I am just curious mate...i never had a dac.i am just asking here that;s all

Did I say fight? It's not really constructive to the OP...

[Guest]

So from a little more research I'm looking at the Asus Xonar DG, DS and D1, opinions?

[ShearMe]

If you insist on a soundcard. get the cheapest one that fits in your computer.

 

Personally, I really like the Syba DAC

[Guest]

So from a little more research I'm looking at the Asus Xonar DG, DS and D1, opinions?

 

None of those. Consider a Syba DAC/amp combo unit (as in the comment above). Good luck noticing a difference from your onboard, though.

[djodars]

I read a lot about this in the last few days because I was debating whether or not I should buy one myself but the conclusion was: No.

 

If your onboard is able to drive your headphones properly, a sound card isn't going to make the sound better, it's going to make it worse. Reason: the output impedance on a sound card is ~10ohms and the one on your motherboard is probably around 2ohms. There's a rule called the 1/8th rule you can apply to see if your source will be able to drive your headphones without possible audio degradation.

 

For example: The Sennheiser's 558 have an impedance of 50 ohms. 50 / 8 = 6.25 ohms. This means that you want a source, in this case your onboard or sound card, to have less than this amount if you want to make sure you get no audio degradation.

 

So getting a sound card will only make your sound worse, not better.

 

If you need virtual surround (CMSS-3D, Dolby Headphones etc.), you can always get Razer Surround instead.

 

TL;DR: Don't buy a sound card... ever.

 

Edit: If you are unable to drive your headphones properly (sound too low) with your onboard audio, get a DAC/AMP. These have really low output impedance and can drive anything and everything. I believe (don't quote me on that) that you can get only an Amp and with a 3.5mm to 3.5mm cable, output from your onboard to the amp directly. No need for a DAC in this case.