Sound Card for headset needed?

[RudigerGatt]

hey guys im bought a sennheiser 360pc they are in the post, should i get a sound card or is it not that worthed? is there a huge difference? and which one should i go for?

[LastYouSee]

A dedicated soundcard is definetly worth it if you have the money for it ofc :D. My recommendation is get a Asus Xonar DG (or DGX if you want the pci-e version). The card has a built in headphone-amp that will go well with your new headset. If you have the money you could invest in at Xonar STX. This is a more high-end sound card. It might be a bit overkill, but will give good oppertunity for future headset upgrades.

[smjpl]

I agree. Soundcard will improve quality quite a bit but i wouldn't go mad trying to get the top of the range. Get an Asus soundcard. I have heard of issues with creative labs and drivers but I can't confirm that. I wouldn't bother spending more than $80 on a soundcard unless you actually need one (and if you are asking us then you don't need one). Look for something in the $40-$60 range. The PC360's have a low impedance so you don't need a card with a headphone amplifier.

[penance]

I am currently running a Sound Blaster Z card with my PC360's, in my opinion is does a great job with this headset. Drivers seem to work well, I have now run the card in windows 7 pro and windows 8 pro. The only issue I had was in windows 8 after the pc set idle for a long time I would get static when sound initiated. I resolved this by setting the card to 24 bit 96000 Hz in sound settings in windows. This card also has a built in head phone amp, as well dedicated port for speakers, this way you simply flip a switch in creative settings to switch between speakers and headphones. I will say though, at least in my case, the stock equalizer settings sucks for some games. The settings had way to much base, so I did have to tweak the equalizer settings myself over the stock ones. I hear the Asus cards are great as well, when I chose to go with the Z over the asus cards, it was a very close choice. In the end I went with the newer card after reading the z series cards had come a long way in driver support.