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Do I need a soundcard, amp, or dac for my Sennheiser G4me Zero's?

Zhihenth
By Zhihenth
in Audio
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I just recently bought the Sennheiser G4me Zero headset and when I plugged it in to my ASUS Z97 Sabertooth Mark S motherboard it didn't sound very good and made me prefer my Skullcandy Slyr's. To improve maximize the potential of this headset what which would I need? A soundcard, dac, or amp. I do not want to spend a lot of money on any of those. The most I would spend would be $150 even then I'd much rather stay under $100 if possible. I did look at the Sound Blaster Z PCIe Gaming Sound Card and the FiiO E10K USB DAC and Headphone Amplifier. Would these work or are there better options?

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You could get a headphone amp with a built in dac, they are typically very cheap solutions easily found under $100. Fiio is probably one of your best options but if you want to spend $200 consider the schiit magni 2 and modi 2 which are $100 each. 

I run my own indie game company called Color Dragon Studios where we are currently making a 2d platformer game called Small Earth.

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Well... not really. You don't really need an amp, soundcard, or DAC for that. its just that the G4me Zeros are actually kinda underwhelming.


An amp is supposed to amplify sound without you hearing anything funky like distortion or hitting/raising the noise floor.

A DAC is supposed to convert digital audio into analog, hence D(igital to)A(nalogue)C(onverter).

A soundcard can do both, depending on what the manufacturer intended in designing it... but since its on your motherboard, the only reason for it to be there is that you have a really, really, really bad on-board audio. I don't know what on-board audio is on Asus' board, but I do know that the ASRock boards that have Purity Sound 2 make me question if its worth getting an E10K or the SMSL-SD793-II.


Since you did say you ended up preferring the Slyr, I can assume that your onboard audio isn't the problem but the G4me Zeros itself. It may not be to your taste or my hunch is right on it being rather underwhelming.

Formerly known as TumbleButt (I won't send dick pics now, I'll just send lemons instead (rotting lemons from now on). Recommend the M50X, I'll send you a rotting lemon... because thats what you are, a rotting lemon...)

 
 
 
 
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Well... not really. You don't really need an amp, soundcard, or DAC for that. its just that the G4me Zeros are actually kinda underwhelming.

An amp is supposed to amplify sound without you hearing anything funky like distortion or hitting/raising the noise floor.

A DAC is supposed to convert digital audio into analog, hence D(igital to)A(nalogue)C(onverter).

A soundcard can do both, depending on what the manufacturer intended in designing it... but since its on your motherboard, the only reason for it to be there is that you have a really, really, really bad on-board audio. I don't know what on-board audio is on Asus' board, but I do know that the ASRock boards that have Purity Sound 2 make me question if its worth getting an E10K or the SMSL-SD793-II.

Since you did say you ended up preferring the Slyr, I can assume that your onboard audio isn't the problem but the G4me Zeros itself. It may not be to your taste or my hunch is right on it being rather underwhelming.

It may just not have enough bass. The sennies, as I recall, are based on the 558, or something from that line. As such, if OP is used to bass (as he would be with skullcandy) then they will probably not be what he is looking for. @op,i would try giving it a few days for your ears to adjust to the new sound and if you still don't like them, then you should probably get rid of them since you don't seem to have any hardware issues. If can avoid it, try not to listen to your skullcandy cans, as the jarring differences may keep you liking the skullcandy more than you should [emoji14]

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Let me guess, the Skullcandy's are a bass-bloated mess, right? At which point an amp will not make the Sennheisers like that.

 

If there's nothing physically wrong with the Skullcandy and they do what you want, return the Senns and be happy.

Audio Reference • Cutting the Crap • 7.1 Headphones? • Audio Interference Troubleshooting Guide
REVIEWS • HiFiMan HE-560 • Beyerdynamic T1 2. Generation • Schiit Bifrost 4490 • Schiit Valhalla 2
RECOMMENDATIONS • The Audio Board's Recommended Gear

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Oh, also, the actual answer to OP question: No.

Hey! New SIgnature! 

 

I'm supposedly a person on the Internet, but you'll never know if I'm human or not ;)

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Let me guess, the Skullcandy's are a bass-bloated mess, right? At which point an amp will not make the Sennheisers like that.

 

If there's nothing physically wrong with the Skullcandy and they do what you want, return the Senns and be happy.

judging by these others, probably....

thats just a mess...

post-53826-0-65984700-1440552233.png

post-53826-0-65984700-1440552233.png

n0ah1897, on 05 Mar 2014 - 2:08 PM, said:  "Computers are like girls. It's whats in the inside that matters.  I don't know about you, but I like my girls like I like my cases. Just as beautiful on the inside as the outside."

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judging by these others, probably....

thats just a mess...

attachicon.gifmess.png

Good lord.

Hey! New SIgnature! 

 

I'm supposedly a person on the Internet, but you'll never know if I'm human or not ;)

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Good lord.

to think i owned that blue line...

 

But i really did not expect it to be THAT bad when making the graph...

it completly goes off the graph at one point...

n0ah1897, on 05 Mar 2014 - 2:08 PM, said:  "Computers are like girls. It's whats in the inside that matters.  I don't know about you, but I like my girls like I like my cases. Just as beautiful on the inside as the outside."

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to think i owned that blue line...

But i really did not expect it to be THAT bad when making the graph...

it completly goes off the graph at one point...

Lol! Zero bass.

Hey! New SIgnature! 

 

I'm supposedly a person on the Internet, but you'll never know if I'm human or not ;)

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It may just not have enough bass. The sennies, as I recall, are based on the 558, or something from that line. As such, if OP is used to bass (as he would be with skullcandy) then they will probably not be what he is looking for. @op,i would try giving it a few days for your ears to adjust to the new sound and if you still don't like them, then you should probably get rid of them since you don't seem to have any hardware issues. If can avoid it, try not to listen to your skullcandy cans, as the jarring differences may keep you liking the skullcandy more than you should [emoji14]

 

The G4me Zero's sound like its a nerfed 518 to my ear. But oh well...

Formerly known as TumbleButt (I won't send dick pics now, I'll just send lemons instead (rotting lemons from now on). Recommend the M50X, I'll send you a rotting lemon... because thats what you are, a rotting lemon...)

 
 
 
 
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judging by these others, probably....

thats just a mess...

attachicon.gifmess.png

 

More tangly than my pubic hair...

Formerly known as TumbleButt (I won't send dick pics now, I'll just send lemons instead (rotting lemons from now on). Recommend the M50X, I'll send you a rotting lemon... because thats what you are, a rotting lemon...)

 
 
 
 
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You may enjoy your Sennheiser headset if you fiddle around with a software EQ to tune it to your tastes.

But that's a dumb thing to do if he already has headphones he likes the sound of.

Hey! New SIgnature! 

 

I'm supposedly a person on the Internet, but you'll never know if I'm human or not ;)

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But that's a dumb thing to do if he already has headphones he likes the sound of.

Right, might as well return the sehnheiser, get your 200$ back (or however much they are) and return to what you like, or try something else if you don like the skullcandy

n0ah1897, on 05 Mar 2014 - 2:08 PM, said:  "Computers are like girls. It's whats in the inside that matters.  I don't know about you, but I like my girls like I like my cases. Just as beautiful on the inside as the outside."

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The Sennheiser headset is more neutral sounding and reproduces music more accurately (ie the way it was recorded). It really is worth it's price !

My config

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The Sennheiser headset is more neutral sounding and reproduces music more accurately (ie the way it was recorded). It really is worth it's price !

 

Or, the OP doesn't care about that at which point it isn't worth the price.

Audio Reference • Cutting the Crap • 7.1 Headphones? • Audio Interference Troubleshooting Guide
REVIEWS • HiFiMan HE-560 • Beyerdynamic T1 2. Generation • Schiit Bifrost 4490 • Schiit Valhalla 2
RECOMMENDATIONS • The Audio Board's Recommended Gear

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Or, the OP doesn't care about that at which point it isn't worth the price.

I mean, they're not worth their price anyway [emoji14]

Hey! New SIgnature! 

 

I'm supposedly a person on the Internet, but you'll never know if I'm human or not ;)

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