What's the difference between UBS headphones .VS. 3.5mm ?

[Pieter371]

I guys.

I would like to know what the difference is between a USB headphone/set .VS. the 3.5mm?

I'm more into gaming but I do like my sounds. Which one would work better with a sound card and why?

In one of the video's they said that today's motherboard's onboard sound card's are good enough. 

But i would like to get more BANG out of my sound systems.

 

 

[comefightme]

Sound cards are useless, get a DAC if you are an audiophile

 

 

3.5mm only outputs raw sound, usb ones can have 7.1 or 5.1 surround sound adapters on them like my cloud II

[werto165]

USB headphones(headsets) tend to have more control over volume, mute buttons and what not. They have an amp/dac usually whereas 3.5mm just used DAC in your mobo(if you've plugged it into your mobo/front header) 

[Xenift]

Sound cards are useless, get a DAC if you are an audiophile

No they help improve sound quality by eliminating other problems like EMI inside a PC.

[Walker998]

if you are more interested in gaming than getting rich sound then usb is best for you

[You_are_a_cunt]

Been using a USB headset for the past 4 or so years (Corsair HS-1) and it definitely has its advantages.

First off you don't have to rely on the quality of the audio chip on the motherboard, EMI shouldn't even be bothering you, you have on-cable controls for volume (most likely a mute button aswell for your microphone) at least, more often than not you have software equalizers, you can get actual 5.1 (usure about 7.1) surround headsets (which have independent speakers).

Not to mention they're cheaper than a 3.5mm stereo headset and a decent amp.

 

Also, usb headsets are digital, whereas 3.5mm are analog

[KemoKa]

Having a USB headset usually means that you need to have an external DAC in the headphones, which is rather hard to cram into a headset, and even harder to do so without compromising on the quality of the headset as a whole. The reason you need a DAC is that the electronic signal coming out through USB is a digital signal - it'll just make a load of white noise if put straight through speakers. A DAC converts it to an analogue signal, which you find in headphones with 3.5mm jacks - that's the one that makes a speaker play music.

 

If you want quality audio, get a good set of headphones [NOT a headset], a motherboard with a decent audio circuit and that will more than suit your needs. Most of them have very good sound solutions in them anyway. The problem most people have with onboard audio is that they keep on plugging their headphones into the front panel IO, which picks up all the electronic noise in the system and makes it sound awful. The cables going from the motherboard header to the front panel have to pass by the graphics card, your hard drives, your optical drive and your power supply and all the 12V power pouring through the PSU cables. That's a lot of electronic noise you'll have. If you plug your headphones into the rear I/O, 99% of your electronic noise problems pretty much disappear instantly.

 

But if you have a normal motherboard from, like, 7 years ago with a "meh" onboard audio circuit and you need to be able to drive 600Ohm Beyerdynamic headphones, then sure, get a peripheral sound card. Although at that point, you may as well get an external Amp/DAC.

 

Honestly, though, with all the gimmicks that gaming headsets have like 7.1 surround, along with stuff that you could just have as separate peripherals like a microphone and a DAC, there are far too many compromises that companies have to make to keep the price around what they would call reasonable. That's why most USB headsets will almost never have outstanding audio.

 

And if you're looking at 7.1 surround headphones, grab a set of decent stereo headphones and listen to a Youtube video called "Virtual Barber Shop". Seriously, it'll blow your mind, it's crazy. You'll think someone just walked into the room. Your brain has two audio channels to work with, not eight. It use tiny differences in sound to pinpoint exactly where a sound comes from. Surround headphones are pretty much totally unnecessary, and certainly cannot come even close to beating a pair of good, open-back stereo headphones.

[MacAlisterL]

USB enables 7.1 or 5.1 dolby sound, if equipped

[Pieter371]

Soo for short, get a decent USB headset that supports 5.1 or 7.1 surround sound for gaming. 

And get a DAC for your speaker system

[KemoKa]

Soo for short, get a decent USB headset that supports 5.1 or 7.1 surround sound for gaming. 

And get a DAC for your speaker system

I wouldn't - see my above post. Decent + USB headset aren't really a thing. Even for gaming. I put on a pair of "decent" gaming headphones and I cringed at both the quality of the sound and the construction of the headset. Didn't even come close to my headphones - and mine are just run-of-the-mill M30xs.

And a DAC is not necessary for a speaker system. It'll either have an onboard DAC or it will just run off the audio jack on your computer.

[KemoKa]

Look at a walkthrough of a professional recording studio sometime. How many of the people there do you think are using USB headsets? I'll give you a hint - none of them. Sound engineers use good analogue headphones, because USB headsets have too many compromises in them to be of any real quality, especially for the often-exorbitant price that they go for.

[Annoyingnerds]

It got built-in sound card that makes your headset got a "virtual" surround sound, meanwhile the 3.5 mm jack is just raw sounds from your pc. I recommend you bought a headphone with 3.5 mm jack and buy your own sound card. Cause usually sound card in headphones are shit..

[SSL]

USB is a digital data bus. It carries a voltage that is interpreted on a discrete scale, representing the 1s and 0s of binary data. This data must be interpreted (converted) with a device known as a Digital to Analog Converter (DAC). This converts it into an analog signal suitable for downstream audio hardware.

 

A TRS connection is an analog transmitter. It carries a continuously variable (smoothly changing) voltage. In other words, the magnitude of the voltage on the cable is an "analog" (directly corresponding) to some physical phenomenon - like the movement of a transducer. The movement of a transducer is of course used to convert mechanical energy to acoustic energy in the form of pressure waves in the air.

 

Your USB headset basically contains a dedicated DAC and amplifier. A passive, 3.5mm headphone relies on receiving an analog signal, which means that it must be plugged into an amp (and DAC if the source is digital).

 

A passive headphone is ultimately superior because it allows the flexibility of choosing the amp and DAC used, which generally is either more cost effective, higher quality, or both. A USB (active) headset ties you the the implementation of the DAC and amp the manufacturer has chosen; you're also paying for that extra hardware, potentially at the expense of the headphone itself.

[Wroo]

On 1/13/2016 at 10:32 PM, KemoKa said:

I wouldn't - see my above post. Decent + USB headset aren't really a thing. Even for gaming. I put on a pair of "decent" gaming headphones and I cringed at both the quality of the sound and the construction of the headset. Didn't even come close to my headphones - and mine are just run-of-the-mill M30xs.

And a DAC is not necessary for a speaker system. It'll either have an onboard DAC or it will just run off the audio jack on your computer.

Actually it depends on the type of gamer you are, if you play non-competitive game, then go for sound quality. But if you play competitive game that have directional sound for you to pin point enemy location, then go for headsets. There is a lot of other reason to get a headset, but that's not the title of this topic.

[GamerDude]

18 minutes ago, Wroo said:

Actually it depends on the type of gamer you are, if you play non-competitive game, then go for sound quality. But if you play competitive game that have directional sound for you to pin point enemy location, then go for headsets. There is a lot of other reason to get a headset, but that's not the title of this topic.

So, you're saying those 5.1/7.1 headsets are better at directional sound? You sure? I find a good pair stereo headphones with good soundstage/headstage and imaging is more than sufficient to pin point where a sound is emanating from. The use of some surround software, like Razer Surround (it's free), does help also. You don't need multiple driver headsets to achieve good directional sound, plus those multiple driver headsets are seriously crap if you wanna use them for music. And guys, please read what SSL had posted about USB vs TRS (3.5mm) comparison.