Awesome setup

[Thomas Tham]

Hi. I've been planning to make an awesome surround sound system.

Will be purchasing this hardware:

1. Logitech z906

2. Asus Xonar U7

3. Jds labs o2+odac (not sure yet)

4. beyerdynamic dt 990

5. msi z170a gaming 5

 

my orginal plan is to connect asus xonar u7 from msi motherboard. Using both headphones and speakers plugged into xonar u7. now i'm wondering if i should purchase jds lab o2+odac as well just solely for beyerdynamic dt 990.

I'm asking because i couldn't find any information on asus xonar u7 vs o2+odac.

I notice that o2+odac can be customise to have RAC output.

 

So my questions are

1. Should i purchase JDS labs o2+odac for sole purpose of the headphones or stick with xonar u7

2. If i should, should i use the custom RCA output from o2+odac into logitech z906 as well

3. From here, will the sound on the speakers output good/awesome sound quality through 5.1 setup because the connection between o2+odac and z906 is in stereo connection

 

Usage are:

Heavy gaming, Movies using power dvd 12, music listening(Genre: varies alot on mood, such as i listen to jazz, chillstep, vocalstep, house, edm, indie)

[Guest]

1. Skip the O2/ODAC.
2. No.
3. No.

Get the Xonar U5. The U7 is a 7.1-surround, wasted on the 5.1 z906.

[Thomas Tham]

So beyerdynamic dt990 250ohms can be powered by Xonar u5?

does xonar u7 make a difference for dt990 then?

Should i use coaxial or analog output? I'm not sure if there are any sound differences between this 2 output

[Guest]

12 minutes ago, Thomas Tham said:

So beyerdynamic dt990 250ohms can be powered by Xonar u5?

does xonar u7 make a difference for dt990 then?

Should i use coaxial or analog output? I'm not sure if there are any sound differences between this 2 output

 

Did I recommend the U5 above? Yes.

 

What are you intending to use the coaxial for?

[Thomas Tham]

Connecting Xonar u5 to logitech z906. I'm used to using cheap sound system such as edifier c3 which replaced some decommisioned china 2.1 which uses 3.5 mm cable.

 

So i am quite new to the "new" digital input/output such as coaxial and optical. Need some clarification on these.

[Guest]

I'd use the anlog channels. S/PDIF doesn't have the bandwidth for uncompressed multichannel.

[Thomas Tham]

ok. Thank you very much on the clarifications.

[EndlessOyster]

I wouldnt even bother with the xonar since the motherboard has 7.1 jacks and so does the speaker so plug the speaker into the motherboard. And the motherboard probably be fine for the headphones.

[Guest]

27 minutes ago, EndlessOyster said:

I wouldnt even bother with the xonar since the motherboard has 7.1 jacks and so does the speaker so plug the speaker into the motherboard. And the motherboard probably be fine for the headphones.

 

Would've said the same, but physical volume control is nice.

[Wolf_Lbh]

17 hours ago, SSL said:

1. Skip the O2/ODAC.
2. No.
3. No.

Get the Xonar U5. The U7 is a 7.1-surround, wasted on the 5.1 z906.

Why did you suggest downgrading the setup to 5.1 overall instead of upgrading the speakers to 7.1?

[Guest]

1 hour ago, Wolf_Lbh said:

Why did you suggest downgrading the setup to 5.1 overall instead of upgrading the speakers to 7.1?

 

Value. And Logitech doesn't make 7.1 speakers right at the moment.

[Wolf_Lbh]

12 minutes ago, SSL said:

 

Value. And Logitech doesn't make 7.1 speakers right at the moment.

So in your opinion 6.1 and 7.1 don't offer enough of a performance increase to justify the expense? I read that 7.1 is used in new movies and tv shows (probably games as well, or at least it will be) but I didn't see much on what the benefits of the extra 2 speakers are.

[Guest]

Just now, Wolf_Lbh said:

So in your opinion 6.1 and 7.1 don't offer enough of a performance increase to justify the expense? I read that 7.1 is used in new movies and tv shows (probably games as well, or at least it will be) but I didn't see much on what the benefits of the extra 2 speakers are.

 

Not at this budget, there would be more to be had from better speakers. The jump from 2.1 to 5.1 is significant because you're going from no rear speakers to having them. 7.1 is just refining the positioning of 5.1.

[EndlessOyster]

8 minutes ago, Wolf_Lbh said:

So in your opinion 6.1 and 7.1 don't offer enough of a performance increase to justify the expense? I read that 7.1 is used in new movies and tv shows (probably games as well, or at least it will be) but I didn't see much on what the benefits of the extra 2 speakers are.

To give you a idea on how little noticeable the difference between 5.1 and 7.1 is, my local cinema has a 7.1 audio setup. Its never used more the 5.1 people are non the wiser, and to the stage they think its 7.1.

[Wolf_Lbh]

1 minute ago, SSL said:

 

Not at this budget, there would be more to be had from better speakers. The jump from 2.1 to 5.1 is significant because you're going from no rear speakers to having them. 7.1 is just refining the positioning of 5.1.

 

1 minute ago, EndlessOyster said:

To give you a idea on how little noticeable the difference between 5.1 and 7.1 is, my local cinema has a 7.1 audio setup. Its never used more the 5.1 people are non the wiser, and to the stage they think its 7.1.

So what exactly does "refining the position" do? Give you better imaging or something? And evidently very slightly. Although I would hardly count the public in general as a good index of the ability to tell if something is decent or not.

[Guest]

24 minutes ago, Wolf_Lbh said:

 

So what exactly does "refining the position" do? Give you better imaging or something? And evidently very slightly. Although I would hardly count the public in general as a good index of the ability to tell if something is decent or not.

 

Better imaging.

[Thomas Tham]

 

On 2/19/2016 at 7:58 AM, Wolf_Lbh said:

 

So what exactly does "refining the position" do? Give you better imaging or something? And evidently very slightly. Although I would hardly count the public in general as a good index of the ability to tell if something is decent or not.

For gaming, from what i've been research is that it gives you a better sense of direction in games like First Person Shooting where you can hear where shots are being fired. In my 2.1 system and using Razer Surround which is virtual doesn't make a huge difference. I do heavy gaming like playing RPG, FPS, Strategy games 4-5 hours a day after work, listening to music instead of gaming sometimes and watching tv series or new movies after 11pm.

 

But personally it is all about new experience as i only just recently was able to wiggle around my expenses more now.

 

On 2/19/2016 at 7:27 AM, SSL said:

 

Value. And Logitech doesn't make 7.1 speakers right at the moment.

For Xonar U5 and U7 in Malaysia is the same price at RM 350 at our local store. Demand for computer parts here isn't really high, so most high ends parts i'm looking for aren't sell here like:

http://home-audio.toptenreviews.com/home-theater-speakers/definitive-technology-procinema-400-review.html

http://home-audio.toptenreviews.com/home-theater-speakers/energy-take-classic-review.html

 

But based on your recommendation i will get either xonar u5 or u7 based on availability as this items aren't stock up in large quantity here.

[mm_phi]

Hey Guys!

 

I´ve a very similar question.

I´m using the Tritton AX Pro+ Headset (true 5.1), but my new MSI-GS60 Notebook has crappy onboard audio.

It doesn´t support DolbyDigital-Live encoding aswell.

 

For this reason I´m searching for a USB-Soundcard, that is capable of at least 5.1 audio.

The ASUS Xonar U5/7 have analog multichannel audiooutput, so I can throw away the annoying Digital-reciever.

 

 

Can you give me any recommending on either the U5/U7 soundcard?

What is about the SoundBlaster Omni?

 

Thanks for any Help!