do even cheap soundcards make a difference?

[Lil Chillbil]

I was wondering if I were to drop $50 on a soundcard and then a few hundred on some nice headphones if it would make a difference? 

[MayflowerElectronics]

No, buy a fiio e10 if you want to save some money.

[needmorewood]

whats ur motherboard? if its z77 or higher id say not. but u may need an amp
get a fiio e10 its a dac/amp combo. its really nice.
 

[needmorewood]

No, buy a fiio e10 if you want to save some money.

do u have a BOT telling you every second when a new audio post comes up? holy bejeebus

[MayflowerElectronics]

do u have a BOT telling you every second when a new audio post comes up? holy bejeebus

 

Nope, just fast.  B)

[EmoRarity]

Really it comes down to what you are attaching to the amp and dac more then the dac and amp itself. 

[EmoRarity]

Nope, just fast.  B)

Or attentive. 

[needmorewood]

Really it comes down to what you are attaching to the amp and dac more then the dac and amp itself. 

he did say a few hundred dollars on headphones. i do believe he will be attaching those to that. and at that price range he will 99.999% need an amp/dac to enjoy them

[DaftBehemoth]

What headphones are you looking at? In most cases anything that isn't your onboard audio will be able to make a difference. It would make me sad to hear that someone spent multiple hundreds of dollars on headphones and then just ran them off their motherboard...

[EmoRarity]

he did say a few hundred dollars on headphones. i do believe he will be attaching those to that. and at that price range he will 99.999% need an amp/dac to enjoy them

Still depends on the headphones. Momentums don't need one...

[needmorewood]

Still depends on the headphones. Momentums don't need one...

for a few hundred bucks on a pair he is going to use on his desktop that wouldnt be wise.

momentums are meant for travel use not desktop use

[EmoRarity]

for a few hundred bucks on a pair he is going to use on his desktop that wouldnt be wise.

momentums are meant for travel use not desktop use

And by that proxy are my studio monitors only meant for studio use, am I not suppose to use a studio product for on the go and at home listening? 

It genuinely comes down to the amp more then the dac any way.

[TheMail]

No, buy a fiio e10 if you want to save some money.

+1 Fiio E10 is an outstanding budget audio solution

[needmorewood]

And by that proxy are my studio monitors only meant for studio use, am I not suppose to use a studio product for on the go and at home listening? 

It genuinely comes down to the amp more then the dac any way.

nah in my opinion that means its more to the quality of the headphones in terms of sound, as opposed to what situations its built for (outside vs inside).

 

[Lil Chillbil]

http://en-de.sennheiser.com/pc-363d-surround-sound-gaming-headset

 

I want this headset, should I spend $150 on a good asus soundcard? 

[EmoRarity]

http://en-de.sennheiser.com/pc-363d-surround-sound-gaming-headset

 

I want this headset, should I spend $150 on a good asus soundcard? 

Don't get a Xonar, is a bad value, get a O2 dac from Mayflower instead, on top of getting a stand alone headphone and mic such as the HD598 and a cheap mic.

 

nah in my opinion that means its more to the quality of the headphones in terms of sound, as opposed to what situations its built for (outside vs inside).

 

And I can use a purely listening grade headphone of a shit source such as a desktop or phone, while I can't stand listening to either with my monitors with out a better source. 

[Deedot78]

Anything is better than onboard sound. If your going headphones, and dont need any of surround modes(dolby headphone), the DAC headphones amps are the way to go for sure. 

[mr moose]

Anything is better than onboard sound. If your going headphones, and dont need any of surround modes(dolby headphone), the DAC headphones amps are the way to go for sure. 

That's not true anymore.  Most sound cards have a  higher output impedance which means that unless your headphones have a high enough impedance, I.E more than 80ohms. they will not be driven correctly and suffer from poor freq. response.

 

Best bet is to stick with the on board unless it clicks pops or has static interference noise. Of course if the extra $50-$100 then a fiio e10 will be all you need.

 

 

momentums are meant for travel use not desktop use

 

Audio quality does not change depending on where you use them.

[ShearMe]

http://en-de.sennheiser.com/pc-363d-surround-sound-gaming-headset

 

I want this headset, should I spend $150 on a good asus soundcard?

Haha, funny guy.

Anything is better than onboard sound. If your going headphones, and dont need any of surround modes(dolby headphone), the DAC headphones amps are the way to go for sure.

Eh, not so funny, guy.

[EmoRarity]

Haha, funny guy.

Eh, not so funny, guy.

Dac headphones dog. Dac headphones. 

[t0wer]

http://en-de.sennheiser.com/pc-363d-surround-sound-gaming-headset

 

I want this headset, should I spend $150 on a good asus soundcard? 

 

those come with their own usb sound card.

if you are looking at a different sound device, you'd want HD558's and a mic or pc360's

[ShearMe]

Oh wait, Chillbil is OP, and that was a serious question. My bad!

There's not much of a SQ difference between cheap ASUS soundcards and expensive ones. Yes, they cost more to manufacture, but a lot is spent on fancy-looking capsitors and other bling factors that don't really impact the sound.

[Turkatron]

Haha, funny guy.

Eh, not so funny, guy.

Yeah.. He's a guy.....

[ShearMe]

Yeah.. He's a guy.....

 

There's no girls on the internet....

[Turkatron]

There's no girls on the internet....

I'm just saying he is a guy. Not sure if he is a nice guy, but a guy....