Should I get a soundcard for 5.1 speakers?

[Tron]

So I have 5.1 speakers, (centre, sides, rear, subwoofer) but my motherboard doesn't have 5.1 surround sound output on the back IO.

So I'm considering a soundcard that has 5.1 or 7.1. 

Is there a soundcard that has both surround support (3x3.5mm jack) and a good headphone amp?

my headphones are only 50 ohm (sennheiser hd598)

I'm currently considering an Asus Xonar DSX. $55

 

Everyone seems to be recommending external amps like the Fiio E10 but It doesn't have 5.1 for speakers. 

 

thanks in advanced, people. 

[mr moose]

you could get an optical to 5.1 decoder from amazon and use your mobo for the headphones.  A $30 xonar will do everything except doesn't have a headphone amp (not always necessary though) plus the output impedance may ruin your low end on the headphones.  What mother board do you have?

[Tron]

you could get an optical to 5.1 decoder from amazon and use your mobo for the headphones. ...

What mother board do you have?

didn't know "optical to 5.1 decoder " existed till now. It doesn't seem worth it when I can just get a sound card for the same price which will also give me better cpu performance. double win. 

I have an mATX mobo; Asus B85M-e. My graphics card covers 3 slots so I have 1 PCIe left right at the bottom. 

[mr moose]

Yep, after having a look at your motherboard, there is no optical out anyway.  The cheapest option seems to be a $30 sound card. If you find that the headphones aren't working that well on the sound card you can always still run them of the mobo.  

 

I wouldn't hope for too much gain in cpu performance.  the only time a cpu really has extra load on it from audio is when running extra surround sound programs like the razor one, or if you are using the asus xonar which can encode DD on the fly. But for the most part as far as cpu load goes it will come down to better drivers/software more than physical hardware..

[FanOfKOTOKO]

If you decide to buy it, remember that the Xonar DG 5.1 uses PCI, not PCIe

[IkS-10]

So I have 5.1 speakers, (centre, sides, rear, subwoofer) but my motherboard doesn't have 5.1 surround sound output on the back IO.

So I'm considering a soundcard that has 5.1 or 7.1. 

Is there a soundcard that has both surround support (3x3.5mm jack) and a good headphone amp?

my headphones are only 50 ohm (sennheiser hd598)

I'm currently considering an Asus Xonar DSX. $55

 

Everyone seems to be recommending external amps like the Fiio E10 but It doesn't have 5.1 for speakers. 

 

thanks in advanced, people. 

Hi Tron, interested in what option you went with in the end and how it worked out for you. I am in pretty much the same situation. I have 5.1 speakers and have just bought a pair of Sennheiser HD 558 headphones. My motherboard is fairly old and basic and doesn't have 5.1 output. And to top it all off I was also considering the Asus Xonar DSX.

I'm very new to this audio business so if anyone has any advice on what I should do to improve my listening experience (bearing in mind my fairly limited budget). If I would have to choose between improving my listening experience either for my speakers or my headphones I would choose headphones. 

Thanks

[Tron]

Hi Tron, interested in what option you went with in the end and how it worked out for you. I am in pretty much the same situation. I have 5.1 speakers and have just bought a pair of Sennheiser HD 558 headphones. My motherboard is fairly old and basic and doesn't have 5.1 output. And to top it all off I was also considering the Asus Xonar DSX.

I'm very new to this audio business so if anyone has any advice on what I should do to improve my listening experience (bearing in mind my fairly limited budget). If I would have to choose between improving my listening experience either for my speakers or my headphones I would choose headphones. 

Thanks

Hey, sorry I'm replying so late. 

I am currently still using my Xonar DSX It does it's job great. 

I plug 5.1 speakers in and when I want to use headphones I just have to swap one cable. It's not ideal having to swap cables. I would like if I could have them both plugged in and then do it via software when I wanted to but nonetheless. Then I have to open the software from the quick icons on the right of the monitor and change the output from "headphones" to "5.1 speakers"

 

However, the software is great and has a fun equalizer and volume controls, dolby, high fidelity. 

[IkS-10]

Hey, sorry I'm replying so late. 

I am currently still using my Xonar DSX It does it's job great. 

I plug 5.1 speakers in and when I want to use headphones I just have to swap one cable. It's not ideal having to swap cables. I would like if I could have them both plugged in and then do it via software when I wanted to but nonetheless. Then I have to open the software from the quick icons on the right of the monitor and change the output from "headphones" to "5.1 speakers"

 

However, the software is great and has a fun equalizer and volume controls, dolby, high fidelity. 

Thanks for the reply. How do the headphones sound through the sound card compared with the motherboard sound? I get the typical buzzing sound from my mobo and even from the headphone jack on my speakers (logitech z506) so I was considering getting a headphone dac/amp to clean up the sound (perhaps FiiO e10k) but if the soundcard is sufficient, I could just get that and sort out both the speakers and headphone sound.

[I/O]

I have the Xonar DGX and it offers clean sound. The DSX should be even better and will have the outputs you are after.