63 ohm impedance on my onboard audio

[metal5890]

I've been looking into getting some headphones/headset for my pc for music, movies and also gaming at around $100 but the more i read the more i hear that "gaming" headsets are really junk for music and any other kind of audio for that matter and its kinda important to me that my music sounds pretty decent. With that said i know $100 isnt alot for great headphones but ive been hearing great things about the Sony MDR 7506 the only question i have is that the impedance is 63 ohms when usually on headphones/headsets in that range are 32 ohms, so will my onboard audio push the 63 ohms ok or will it sound like the headset is whispering my music to me lol. My MOBO is an Asrock 970 Extreme3 and the audio on it is the Realtek ALC892 but i cant find anything telling me if its strong enough for these headphones. Also i know these headphones dont have a mic but ive heard great things about the Modmic from antlion so any opinion on this would be great too. Thanks in advance TH!

 

[DHFF]

The on board audio is always a bottleneck for sound because of the High impedance. its actually fairly common for on board sound. A dedicated sound card isnt much better. The real solution is external sound cards. here are two that work well. my wife has the turtle beach one and she swears by it.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16829102036
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16829118013

 

[metal5890]

So do you think it will push them at all or just weakly, i dont need it to blow my ears off just loud enough to hear it i guess. Unless theres something im missing

 

[DHFF]

you will still get sound but since you are willing to spend $100 and want quality. The external soundcard is an easy and relatively cheap solution to get the most out of your purchase.

If your headphones have a USB plug as well as audio plugs then your headset probably has a built in amp. in that case you should be fine. My set has a built in amp and I don't bother with an external soundcard. I just plug it in the back port and crank the volume up through the controls on the headset cord.

 

[metal5890]

These actually only have the 3.5mm jack connection as its just headphones with no usb or mic connectivity, so im assuming ill probably have to get an external sound card? And if i cant get the headphones and external sound card together in your opinion would they at least work until i get a chance to grab the external?

 

[DHFF]

yes there is no harm in getting the headphones first and seeing how they sound. If its loud enough for you then by all means, save your money.

 

[metal5890]

Ok thanks for all the info!

 

[DHFF]

If you feel there is just too much interference after plugging in the headphones, there is a trick you can try before getting the external card. Its a freebie solution that you find on $200 motherboards 😉
get some cardboard and cut a strip to fit around the I/O ports on the back of your motherboard, take a sheet of Aluminum foil and fold it until it makes a strip, glue said strip to the cardboard then wrap that cardboard around your I/O ports.
This provides shielding from the noise the rest of your motherboard components kick off and should knock your impedance down a bit. If that doesn't work then go for the external.