Best gaming soundcard?

[fordongreeman]

What is the best gaming sound card you can possibly buy?

How much better is it compared to integrated audio?

 

[rontonomo]

IMO its better to get an external dac and amp. the quality is just so much better than any internal soundcard i have ever used in my life.

 

[ciaran45]

https://www.amazon.co.uk/FiiO-Olympus-Headphone-Amplifier-Black/dp/B00LP3AMC2/ref=sr_1_1?s=electronics-accessories&ie=UTF8&qid=1518706454&sr=1-1&keywords=headphone+dac+amp

something like this will be great, if it's in your budget

 

[fordongreeman]

I was looking for an internal PCIe sound card.

 

[Deleted member 217926]

The Asus Xonar STX II. You'd have to move to the $300 range and a Schiit stack ( Magni 3/Modi 2 ) or an O2/ODAC to equal it. It's certainly better than the Fiio E10K posted above.

https://www.asus.com/us/Sound-Cards/Essence_STX_II/

 

[ohenryy]

I actually have a Devil HDX sound card, bought it after reading some reviews that claimed that it was as good as the top end Asus ones.
I dont know if it is as I didnt test a asus, but it's definitely amazing, I couldn't believe how much more you can hear if you actually have a dedicated sound card. Takes the games to another whole new level...

https://www.powercolor.com/product?id=1497250887

 

[gamerk316]

I'd co-sign the ASUS Xonar STX II; it's literally the best soundcard out there for PCs at the moment. Not sure how the Creative ZXR compares by comparison, though I'd wager that's second based on specs alone.

 

[faalin]

Love my ZxR paired with a set of Yamaha HS8 and HS8sub, but then i dont think people like to drop close to $1400 for a sound card speaker setup.

 

[fordongreeman]

Love my ZxR paired with a set of Yamaha HS8 and HS8sub, but then i dont think people like to drop close to $1400 for a sound card speaker setup.

Creative has a successor to the Z/Zx/ZxR series, it's called the SoundblasterX AE.

 

[Deleted member 217926]

But then you're stuck with Creative drivers. Nope. I've had Creative cards. Never again.

I've had the original STX for about 6 years. I also have an Mayflower O2/ODAC Rev. B. The headphone amp on the STX is every bit as good and is actually more powerful than the O2. It's just a little bright vs the true neutrality of the O2. It's certainly 'audiophile' grade.

 

[faalin]

But then you're stuck with Creative drivers. Nope. I've had Creative cards. Never again.

I've had the original STX for about 6 years. I also have an Mayflower O2/ODAC Rev. B. The headphone amp on the STX is every bit as good and is actually more powerful than the O2. It's just a little bright vs the true neutrality of the O2. It's certainly 'audiophile' grade.

My ZxR was installed on a maximus vii hero with windows 7 64bit, then moved to a Maximus X Hero with windows 10 have had the card for about 3.5 years with no issues at all with it.

I have a Creative Sound BalsterX G5 7.1 on an Asus rampage 3 extreme board Win 7, and i have a Zx installed on a Asus maximus Gene z Z68 board Win 7 without issues. Both of these are a little over a year old now. Have downloaded drivers from Creative and also used the creative software to updated drivers and haven't had issues.

I will admit the mid 2000's and older cards the drivers did suck.