may be a bit late, but last post was in december after all
alright so to the OP, heres what i like using, sound blaster zx card with a steel series siberia v2 (the 3.5mm jack version)
ive loved sound blaster and honestly am blown away by the quality of this new card, not to mention the scout mode option, it just insane
now for a lil back story
i guess you could call me an audiophile, i love my music, but i love my gaming almost as much and as generic recommendation id say go with a mid range sound blaster x-fi card, you cant be let down... but as a gamer who likes looooong gaming sessions the only headphones ive found that can comfortably be worn for 4-5+ hours id have to recommend the steel series siberia v2s and the astro a40s or a50s, they have the quality you want great durability
the ones ive used the most till i got the new zx card were the diablo steel series siberia v2s which are usb, gone through 2 and the first pair lasted me about a year of heavy abuse and im onto my 2nd pair with 6+ months in
the usb is a pain, its super short, low quality construction, but so long as u dont abuse it youll have no problems, ive worn these for 60 hours in my record breaking sleep deprived gaming session without comfort complaints lol
but back on to topic the usb siberia headphones wont take advantage of any sound card you use, ive found for gaming stereo heaphones vs any other tech will always beat out the other because you wont notice the difference at all really
but if your gonna be using headphones with regular audio jacks like im using thanks to the new sb x-fi card ive been using id say you really wanna have some kind of decent audio card, otherwise if your going usb, dont even bother
as for sound cards again the x-fi cards ive had lasted me forever and i have no concerns and wanted to look into a new card to try for more surround feeling emulation... kinda giving up on doing this cuz its just too much of a waste of money