Do I need a sound card?

[Chugalug_]

Recently picked up a pair of Sennheiser G4me Zeros, and I was wondering whether my onboard audio is good enough or whether I should to pick up a headphone amp like the Creative Sound Blaster E1. I mainly listen to music, play games and watch a few movies here and there.
My motherboard is the Gigabte Z170MX Gaming 5.
Thanks.

 

[Archaic59]

Your board has Realtek ALC1150 7.1 channel audio which is a high quality audio solution and should be more than good enough for typical users. Here's a little bit about it-

http://www.realtek.com.tw/products/productsView.aspx?Langid=1&PFid=28&Level=5&Conn=4&ProdID=328

 

[Chugalug_]

Your board has Realtek ALC1150 7.1 channel audio which is a high quality audio solution and should be more than good enough for typical users. Here's a little bit about it-

http://www.realtek.com.tw/products/productsView.aspx?Langid=1&PFid=28&Level=5&Conn=4&ProdID=328

Provided I have $200 headphones, do you think i'd get any noticeable difference out of a DAC or headphone amp?
They have a great range and good sound quality as is, but I want to see if I can get any better performance out of them.
Based off other forums, they say that the ALC 1150 is a top of the line on board mobo audio chip.
I've only recently gotten back into the PC stuff about two months ago, since my old 2011 Sandy Bridge 2700k GTX 680 build needs upgrading, and additionally pretty new to the high end audio game as well. I'm wondering what the advancements have been like in on board mobo audio.
Would appreciate any info.
Thanks!

 

[Chugalug_]

Your board has Realtek ALC1150 7.1 channel audio which is a high quality audio solution and should be more than good enough for typical users. Here's a little bit about it-

http://www.realtek.com.tw/products/productsView.aspx?Langid=1&PFid=28&Level=5&Conn=4&ProdID=328

Provided I have $200 headphones, do you think i'd get any noticeable difference out of a DAC or headphone amp?
They have a great range and good sound quality as is, but I want to see if I can get any better performance out of them.
Based off other forums, they say that the ALC 1150 is a top of the line on board mobo audio chip.
I've only recently gotten back into the PC stuff about two months ago, since my old 2011 Sandy Bridge 2700k GTX 680 build needs upgrading, and additionally pretty new to the high end audio game as well. I'm wondering what the advancements have been like in on board mobo audio.
Would appreciate any info.
Thanks!

 

[sizzling]

I think it depends on the person, a real audiophile would most likely say a separate amp is essential but for 99/100 people they would either not notice or not care about the small difference

 

[Archaic59]

I doubt you could tell any difference in sound quality with a DAC. That being said, if the onboard sound is not shielded properly on the motherboard you could get noise. If you are hearing clean sound without noise you won't get much better than that. It's possible to get a wider frequency response from a sound card but it's up to each individuals hearing if they can actually tell the difference. Big improvements have come about over the years in onboard sound. I was there at the beginning in the early 90's when we used Creative Soundblaster cards in ISA slots so I've witnessed the improvements over the years. Onboard audio has come a long way. There are ROG boards with Supreme FX audio and I think they are about as good as onboard audio gets. A good Xonar card is still your best bet if you're a discerning audiophile but the quality of onboard sound these days is very good and satisfies the majority of users.

 

[Chugalug_]

Alright, thanks for the answers guys, just saved me $70 out of pocket 😛