Hard time justifying a sound card. (New Build)

[ExAstra]

Hello everyone.

I'm currently living in the Middle East, but about to move back home to the states. As a reward for myself, I'm building up a full blown new gaming rig coming up here in April. Now, I've asked a friend who has a /bit/ more knowledge than I do about building rigs, and he's said that I don't need a sound card. I kind of want one anyway, but I'm not entirely sure how to justify it. For clarity, my build is "go big or go home" gaming style.

The card I am looking at buying is a Creative SB ZxR. It's a nice card that comes with a Sound Processor (which I like) and has a "daughter" card specifically for input. This daughter card is also one of the main reasons I'm considering the ZxR over the Zx or the Z card. I do a lot of online gaming with friends and use TS3 constantly - having a crystal clear voice would be great. The problem stems from these factors:

1) My motherboard is a MSi X99A E-ATX Gaming motherboard, which supports 7.1 channel Audio out of the box, and according to my friends, has really good onboard audio.

2) My current sound system is a BOSE Companion 5 simulated surround sound system which processes sound on its own. Audio is sent to the device by USB and I'm pretty sure it doesn't plug into the sound card/audio ports on a mobo at all. This would make buying a sound processing card moot on its own, but...

3) My new headset is a Tritton Tru 5.1 Pro+. The kicker is - I haven't really gotten a chance to try it. I bought it over here in the Middle East for my laptop, only to discover that unless you use the "amp" box it comes with and plug it into your computer using the optical port, it will give you HORRIBLE feedback in the form of a piercing buzzing noise that absolutely will not go away. My laptop doesn't have an optical port and it has been impossible to find a way to get these to work over here in the ME. Now, when I build up my new computer having an optical port won't be a problem and I can plug right in.

But if I'm plugging them into the amp, will I get any better sound quality through the Creative SB than I would through the Motherboard? Also, this type of headset kind of renders the Creative SB Sound Card's headphone amp "thing" kind of pointless, doesn't it?

So here are my options -

1) I ignore the sound card, stick with my Bose Speakers and Tritton Headset and enjoy my new rig.
2) I buy the sound card, keep my Bose Speakers which don't benefit from the sound card, and use my new Tritton Headset through the sound card (with improved performance), and enjoy my new rig.
3) I buy the sound card, replace my Bose speakers with _____ (insert your personal suggestions here, just try to keep them under 500 USD), and use my Tritton Headset with the sound card, and enjoy my new rig.

What do you think I should do? I'm assuming you all know quite a bit more about this stuff than I do, so fill me in

 

[getochkn]

4. Wait till you get a system and see how you like the sound of everything yourself and not what he or she said, and not what the internet says, and then decide for yourself.

 

[ExAstra]

4. Wait till you get a system and see how you like the sound of everything yourself and not what he or she said, and not what the internet says, and then decide for yourself.

Unfortunately while I'm sure you're saying that with the best of intentions, it doesn't really help me out. I will be using the motherboard's audio and my Bose speakers at first regardless. I won't be buying a brand new sound card+surround sound+headset right off the bat for no reason - whether the internet says it's a MUST or not. Because I know that it will still sound good. What I want to know is if getting the sound card would make my Tritton Headsets sound and perform better? Sorry, perhaps I should have reinforced that question or worded it a bit differently.

I am just genuinely not sure if the Tritton Headset and the SB sound card are "compatible" or whether the SB sound card would be capable of improving the sound quality on the headset. Because I don't know, I'm coming here to ask. If the answer to the question is "Yes, the SB sound card should improve the quality of your Headset's audio as well as your mic input clarity", then I will lean more toward the side of wanting to buy the sound card. But then I run into the issue of the surround sound system I use not getting any benefit from it - which will lead me to wanting to replace it with a true 5.1 that would reap the full benefits of the sound card. And then if that is the case, I'd like to know what recommendations people have for surround sound systems.

If the sound card won't help the Headset at all then it won't help anything I have for the computer and I can just save all that money and enjoy what I already own.

 

[wildfire707]

As far as your original question goes, most USB sound cards will not help the Tritton Headset. All of the ones that I have used have been ones for console use, and that seems to limit what they work well with on the PC front.

Actually, I have the Bose Companion 5 speakers as well and use TS3 for gaming as well.

I would skip the sound card as well, since the Bose Companion 5 speakers have their own USB sound DAC built in.

My best suggestion would be to get a decent USB microphone like this for $10:

http://www.amazon.com/Generation-Adjustable-Microphone-Streamline-Compatible/dp/B011K4M9TE/

That will work well in Teamspeak when you are using push to talk. Then I would get a good USB headset so that you can game while using Teamspeak with the voice activated setting as well.

If you are gaming alone with no one else around, the Steelseries Siberia 150 works fine and it has a built in microphone that you don't have to move around for a reasonable $60:

https://steelseries.com/gaming-headsets/siberia-150

If you are gaming and there will be background noise or other people, the Steelseries 650 is a good option (well, if you have $200):

https://steelseries.com/gaming-headsets/siberia-650

If that is too expensive, the Razer Kraken USB headset is pretty good - if just a little bulky - and have a much more reasonable $60 retail price:

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00LN0O0VG/

Basically, the Bose speaker system will work great - but people will hear it in the background if you use a microphone while playing a game using the speakers. So you may also want to get a good USB headset, since they also have their sound "cards" built in and use one of them.

I am currently running a Turtle Beach i60 headset when I run Teamspeak in voice activated mode. They have excellent sound output and a nice built in microphone, but the earpiece design is really awful if you don't have small ears - since they went with rectangular cups. My ears always hurt by the time my gaming session is over since the pads squish my ears on both sides.

Good luck!

 

[faalin]

I have to say the ZxR blows the doors off the onboard sound that my motherboard has. For speakers im running Focal 165A3's with a Focal solid 2 amp, headphones i use Shure 750DJ.

SB installs a program that allows you to change all sorts of settings along with an EQ to fine tune everything. You normally cant do that with the onboard.

 

[ExAstra]

I have to say the ZxR blows the doors off the onboard sound that my motherboard has. For speakers im running Focal 165A3's with a Focal solid 2 amp, headphones i use Shure 750DJ.

SB installs a program that allows you to change all sorts of settings along with an EQ to fine tune everything. You normally cant do that with the onboard.

Yeah, I hate not having an EQ with onboard sound. My Bose stereo lets me adjust bass manually at the back of the unit but it doesn't have an EQ software or anything - so I wouldn't get the benefits out of that with the soundcard except for maybe with my headset.

Does your headset use an amp...thing(?) similar to the Tritton's? I'm just not sure if the ampthingy is compatible with the soundcard, as in if it will make any improvements.

 

[wildfire707]

I have to say the ZxR blows the doors off the onboard sound that my motherboard has. For speakers im running Focal 165A3's with a Focal solid 2 amp, headphones i use Shure 750DJ.

SB installs a program that allows you to change all sorts of settings along with an EQ to fine tune everything. You normally cant do that with the onboard.

Yeah, I hate not having an EQ with onboard sound. My Bose stereo lets me adjust bass manually at the back of the unit but it doesn't have an EQ software or anything - so I wouldn't get the benefits out of that with the soundcard except for maybe with my headset.

Does your headset use an amp...thing(?) similar to the Tritton's? I'm just not sure if the ampthingy is compatible with the soundcard, as in if it will make any improvements.

FYI: The Steelseries headphones include a software based 10 band graphic equalizer. I am using Equalizer APO with a text configuration file to equalize my Bose speakers - that is a huge oversight on their part.