Help deciding which sound card to get.

[renji5471]

Hello everyone, I currently have just a Astro A40 headset. I was looking at getting a surround sound compatible sound card to help with competitive gaming, as well as to help enhance the music I listen to. I currently am trying to decide between this http://www.amazon.com/Creative-Performance-Headphone-Integrated-Microphone/dp/B00EZT7RE4/ref=pd_cp_147_1?ie=UTF8&refRID=1JZ02JQ8M05TR2CVER5S (Creative Sound Omni), and this http://www.amazon.com/ASUS-Xonar-U7-Sound-Card/dp/B00E7QA9E0/ref=sr_1_1?s=electronics&ie=UTF8&qid=1434386535&sr=1-1&keywords=asus+zonar+u7 (ASUS Xonar U7). I was also considering getting the astro mixamp, however I heard that a dedicated sound card would be better. Does anyone have any opinions on which I should get?

 

[Seoulja615]

I have the sound blaster Zxr and I love it.. but i am not sure about the two you are referring to though

 

[sizzling]

What speakers/headphones are you using? Onboard sound is fairly good these days and you would need a good setup to tell the difference.

 

[renji5471]

What speakers/headphones are you using? Onboard sound is fairly good these days and you would need a good setup to tell the difference.

I am currently using the Astro A40 headset, and I understand that there wouldn't be a big noticeable difference in stereo sound, but wouldn't going from stereo to surround sound be an improvement?

 

[sizzling]

Fairly pointless in my mind. I doubt the A40 could pick up any improvement in stereo and surround sound on headphones is a gimmick in my opinion.

 

[maddogfargo]

Hello everyone, I currently have just a Astro A40 headset. I was looking at getting a surround sound compatible sound card to help with competitive gaming, as well as to help enhance the music I listen to. I currently am trying to decide between this http://www.amazon.com/Creative-Performance-Headphone-Integrated-Microphone/dp/B00EZT7RE4/ref=pd_cp_147_1?ie=UTF8&refRID=1JZ02JQ8M05TR2CVER5S (Creative Sound Omni), and this http://www.amazon.com/ASUS-Xonar-U7-Sound-Card/dp/B00E7QA9E0/ref=sr_1_1?s=electronics&ie=UTF8&qid=1434386535&sr=1-1&keywords=asus+zonar+u7 (ASUS Xonar U7). I was also considering getting the astro mixamp, however I heard that a dedicated sound card would be better. Does anyone have any opinions on which I should get?

If you have a high quality motherboard / CODEC, you don't need a discrete sound card. Some can even support up to 600ohm headphones on the rear plug.

So...what motherboard do you have?

 

[renji5471]

Hello everyone, I currently have just a Astro A40 headset. I was looking at getting a surround sound compatible sound card to help with competitive gaming, as well as to help enhance the music I listen to. I currently am trying to decide between this http://www.amazon.com/Creative-Performance-Headphone-Integrated-Microphone/dp/B00EZT7RE4/ref=pd_cp_147_1?ie=UTF8&refRID=1JZ02JQ8M05TR2CVER5S (Creative Sound Omni), and this http://www.amazon.com/ASUS-Xonar-U7-Sound-Card/dp/B00E7QA9E0/ref=sr_1_1?s=electronics&ie=UTF8&qid=1434386535&sr=1-1&keywords=asus+zonar+u7 (ASUS Xonar U7). I was also considering getting the astro mixamp, however I heard that a dedicated sound card would be better. Does anyone have any opinions on which I should get?

If you have a high quality motherboard / CODEC, you don't need a discrete sound card. Some can even support up to 600ohm headphones on the rear plug.

So...what motherboard do you have?

I have a ASRock Z87 Extreme 4.

 

[Seoulja615]

Good sound card will always out blow the stock sound cards. Ofcourse you need to have speakers/head phones to support it. Think of it as a car.. Now a days with new cars have really good sound system in it.. but if you want to tweak your car audio system your going to have to upgrade to next level. You just need to make sure your not down grading your system.. not all sound card are going to be better than the stocks. If you get what i mean.

My Motherboard onboard sound card system is crystal clear 2 which is not bad but I do a lot of editing, watch movies, and play games on it. I decided to upgrade to Sound blaster ZXR, and I have good quality speakers/Head Phones to support it. All depends on your taste.