I want 7.1... I think

[MonKass]

OK, I`m into gaming, Counter-strike and the like.

I`m currently running off my intergrated sound card and these 2 speakers plus sub, all made by Yamada, i bought them from some dodgy looking guy at a computer fair. They sound alright, but everyone is ranting on about EAX and stuff, goes over my head to be honest.

OK, to the question, I`m thinking of purchasing, a 7.1 setup with this card:
http://www.soundblaster.com/products/product.asp?category=1&subcategory=206&product=10315

and these speakers
http://uk.europe.creative.com/products/product.asp?category=4&subcategory=113&product=9593

So before i part with my hard earned cash and start plastering speakers and trunking all over my room, I thought i would call on you guys in your infinite wisdom to ensure I`m making the right choice. Its going to cost me about £170, would you throw you money in the same direction?

 

[folken]

The ultimate sound system for gaming is a pair of headphones. You cant beat a good speaker system like that for music or movies but you just cant beat a good set of headphones for games. Dont get me wrong, that 7.1 system will sound REALLY nice in counter-strike but you will still miss some little details in the sounds.
I've got a SB Auidgy2 ZS Platinum and a Klipsch Promedia 5.1 system with bookshelf speakers and I prefer my Sennheiser HD-280 headphones for games.

<A HREF="http://www.folken.net/myrig.htm" target="_new">My precious...</A>

 

[umheint0]

Agreed. Spend $200 on a set of phones and everything will sound phenomenal. Sennheiser makes the best commercial phones, IMO, but Sony makes some good cans as well. Stay away from anything under $75, unless you genuinely can't hear the difference between the headphones.

Basically, go higher and higher until you can't tell a difference between a set of phones to justify the price difference. For me, that number is around $400/pair.

umheint0's phat setup --> <A HREF="http://home.cc.umanitoba.ca/~umheint0/system.html" target="_new">http://home.cc.umanitoba.ca/~umheint0/system.html</A><--