On board audio of MSi z97m Gaming 5

[noobsaibot99]

Hey, im planning to buy a decent headset. I have my eyes on the Steelseries siberia v2. But according to Linus, it's pointless to buy a high end headset if the audio source is a generic on board chip because the source is not good enough to begin with. But I remembered that this MSi board that I own has this Creative Sound Blaster/ Audio boost so maybe I can go ahead and buy a high end headset. I just want to confirm if it's okay? I'm also leaning to buying a 7.1 headset if I there's no need for me to buy a sound card...

 

[clarkjd]

Unless you have Audiophile ears, I doubt that you could actually hear the difference between on-board audio and a discrete sound card, no matter what the output(speakers, headset, etc.).

 

[boju]

Does your case have front panel audio?

Sound cards like Asus and Creative will have the extra amplification, but concerning motherboard audio its becoming more common standard for rear audio jacks meant for sub/speaker sets with builtin amps while you wont get much out of them with headphones, front panel connecting to the motherboard audio headers is designed for headphones and higher ohm output effectively making your headphones louder. Still a sound card will have more beefier amp though.