[SOLVED] Sound card for my pc

[SGTBASHIR]

I need your help & advice please. I am currently building a new pc primarily for gaming but also for watching my blue ray movie collection, also possibly later on streaming / making you tube videos. I use expensive headsets for my pc. So I am looking for a top quality soundcard which will give me my best experience of sound for gaming & watching blue ray movies. I mostly play Fps like Modern Warfare / Fortnite & World of tanks on my pc. The specs of my new build are:
Cpu - Amd Ryzen 9 5950X ,AM4, Zen 3, 16 core processor
Cpu Cooler - NZXT Kraken Z63
Mother board - Gigabyte X570 Aorus Master AM4
Ram - Kingston Hyper X Fury DDR4, 3600 MHz, 32GB X 4, 128GB
Gpu - PowerColor Radeon RX 6900XT Red Devil 16GB
Operating System - Windows Pro 10 64 Bit
Hard drives - Samsung 980 Pro 1TB M2 PCIe4 X 2 / Gigabyte Aorus 2TB M2 PCIe4
Power Supply - Seasonic 1300W Prime Gold
Monitor - Dell Ultrasharp 27 inch 2560 X 1440
Case - CoolerMaster Cosmos II

After looking at all the sound cards available, I have whittled my choice down to the EVGA NU Audio Pro 7.1 Surround sound card. Will this sound card be compatible with my new pc? Also will the Evga sound card connect to a 2.1 (logitech Z623 speaker)& 5.1(logitech G51 surround sound) speaker system? Your advice will be invaluable to me. Thank you.

 

[sizzling]

If you really want high quality audio I would look into external DAC and AMP combinations. These devices are outside the case which is full of potential sources of interference. It’s a big topic that I am new to myself but it is the recommended option for those wanting the best audio experience.

 

[Lutfij]

Yes it's compatible, you just need to drop it into an available PCIe x1 slot. Yes it'll pair with a stereo or surround sound setup like the two mentioned in your thread's body. The only difference when connecting to the surround sound setup would be the addition of the analog cables for rear and center/sub.

How valuable are PCIe x16 slots for you/your build? I see that you only have one PCIe x1 slot whereas the sound card you've picked needs two. The pinout on the add-on daughter board for the surround sound portion don't look like they will take up lanes, only power from the slot since the fingers don't look that way.

 

[Unolocogringo]

With your speakers you would be hard pressed to hear a difference between a sound card and onboard sound. Your motherboard already has a high end audio chip and built in headphone amp for your headset.
If you were connecting to a good mid to upper end surround sound system/Headphones (Denon, Polk, Infinity, Onkyo, Yamaha,Bose, Sennheiser Headphones etc.....) then a sound card/external DAC would make a perceivable difference.
The choice is yours to make, because it is your ears and mind that you are trying to please. If you can hear and feel the difference then it is worth the investment to you.
A lot of people are fine listening to mp3s for music. I find them very lacking and missing a lot of the overall fidelity of CDs. So what is acceptable to some is not to others.

 

[SGTBASHIR]

. Your motherboard already has a high end audio chip and built in headphone amp for your headset

Because of that, the million dollar question is will a sound card/external DAC make a difference. I will not know until I spend the cash. I was hoping with your knowledge & experience you might be able to guide me but I think this is a tricky subject because its down to individual taste. What might sound awesome to me will not necessarily sound the same to the next person. I might just see how the pc sounds like after it is built & then if I am not happy with the sound, then choose between the EVGA NU Audio Pro 7.1 Surround sound card / Creative Sound Blaster X7 or the Sound Blaster G6. These are my 3 choices. Any other advice you folks have will be much appreciated. To those who have replied to this thread I thank you.

 

[Deleted member 14196]

I would get the Evga one

 

[Unolocogringo]

You did not state what headphones you have, so I can not help there.
On your current mid level " Gaming Computer Speakers" it will be hard to tell a difference between the sound card or onboard sound chip. Even when watching movies or playing a CD.
Please understand that I am not trying to belittle your set up . They are good "gaming" surround speakers but are very lacking in high quality music reproduction/ movie surround stage for a full size room.
If you were connecting to a high end Denon 7.2 surround amp with high end Polk/Infinity speakers the sound card would make a much bigger difference.
Review of EVGA NU here.
https://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/evga-nu-audio-pro-sound-card

 

[SGTBASHIR]

You did not state what headphones you have, so I can not help there

At the moment I have 3 headsets for my pc, HyperX Cloud Revolver / Sennheiser Game One & a Sennheiser 350 gaming headset. When 2 of these headsets decide to stop working, will get myself an expensive headset ie, Astro / SteelSeries / Audeze or from Beyerdynamic.

 

[Unolocogringo]

You will notice some difference, better "Clarity", more of a slightly bigger "sound stage" but nothing drastic. But better none the less.
It boils down to how discerning you are with sound quality. If you like hearing more of the little subtle nuances of the background vocals and instruments along with the driving lead, kicking bass drum , thumping bass etc.... What ever your music style.
But it would take a very good $800-$1400 dollar set of headphones/Speakers and a very good external amp, another $600-$1200, to get those differences.
Just plugging a set of very good headphones or a set of computer speakers into the sound card or onboard will make very little difference in your sound experience.
Just trying to be up front and honest.
I love music and have sound systems in most rooms of my home. 6 systems covering 6 rooms and porch. I do have computer speaker systems for when I am in the computer room/office, but they are not my source for listening to music or movies.
Read the review I posted above. It pretty much states the same thing I am relating from experience.

 

[Corwin65]

Just remember if you are using a USB headset it bypasses any soundcard.

The proposed new headphones you will be getting in the future are not really high end enough to warrant a big soundcard investment.

 

[SGTBASHIR]

You will notice some difference, better "Clarity", more of a slightly bigger "sound stage" but nothing drastic. But better none the less.
It boils down to how discerning you are with sound quality. If you like hearing more of the little subtle nuances of the background vocals and instruments along with the driving lead, kicking bass drum , thumping bass etc.... What ever your music style.
But it would take a very good $800-$1400 dollar set of headphones/Speakers and a very good external amp, another $600-$1200, to get those differences.
Just plugging a set of very good headphones or a set of computer speakers into the sound )card or onboard will make very little difference in your sound experience.
Just trying to be up front and honest.
I love music and have sound systems in most rooms of my home. 6 systems covering 6 rooms and porch. I do have computer speaker systems for when I am in the computer room/office, but they are not my source for listening to music or movies.

After reading all the above comments & doing a bit of research on the internet, I have decided not to get a soundcard at the moment. Once my pc is built I will hear the sound first then decide what I want to do. First step will be if I am not happy with sound, to purchase a quality headset, ( Audeze Mobius £400 approx ). If after the first step the sound is still not to my liking, I will then invest in some quality speakers & also purchase a soundcard. Thankyou to all who took the time out to reply to this this thread, your dvice was invaluable to me.

 

[Deleted member 14196]

The high end audio chip in my PC just can’t get loud enough for me so I do need an external amp/DAC

 

[Corwin65]

if your headphones are not USB based then a DAC might help. Again, it all depends on the quality of:
The file/sound you are playing
The output medium you are using (speakers/headphones
What is amplifying that sound

Not an endorsement but a quick Google search showed me this - https://www.nchsoftware.com/deskfx/index.html

Maybe something along those lines might help.