Sound card Or External Audio

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omin_of_deat

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Dec 28, 2012
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So I really want to make my music sound killer, and as a secondary thing, I would like the games to sound better. i have a gaming computer. Would A sound card Like the new Creative Sound Blaster ZxR or Asus Essence STX or ST be better or would an External DAC and Headphone Amp be better?

http://pcpartpicker.com/p/1RlqL
 
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ddbtkd456

ddbtkd456

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Sep 4, 2013
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Solution​

My suggestion and what I did (instead of spending 200+ dollars on a sound card) was to buy the following (click here) and run a 3.5 double ended aux (line in) cable to it and have 250 watts of booming sound. It sounds amazing, trust me I ran this for years before I downsized (space issues) to normal speakers. These speakers pack a punch as well. Plus as a bonus you can then control your music and sound with a remote as well. :p

Additional Information​
I do hope this answer helps. Please also remember to pick the best solution that answers your question correctly, so that others may learn from your thread. Thank you for your time, and have a good day/night.
 
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envy14tpe

envy14tpe

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Mar 3, 2012
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I'd suggest skipping the soundcard cuz it can slow down your gaming. Sounds weird, but you can search this out. It actually can negatively affect gaming. My suggestions is to skip desktop speakers and instead get some small bookshelf speakers. Now, when I game it is booming and sounds excellent.
 
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ksham

ksham

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Mar 29, 2013
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Depends. Do you plan on buying quality speakers? If not, then a sound card will suffice. The ATH-M50 is a good set of headphones, but not great to the point where a DAC will be better than a quality sound card. At least you won't be able to hear the difference with the ATH-M50. So there's no reason to justify spending more on DAC unless you also plan to buy a good set of quality speakers or a replacement headphones.
 
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rakadedo

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Nov 14, 2012
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I've been using the Fiio E10 (http://www.amazon.com/Fiio-E10-USB-Headphone-Amplifier/dp/B005VO7LG6/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1382335163&sr=8-1&keywords=fiio+e10) and it has removed all the hiss and interference I was previously getting from my internal soundcard. The other positive to an external solution is you can easily use it for a laptop or other system.
 
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rakadedo

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I'm not sure what you mean? Are you asking if it has some special benefit to games, or just "will this produce sounds when I play a game"? The days of things like EAX are past, so if your audio source is capable of accurately producing the sounds from movies and music, it will likewise be fine for games. Of course AMD says it has True Audio in the works, but right now that's not used in any game.
 
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omin_of_deat

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Dec 28, 2012
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Yeah basically i'm asking if i will be able to successfully play skyrim or borderlands 2 or bioshock or something through a DAC, and if you think that one is better than the other would one have benefits over either setup? so for 220 i can get the modi magni combo w/ the cables, how does that compare to a xonar stx or st or soundblaster zxr for music/gaming?
 
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rakadedo

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Yes, you can play games just fine with them. As to how they all compare? I'd say under ideal circumstances you'd have a difficult time telling an internal card apart from an external one. I've been a lot happier with my fiio because unlike every creative soundcard I've ever owned, I don't need to worry about searching for the magic driver version that won't hiss at me, not to mention the tendency of internal cards to suffer from audible interference due to all the other electrical components they are near.

All this being said, it is very silly to spend $220 for an audio source that you plan on plugging $150 headphones into. You'd quite honestly be better off investing that money in decent speakers, or even saving a bit and stepping up to nicer headphones with a cheaper dac like the fiio.
 
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rakadedo

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Put differently, it doesn't make sense to buy an FX 4300, and then buy a $130 watercooler to overclock it, when you could have just taken that money and bought an FX 8350. You just aren't going to change what that 4300 is by putting a nice cooler on it. It has its limits
 
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ddbtkd456

ddbtkd456

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Sep 4, 2013
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Solution​

I will only say this one more time. My suggestion and what I did (instead of spending 200+ dollars on a sound card) was to buy the following (click here) and run a 3.5 double ended aux (line in) cable to it and have 250 watts of booming sound. It sounds amazing, trust me I ran this for years before I downsized (space issues) to normal speakers. These speakers pack a punch as well. Plus as a bonus you can then control your music and sound with a remote as well. Sound cards a giant waste of money speakers are what make the difference in the quality along with bit rates. Anyone who works with music and sound should know this. Please consider all answers before you rudely skip over answers and ignore them like they didn't even attempt to help you.

Additional Information​
I do hope this answer helps. Please also remember to pick the best solution that answers your question correctly, so that others may learn from your thread. Thank you for your time, and have a good day/night.
 
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ksham

ksham

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Mar 29, 2013
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As I've said, it greatly depends on the quality of speakers or headphones that you have. You can buy the best DAC or sound card, but if your speakers or headphones cannot distinguish the difference, then it's pointless. You are currently just held back by your headphones or speakers. So if you are sticking with your ATH-M50, I suggest a simple sound card solution.
 
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