So an FYI, I have been doing a lot of research on this, but I have some questions and I also want other people's opinions. I'm a big time gamer, and I built my own gaming rig as well about back in the summer of 2012. At the time, I had a 5.1 speaker set from Logitech (still use it today), and at first I kept with my motherboard audio (Z77 Sabertooth), but then there were A LOT of issues with Realtek drivers and sometimes sound would work, other times it wouldn't. Sometimes, it would give this ridiculously loud sound randomly, as if it were possessed. It turned out to be some issues with the Win 7 drivers.
ANYWAY, during that time, I bought an Asus Xonar DX sound card. Now I really like the sound card, regardless of what people may say about it. The drivers weren't terrible, but the software could've been better to say the least. Even so, the sound card did wonders for my ears. However, I am temporarily in a setting where my loud speakers are not adequate for the environment lol. I ended up getting the Logitech G930 headset (used to use it with my laptop for traveling), and now it's broken. So I did a ton of research and asked a friend of mine as to what I should get, as this time I have a much bigger budget and I wanted some proper grade audio. He recommended that I look into Sennheiser products. Did some more research and eventually went with the Sennheiser G4ME ZERO.
The thing is, the moment I pulled them out of the box and connected them to my sound card, I could tell they weren't being properly driven. In fact, they were sounding a bit flat. I knew these have a 150ohm impedance, but what I didn't realize is that my Xonar DX only supports up to 100ohm impedance. Still, I was surprised that they would sound so flat. I know I'm definitely not getting the audio I paid for, but now I have done plenty of research and I have some options (along with some questions):
For the sound card:
Creative Titanium HD - I see a lot of people recommending these.
Creative Sound Blaster Z - Updated model of the Titanium series, but I see mixed reviews about the software.
For the headphone amp:
Everyone seems to unanimously agree with the Objective2 headphone amp:
http://www.jdslabs.com/products/35/objective2-headphone-amplifier/
So, should I go with a sound card or a headphone amp?
And here are some of my other questions:
1. Will either of those two sound cards (or any others) drive my headphones as well as an O2 amp?
2. How exactly is the O2 amp connected to the pc? (Sorry if it's a noob question). Do I just connect the line-out from the amp to the line in on the pc? If so, should I connect it to the line-in on the Xonar DX sound card or on the motherboard line-in?
3. The o2 amp doesn't seem to have an input for the mic. So does that mean if I use an amp, I can't use the mic on my headset?
Important points to note:
ANYWAY, during that time, I bought an Asus Xonar DX sound card. Now I really like the sound card, regardless of what people may say about it. The drivers weren't terrible, but the software could've been better to say the least. Even so, the sound card did wonders for my ears. However, I am temporarily in a setting where my loud speakers are not adequate for the environment lol. I ended up getting the Logitech G930 headset (used to use it with my laptop for traveling), and now it's broken. So I did a ton of research and asked a friend of mine as to what I should get, as this time I have a much bigger budget and I wanted some proper grade audio. He recommended that I look into Sennheiser products. Did some more research and eventually went with the Sennheiser G4ME ZERO.
The thing is, the moment I pulled them out of the box and connected them to my sound card, I could tell they weren't being properly driven. In fact, they were sounding a bit flat. I knew these have a 150ohm impedance, but what I didn't realize is that my Xonar DX only supports up to 100ohm impedance. Still, I was surprised that they would sound so flat. I know I'm definitely not getting the audio I paid for, but now I have done plenty of research and I have some options (along with some questions):
For the sound card:
Creative Titanium HD - I see a lot of people recommending these.
Creative Sound Blaster Z - Updated model of the Titanium series, but I see mixed reviews about the software.
For the headphone amp:
Everyone seems to unanimously agree with the Objective2 headphone amp:
http://www.jdslabs.com/products/35/objective2-headphone-amplifier/
So, should I go with a sound card or a headphone amp?
And here are some of my other questions:
1. Will either of those two sound cards (or any others) drive my headphones as well as an O2 amp?
2. How exactly is the O2 amp connected to the pc? (Sorry if it's a noob question). Do I just connect the line-out from the amp to the line in on the pc? If so, should I connect it to the line-in on the Xonar DX sound card or on the motherboard line-in?
3. The o2 amp doesn't seem to have an input for the mic. So does that mean if I use an amp, I can't use the mic on my headset?
Important points to note:
■ This is primarily for gaming; not as much for music/movies/etc.
■ I rarely ever play online FPS games nowadays, so I could care less about "hearing footsteps behind me." Rather, I'd prefer to hear the depth of the crack of a gunshot lol; Virtual Surround Sound does not accomplish this all that well.
■ I'm not a big fan of having an amp b/c I don't like having an extra component sitting on my desk, but if it is that much better, then I might go for the amp.
■ I don't want another Asus card as I see a lot of mixed reviews, along with many other high end cards nowadays.
■ PLEASE, DO NOT SAY THAT MY MOTHERBOARD AUDIO IS ENOUGH! I'm tired of seeing useless comments saying that motherboard audio is enough to drive any headphones.
Facebook
Twitter
Instagram