Do I need a sound card for this motherboard?

jordanconge · Mar 8, 2017

I know that some higher end headphones and headsets require a sound card or amplifier to get the best sound possible. My current motherboard has built in audio but I am not sure if it is powerful enough and internet searches have left me still wondering. I am currently using a MSI Z170a Gaming M7 1151 ATX.

Thanks in advance for the help.

boosted1g · Mar 8, 2017

Your mothebroard has a decent sound card for headphones.

https://us.msi.com/Motherboard/Z170A-GAMING-M7.html#hero-overview

delaro · Mar 8, 2017

The Audio on that board is quite nice, no internal audio is going to keep a Audiophile happy but for the majority they work fine. Tube amps are popular with higher end audio but for $200 and below headphones you will be fine. Internals don't quite have enough output to drive a large set of 40mm+ drivers but they do play loud enough you can hear them clearly.

jordanconge · Mar 8, 2017

My knowledge on this is lacking, but am I looking at what the impedance of the headphones are to see if I am going to need more output than what my on-board sound card is putting out? I currently am using a set of Audio-Technica ATH-M50x headphones with my computer and they sound great, the impedance on these headphones is 38 ohms. I am currently looking at a headset the has an impedance of 150 ohms.

delaro :

delaro · Mar 9, 2017

150 ohms would be hard for most things to drive, A PC, Cell Phone, Tablet, Media player and even most Stereos are not going to put out enough power to satisfy a headset like that. You would need a decent Tube or DAC for that.

Search

Do I need a sound card for this motherboard?

jordanconge

Commendable

delaro

boosted1g

Titan

delaro

Judicious

jordanconge

Commendable

delaro

Judicious

TRENDING THREADS

Latest posts

Moderators online

Share this page