ATH-AD700X for gaming. Do I need a sound card or software for 7.1?

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ihave400houses

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Aug 9, 2012
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Hey everyone, sorry if this is not the place to ask but i'm thinking about getting Audio-Technica ATH-AD700X Open Air Headphones for gaming. I will be wanting to use them in a virtual 5.1 or even 7.1 for FPS games. My question is, is it necessary to either have a sound card or mini amp (such as the Astro one) or will using a program like the Razer Surround Personalised 7.1 Gaming Audio Software be good enough? Obviously a sound card or mini amp would be better, and i want to eventually get one but ATM i cant afford both the headphones and the card.

My Motherboard is the Asus Z97-A if this helps you guys by knowing the on board sound card.

I asked on a Facebook group and was told that I don't really need a sound card and just to use the in game headphone setting for binaural surround sound. Does he mean that games that have this specific function i will not need to use the 7.1 emulation software on? I play Player Unknowns Battlegrounds and cant see anything in the sound options about a headphone setting. As a matter of fact I'm not sure if i have seen it in any game.

Thanks for your replies in advance.
 
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ssddx
the ad700x really is not a hard headphone to drive. most sources should be more than enough to power them.

if you did decide to get a soundcard, anything half decent should be fine. the z has a better amp while the dx has a better dac for mid level prices.

razer virtual surround will work on most systems with a simple setup but out of all the virtual options you have its not regarded as the best sounding. generally dolby headphone or cmss3d (now part of the sbx package) are preferred more. these two come with some soundcards or sometimes with motherboard onboard audio.

some games do have audio cues for 3d sound. different tones for rear audio, varying volume or tone for distance, etc which are built in. these options should affect...
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ssddx

ssddx

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May 27, 2009
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the ad700x really is not a hard headphone to drive. most sources should be more than enough to power them.

if you did decide to get a soundcard, anything half decent should be fine. the z has a better amp while the dx has a better dac for mid level prices.

razer virtual surround will work on most systems with a simple setup but out of all the virtual options you have its not regarded as the best sounding. generally dolby headphone or cmss3d (now part of the sbx package) are preferred more. these two come with some soundcards or sometimes with motherboard onboard audio.

some games do have audio cues for 3d sound. different tones for rear audio, varying volume or tone for distance, etc which are built in. these options should affect both headphone and 5.1/7.1 speaker users in many cases. i'm not sure if i recall any games with a specific virtual surround headphone option built in specifically but i do not play enough games with headphones to say for sure.

it certainly is true that in many cases virtual surround is not needed for games if using a nice pair of headphones with decent soundstage.

it is also true that virtual surround does not always improve the audio of all games. some have very bad sound implementation and virtual does not improve it by a vast degree. generally not AAA titles, but even things like cs-go suffered from this, at least in the past (not aware if it was ever fixed, i'm not a cs-go player so i've just heard 3rd party).
 
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