Will my Astro A50's work with a ASUS Xonar Essence STX sound and?

[PULSE92]

Title basically says it all. Will they work? Cheers

 

[gamerk316]

Yes, but its a waste of cash. There is no reason to get an STX for using its optical output. May as well buy a much cheaper card if thats what you are going to use.

 

[Gentle Banana]

I'm new to this too. May I ask what is the purpose of the sound card then? Is a sound card not required to make the most out of the Astro A50?

 

[gamerk316]

I'm new to this too. May I ask what is the purpose of the sound card then? Is a sound card not required to make the most out of the Astro A50?

Back to basics: Audio is an analog signal. On the PC, the audio file is saved as a digital file. What that means, is at some point, some device is going to convert that digital file into an analog signal so your speakers/headphones can output the sound.

When you use the digital output of a soundcard, this process is handed off to some other device. In this case, the A50's, not the soundcard, will be the primary driver of audio quality. You only benefit from a soundcards software side enhancements. That's it.