Sign in with
Sign up | Sign in

Best sound card for a cheap set of headphones?

Last response: in Components
Share

Buying a sound card because of some microphone issues but I might as well improve my sound quality as well. I have some normal headphones, not 7.1 or anything fancy like that. I was wondering if there was any point in buying 7.1 sound card for just normal headphones, will it just be not compatible or will it still work? Or should I just go with the cheapest possible?
Related ressources

iceclock said:
well give me a number, i do recommand addin cards if u do gaming or love music, and goes great with a new pair of headphones, whats ur budget for soundcard and headphones and whats ur motherboard ?

I'm not prepared to spend money on a completely new headset. I have a P5Q SE2 motherboard and my budget for a sound card is about 30 euro. I've seen 7.1 sound cards go for 20 euro, not sure if they are reliable brands or anything. But even saw a 5.1 ASUS sound card for just under 30 euro. So my question. Will 7.1 actually work with normal cheap headphones? or if I don't want to upgrade my headphones should I just stay with a cheap soundcard

> if I will benifit from a 7.1 sound card

No you wont get any benefit from 7.1. If fact pretty much no one will, as very few music sources and movies have 8 channels of audio. Can also say the same for very high samples rates, 24bit audio, gold connectors, etc... as well. All if it pretty much useless for most people.

Having a optical fibre output and 8 separate speakers outputs doesn't make sense if you are using a cheap pair of headphones.

Just use the on board sound card if you have one.

Having said that, there is really no price difference between a 5.1 and 7.1 channel sound card. You can get a reasonable card for $30. Don't pay the $180 for something like the Sound Blaster X-Fi Titanium unless you upgrade the rest of your sound system as well.

PassMark said:
> if I will benifit from a 7.1 sound card

No you wont get any benefit from 7.1. If fact pretty much no one will, as very few music sources and movies have 8 channels of audio. Can also say the same for very high samples rates, 24bit audio, gold connectors, etc... as well. All if it pretty much useless for most people.

Having a optical fibre output and 8 separate speakers outputs doesn't make sense if you are using a cheap pair of headphones.

Just use the on board sound card if you have one.

Having said that, there is really no price difference between a 5.1 and 7.1 channel sound card. You can get a reasonable card for $30. Don't pay the $180 for something like the Sound Blaster X-Fi Titanium unless you upgrade the rest of your sound system as well.

I don't want to use my on-board sound because I have some issues with it with my microphone. It's the main reason I am getting a sound card to begin with. You said that most music and movies don't support 8 channels of audio. Do many games support it?
Also, how does this one look if I decide to stay with just a normal 2.1 stereo? http://www.elara.ie/productdetail.aspx?productcode=WCES...
!