How good is my motherboards audio?

[Azurumi Shinji]

Hello , sorry for the noob questions , but i would love to hear your opinions on this.

I have this motherboard "Intel BOXDZ77BH55K LGA 1155 Intel Z77 HDMI, DP, SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 ATX Intel Motherboard" ( btw what is the best way for me to refer this motherboard as? i am a noob and do not know what are all the important details on it " also here is a link to it , were i bought it.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?item=N82E16813121606
Also . some one said it is NOT a Realtek ALC892 , but it is actually a ALC898 which i think is better...do you think that is true( that its a 898 )?

I am wondering all this stuff because i am getting a 7.1 headphone ( astro a40 complete system neon yellow , maybe not the best sound but i LOVE its looks and i have the westone 3 already ).

Will my motherboard handle it GREAT? and how would it compare to this sound card i was thinking of getting....money like that isnt a big deal for me btw.
ASUS Xonar Essence STX , and here is a link to it.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16829132010

Lastly , what is the best sound card i could get , how would that compare to my motherboards and here is a list of my pc specs.

GPU : GTX 680 ( core clock 1071MHz / boost clock 1137 ) 4GB / / CPU : Intel i7-3770K @ 3.50 ghz // Memory :vengeance 16GB(x2 8GB) ram
hard-drive : caviar black 2TB // SSD : Intel730 480GB //
Operating system : Windows 8.1 // resolution : 1920x1080 80hz
Motherboard : 1155 Intel Z77 HDMI, DP, SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 ATX Intel
Power supply : seasonic X 1050 watt..
Keyboard logitech g510
mouse : Tt eSPORTS BLACK Laser Gaming Mouse MO-BLK002DT
cooling : NZXT Kraken X40 RL-KRX40-01 Water/Liquid CPU Cooler 140MM
Tower case : Cooler Master HAF X

 

[getochkn]

With that headset you don't need to worry about your sound card. either you can plug it in via optical toslink, which is pure digital sound and the sound card really doesn't matter at all, or you can plug it in USB and then again, the sound is sent from your PC to their Mixamp Pro box, all digital and decoded there.

In either case, your sound card doesn't matter. For all purposes, digital audio is digital audio.

 

[Azurumi Shinji]

With that headset you don't need to worry about your sound card. either you can plug it in via optical toslink, which is pure digital sound and the sound card really doesn't matter at all, or you can plug it in USB and then again, the sound is sent from your PC to their Mixamp Pro box, all digital and decoded there.

In either case, your sound card doesn't matter. For all purposes, digital audio is digital audio.

Thank you for your reply! I have some more noob questions tho , like...
If i plug it in by USB it is not considered digital any more and having a sound card would matter? If thats true , does that mean i could get better sound , but probably not much?

Also , i am just learning now about optical toslink so its a little hard to grasp. What are the pro's and con's of optical toslink and USB? or do i have to plug both in cause i thought the usb was needed for power? Or does the optical toslink just over ride the USB?

Sorry for so many questions scattered everywhere >.<

( oh and i still wanna know how good my boards sound is compared to a cards for the sake of knowing at least , glad i dont have to worry about it tho )

 

[Xibyth]

Discrete audio cards will almost always beat onboard audio cards. However, the difference in quality is almost non-existent. Discrete cards tend to get higher db, but that just means louder. Check the impedance between your motherboards and a xonar and you have essentially found the most basic form of sound clarity and the difference between the two.

 

[Azurumi Shinji]

Discrete audio cards will almost always beat onboard audio cards. However, the difference in quality is almost non-existent. Discrete cards tend to get higher db, but that just means louder. Check the impedance between your motherboards and a xonar and you have essentially found the most basic form of sound clarity and the difference between the two.

Thats a good simple way to look at it. Only problem is , the DB isnt always told the same if i am understanding it right. The xonar listed it as simply "snr 116" ,while mine listed it as "DACs with 95dB SNR (A-weighting), ADCs with 90dB SNR (A-weighting)". So for mine , what is my db? and is 116 a fair answer or is there a marketing trick?

 

[getochkn]

When it comes to using powered speakers, I find most sound cards don't matter or differ much. Headphones plugged in, is where a good sound card amplifes better and louder, thus you can turn down the volume and not crank it on full and experience distortion. again this doesn't apply to your headset since it will be digital, but a normal set of headphones, there is night and day difference between my Xonar, My Tascam USB mixer and the onboard sound when I use my Sony or Seisnheimer Headphones. The first two blow the onboard away. When speakers are plugged in, no so much of a difference.