Best PCI soundcard for grado sr-80? - Head-Fi: Covering Headphones, Earphones and Portable Audio

sinetwo · #1 (**permalink**) 01-02-2006, 10:09 PM

Hi there,

couldn't find a good thread about this so I reckon i should just ask. I'm not good with hifi nor do i know a lot about it, but I know for cetrain that grado sr-80 delivers better quality than my koss ur-40

Currently I only have a shuttle with the integrated sound card and it's not of the best quality to say the least...

I'm thinking of getting a pair of grado sr-80 and the yellow ear coushins aswell. However, i've heard they're quite hard to run, so i was thinking of buying a pci soundcard to match them.

Are there any RECOMMENDED soundcards for both gaming and music for the grado sr-80? Or would i have to buy a soundcard and an amp aswell? If I do need an amp and a soundcard, what would be the best budget setup? Please bear in mind that i also have a 2.1 system that I use when i dont use headphones

Thank you for the time, and I'm sorry if this has been discussed before.
SineTwo
(and also i'd like to take the time to welcome myself to the forum aswell, hopefully it'll be an enjoyable experience when i decide to get what i want

)

sinetwo · #2 (**permalink**) 01-03-2006, 02:50 AM

anyone..? m-audio? or..? :P again, preferrably one without amp

AdamWill · #3 (**permalink**) 01-03-2006, 03:54 AM

m-audio revolution 5.1 or creative x-fi are your best choices without an amp.

saturnine · #4 (**permalink**) 01-03-2006, 04:03 AM

Go for the X-Fi. It actually sounds kinda good paired with my RS-1 unamped. The X-Fi (Music, the $130 one) doesn't have very good treble extension, the bass is a bit boomy and uncontrolled, and the mids are run of the mill, but it does sound good for the price. It will properly drive Grados to more than deafening levels, and is the best thing out there for games. Plus, Creative's drivers have much improved since the Audigy era.

sinetwo · #5 (**permalink**) 01-03-2006, 04:21 AM

When people say it's good for gaming, what exactly does that imply? surely if it's good for music then it's also good for gaming? or is it so that gaming uses more channels or something?

I'm thinking about the m-audio revolution now, since it's half the price of the x-fi music...

Sorry to keep asking questions, but i'm a complete noob :P

saturnine · #6 (**permalink**) 01-03-2006, 04:27 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by sinetwo

When people say it's good for gaming, what exactly does that imply? surely if it's good for music then it's also good for gaming? or is it so that gaming uses more channels or something?

It has to do with the onboard audio processing on the X-Fi (and Audigy series). Other soundcards force the CPU to do certain audio processing tasks, leading to a very slight degredation of framerate. Plus, EAX effects are quite cool with certain games, and I've found they help a lot when sniping in BF2.

sinetwo · #7 (**permalink**) 01-03-2006, 04:31 AM

Ok, so the x-fi music would be the best bet then? think i can get it for around $140 incl. shipping here in the uk... hope it fits in my shuttle with everything else then =)

Do you use grado for gaming as well?

saturnine · #8 (**permalink**) 01-03-2006, 04:36 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by sinetwo

Do you use grado for gaming as well?

Actually, no I don't. I find the Grado soundstage a little too tight. When gaming at home I use speakers (Swan M200) and at lanparties its either my ER-4p or Triport (

).

Be sure to check out some reviews before purchasing the X-Fi. Also, if you have a Nforce4 motherboard, read up on the problems people have been having. Last I heard, Nforce4 + X-Fi = no go, but the new drivers may have fixed the problem.

Good luck

sinetwo · #9 (**permalink**) 01-03-2006, 04:39 AM

Currently i've got an intel chipset in my shuttle sb75g2, so i assume i should be alright, but i will definatley google the chipset + x-fi.

I'm most probably either going to go for the x-fi or m audio revo, with alessandro ms-1

I play cs:s mostly online, and i hope to distinguish the sounds a bit better than on my onboard soundcard, seems as though i cant tell back from right from left etc, gets very annoying when you think one person has cloned and are attacking you from all sides, and when you get shot, you think: "ah, i knew he was there"

saturnine · #10 (**permalink**) 01-03-2006, 04:45 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by sinetwo

I play cs:s mostly online, and i hope to distinguish the sounds a bit better than on my onboard soundcard, seems as though i cant tell back from right from left etc, gets very annoying when you think one person has cloned and are attacking you from all sides, and when you get shot, you think: "ah, i knew he was there"

That sounds like a headphone problem

The Grado soundstage isn't very refined, you can read about it for hours here. IMO the lower end Grados (SR-60/80/125/225/MS-1) are the worst gaming cans ever. The 325i/MS-2/RS-2 has a slightly better soundstage, and the RS-1 has the best soundstage out of them all, but still isnt suitable for competition gaming IMO.

While you are at it, how about a dedicated gaming headphone?

Good ones to look at:
Audio Technica A500/700/900
Beyerdynamic DT-770 (80ohm)

Oh, and the standard Head-Fi saying: Sorry about your wallet.

sinetwo · #11 (**permalink**) 01-03-2006, 04:53 AM

ach! sounds horrible :P I cant get two cans, i'm already thinking of investing heavily in the ms-1 :P

I've got koss ur-40 now, and they're alright, but might be a headphone problem as you say, but the realtek ac'97 onboard sound is absolutely horrible :P

Loads of crackles and pops and what not...

I dunno, i feel i'm just going to get the ms-1's and the music x-fi...

In 1-2 weeks time you'll see me going from

->

Shion · #12 (**permalink**) 01-03-2006, 05:45 AM

Well, I am surprised no one has mentioned the Audiotrak Prodigy 7.1. This is the card I have and using an ASIO plug-in for output in winamp to listen to music has proved to be an excellent listening experience with my SR-80s (which by the way, are an amazing pair of cans for the price IMO). As for gaming, the Prodigy used to utilize Sensaura 3D technology, which was a bummer for most people looking for a gaming experience, so many of the reviews you might find on it might point out a gaming weakness. However, several months ago Audiotrak updated the prodigy's drivers (to ver 2.012) and now it no longer utilizes Sensaura... now it does QSound. Now, I do not know a lot about gaming sound effects (I didn't get this card for gaming... obviously at the time it wasn't the best choice) and at the risk of sounding retarded, I will say I don't know if QSound = EAX, but I do know that the prodigy now supports EAX (from the changelog, I got the impression QSound = EAX).

At the time I got this card, the other main contender I was looking at was at the M-Audio Revolution. Both cards are based on the Envy24 chipset, and both got rave reviews for sound quality, but the rev lacked an audio input onboard (to hook up your optical drive directly to the card, if it interests you) whereas the prodigy had all the I/Os I wanted.

If it helps your decision, I do know that people that have revs are complaining about the lack of driver updates for that card by M-Audio, and wish they had gotten the prodigy instead now that it supports QSound. The only thing I cannot help you with is comparison of the former with the X-Fi... it may well be the X-Fi consumes less CPU, but if you have a good video card, that's hardly going to be any issue for gaming (don't forget the average eyes will only notice degradation in motion once the framerate goes below 30 fps). And the prodigy won't set you back more than $100, and I'd find it's unlikely the X-Fi is superior in sound quality (again, take my comments with a grain of salt since I have not listened to the X-Fi)

Hope it helps,

Shion

Shion · #13 (**permalink**) 01-03-2006, 05:54 AM

Sorry, it just occurred to me that I didn't say anything about the juice from the prodigy...

I find it's more than enough to drive my SR-80s to a good listening level. It includes a built-in "headphone amp", which essentially just gives some 20% volume boost (it does not introduce any distortion). However, in my experience you should not need to turn it on and go beyond 70% (or have it on and go beyond 50%) volume to hear average recordings.. beyond that it just starts getting into loss of hearing land (and some pain) for me. Not to mention some games tend to be louder than the average cd.

Shion

Zorander · #14 (**permalink**) 01-03-2006, 07:10 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Shion

Well, I am surprised no one has mentioned the Audiotrak Prodigy 7.1. This is the card I have and using an ASIO plug-in for output in winamp to listen to music has proved to be an excellent listening experience with my SR-80s (which by the way, are an amazing pair of cans for the price IMO). As for gaming, the Prodigy used to utilize Sensaura 3D technology, which was a bummer for most people looking for a gaming experience, so many of the reviews you might find on it might point out a gaming weakness. However, several months ago Audiotrak updated the prodigy's drivers (to ver 2.012) and now it no longer utilizes Sensaura... now it does QSound. Now, I do not know a lot about gaming sound effects (I didn't get this card for gaming... obviously at the time it wasn't the best choice) and at the risk of sounding retarded, I will say I don't know if QSound = EAX, but I do know that the prodigy now supports EAX (from the changelog, I got the impression QSound = EAX).

At the time I got this card, the other main contender I was looking at was at the M-Audio Revolution. Both cards are based on the Envy24 chipset, and both got rave reviews for sound quality, but the rev lacked an audio input onboard (to hook up your optical drive directly to the card, if it interests you) whereas the prodigy had all the I/Os I wanted.

If it helps your decision, I do know that people that have revs are complaining about the lack of driver updates for that card by M-Audio, and wish they had gotten the prodigy instead now that it supports QSound. The only thing I cannot help you with is comparison of the former with the X-Fi... it may well be the X-Fi consumes less CPU, but if you have a good video card, that's hardly going to be any issue for gaming (don't forget the average eyes will only notice degradation in motion once the framerate goes below 30 fps). And the prodigy won't set you back more than $100, and I'd find it's unlikely the X-Fi is superior in sound quality (again, take my comments with a grain of salt since I have not listened to the X-Fi)

Hope it helps,

Shion

Seconded.

I regularly use the SR-80 with the Prodigy. The card has a certain synergy with the Grado signature: neutral and organic sound that reins in the Grado brightness.

Soundstorm · #15 (**permalink**) 01-03-2006, 07:21 AM

Actually the latest drivers for the Prodigy 7.1 is 2.18, available on the Korean Audiotrak website. But the Prodigy 7.1 is discontinued these days, replaced by the Prodigy 7.1LT.

http://www.audiotrak.co.kr/audiotrak...98(051025).zip