AD700's Superlux HD668B's Soundcard

You can find a used X-Fi Xtreme Gamer on Ebay,Also a Xonar DG will work and it goes for 30ish dollars. But it supports EAX 1,2 and then emulated EAX5 when GX/DSGX mode is enable. But the GX mode isn't perfect as it has sound looping issues. Then the Emulated EAX5 on the Xonars are not perfect. Whatever you do, don't grab a used Xtreme Audio because its not a real X-FI card.

I seen the Superlux 668 on ebay a couple of times in the 50ish mark.  I never heard them my self But I had the AD700, you don't mind them being bass lite then go for them. But if you going for the AD700 thinking they have allot of bass they will not be fore you. Also the AD700 sits on your head and will fall off if you look down or a slant , Also there loosely on your head. You can use a rubber band to make them tighter on your head.

If you don't care about EAX, then go for the Xonar DG,  Xonars has Dolby headphone while Creative chip set uses CMSS3D headphone. Some around these forums don't use either of them. But when both is set up right they work great. Note Dolby headphone modes 2 and 3 adds allot of reverbs and echo, Dolby Headphone mode 1 which I used on the Xonar STX is Ref and doesn't add any Reverb and Echo. But you can try out DH Mode 1 and 2 and pick the one you like.

Also when using Dolby headphone, set the windows sound config to 5.1 including the games, It will make Dolby Headphone work it best. Same applies to CMSS3D headphone.

Also don't use either when your listen to music, and turn on Hi-fi mode on the Xonar for music listening as Dolby headphone as well as CMSS3D headphone jacks up the music.

Also One of the Xonar DG pros that it has a decent headphone amp that can amp up to 150ohm headphones aslong they not hard to driven ones. Which none of the two you listed are.  I doubt the AD700 would benefit from the Amp because When I had mine I never used it with a amp, But I don't know if the Superlux 668B will.

You shouldn't be comparing EAX to Dolby Headphone, but CMSS-3D Headphone. EAX concerns the reverb, chorus, and occlusion effects mapped in the game environment to make it sound more realistic. The other two are binaural surround technologies meant to be used with headphones. EAX tends to be used more in older games, but I still insist on its support for the sole reason that I still play a lot of older games that use it. (Oh, and if anyone foolishly tells you that EAX doesn't work in Vista or Win7? ALchemy on Creative cards, GX2.5 on Asus and all other C-Media cards. And that's just for DirectSound3D-based games; those that use OpenAL don't need it.)

I can't say which is better or worse, but I'm quite satisfied with CMSS-3D Headphone. It's almost like an aural wallhack at times, especially in DirectSound3D and OpenAL-using games that describe sound with actual 3D coordinates instead of mere 7.1 speaker positions. Just make sure you do what genclaymore said and set the Windows control panel to 5.1 or 7.1 (I use 7.1 because I don't have any 5.1 speakers connected to my desktop), while leaving the X-Fi control panel set to Headphones (so that you have the correct CMSS-3D option available, and the speaker settings remain asynchronous). Don't worry about missing sounds; the card automatically downmixes the extra channels into stereo, even with CMSS-3D Headphone off.

For the X-Fi line, your basic minimum would be the XtremeMusic or XtremeGamer for PCI, or the Titanium (non-HD) for PCIe. You may be able to get better models if you buy used, depending on budget.

The Asus Xonar DG comes with Dolby Digital and lots of DVD movies use Dolby Digital, so great for movies.

The Xonar DG comes with a $10 mail in rebate this month, depends were you buy it, in the USA.

The DG is the only low cost card that comes with a built in headphone amplifier.

I believe I'm the one who started saying (guessing?) that the DG is rated up to 150-Ohm.

The DG's headphone amp has three setting, 32-Ohm or less, 32 to 64-Ohm and >64-Ohm.

The DG uses a PCI slot.

I've heard in gaming, setting the game's audio to "Cinema Theater" works best for Xonar cards.

I own both the ATH-AD700 and the HD-668B, never gamed with them

(have not really gamed in over 7 years).

The AD700 being bass light, makes you miss out "something" in movies and some music.

I would say get the Samson SR850 (made by Superlux)

People seem to like the SR850 over the HD-668B.

By Superb spatial awareness, I guess you want to know were your enemies are shooting from?

The ATH-AD700 has good reputation for being able to hear everything around you.

I'm assuming it's lack of bass allows one to hear more details from your surroundings.

At 32-Ohms, the AD700 can be plugged into any sound card, or on board sound.

The AD700s are light feeling resting on the head, but never felt they were going to fall off.

I heard the Samson SR850 (made by Superlux) is also good for FPS

EAX 5 is more important in older games, the XtremeGamer (PCI) or Titanium (non-HD, PCI-Express) are low cost used

sound card that support EAX 5.0, you might(?) need to spend $10 for Creative Labs software

that allows EAX 5.0 to work with Vista or Win 7.

Creative Labs CMSS-3D is just a little bit better with FPS games over Dolby.

If your will to spend more cash, the Titanium HD is great for gaming.

I'm a Xonar fan and push the Xonar DG (PCI).

It's low cost ($20 after mail in rebate)

Has a very basic headphone amplifier.

Comes with Dolby Headphone 5.1 (which is great for DVD movies).

Setting game audio to "Cinema Theater" seems to work best with Dolby

I've used the Xonar DG, DS, DX and now Essence STX.

The DS, DX and STX all use the C-Media CMI8788 audio processor, the DG uses the slightly older CMI8768

The DS and DX do not come with a dedicated headphone amplifier, but will power 80-Ohm headphones just fine.

The Xonar DS does not come with Dolby, just DTS

The Xonar DX is good for analog 5.1 or 7.1 speakers.

And the Titanium HD would be better for FPS over the Essence STX

(and the Titanium HD is cheaper then the STX).

So just save money and get the DG.

Try the third party  "Unified Xonar Drivers", might help

Go to a Call of Duty 4 forum, find out which sound cards your fellow gamers like best

or complain the most about.

Quote:

Originally Posted by 443330 
Thanks, I'm still fairly confused by all the jargon but im getting there. So I might just get the Xonar DG but im worried they wont be able to keep up with my headphones if I buy AD700's

I'm not really sure what you mean by "keep up with my headphones if I buy AD700s"

You might be worried about something not relevant.

The Xonar DG does not come with true EAX 5.0, just does a half way decent emulating of EAX 5.0

Lots of people play FPS with nothing more then a low cost sound chip built into the motherboard.

Dolby Headphone is really going to be the same with any Xonar sound card.

As the AD700 is only 32-Ohm, it's going have the same sound quality with any sound card under $100

What other choices do you have?