edgejay said:

  Hi. Im new to this forum as well as most things related to audio equipment. Just wanted to know is it possible to know if its possible for external DACs and AMPs to decode (maybe decode is the wrong word) Dolby Surround audio that would be transmitted from a sound card from a computer. I read on the forums that DACs do not enhance the accuracy of surround sound by themselves and would require a sound card with DTS 5.1 (something like that) for it to be able to properly transmit surround sound. Im just wondering how would it be possible to build the best audio setup for a high end gaming PC that requires accurate positional sound as well as great sound quality. 
 
**Apologies in advance should this be a stupid question or should whatever I have mentioned be incorrect in any way. Do forgive me as I am new in many ways to the high-end audio industry.
 
Peace

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nec3 said:

 

Your question is straight to the point and fully comprehensible, you did quite the research

Here's the TL;DR version of my post. Get a good open back headphone and a soundcard that supports surround sound output.

(I prefer CMSS-3D over Dolby to be honest)
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The soundcard that does the DTS 5.1 is a DAC in itself. You can plug your headphones into the soundcard and audio will come out, thus Digital to Audio Converter. The only thing you can do now at this point is just plug in an amplifier, or straight to your headphone.

If you want better accurate positional sound, start playing competitive games that do have accurate positional sound. Or upgrade to a better headphone.

However, certain games will benefit from certain headphones, but the fact is bassy headphones will generally destroy sound positioning since bass tends to cover up details you need to hear. I tried headsets such as Tritton Pro+, Razer Kraken, and Astro A40's that just didn't do it because of their bass.


​Games off the Source Engine have excellent surround sound, thus why Counterstrike still remains a competitive eSports. 
Games that have a lot of audio effects such as Battlefield, benefits from open back headphones (In regards to stereo headphones, not 5.1)
Games that have minimal audio effects and focus on positioning such as counterstrike, benefit from non bassy, closed back headphones.

Or, you could buy Sennheiser HD800's

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edgejay said:

  Oh I see. So in that case does it mean that the overall sound quality wouldn't benefit from an external DAC if I used it in conjunction with a sound card with DTS 5.1? Lets say I have a Asus Xonar DSX sound card (which is capable of DTS 5.1). I connect an external DAC to the sound card via optical cable, and then to an amplifier. Would this solution be viable at all? Or am I missing a few necessary pieces of equipment?

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