[Infamoose]

Hello all,
 
I currently own and solely use the Philips Fidelio x2's; I bought these after having a poor time with a broken pair of m50x's. Despite the fact I plug them into the headphone jack on my desktop speakers, I absolutely love the x2's. My only problem is that I'm having a seriously poor time trying to listen to directional information in games now that i'm getting back into FPS'; Particularly Counter Strike.
 
I am basically looking to purchase a new pair of headphones that I will solely use for gaming and I will just switch back to my X2's when I want to watch movies/tv/listen to music. Currently looking at the AKG 701/702's or possibly even Beyerdyanmic DT990's, not particularly sure on the difference between the k700 series but I have read somewhere that they sacrificed some of the great directional sound in the earlier models to allow for a more fun bassy sound in the newer models? (not sure, just going off what i've read).
 
Was just looking for guidance on anyone who has had previous experience with the above headphones and gaming combined, even better if you have experienced the fidelio x2's and can compare them to the akg's/beyer's as I have no idea if it's even worth picking up another pair for the difference I would gain as a lot of people did say the soundstage and positional accuracy was great on the fidelio x2's to begin with.
 
Feel free to throw any and all headphones into the mix so I can have as many options to choose from as possible, I have been told that the AudioTechnica ATH-AD700X & AD900X are both extremely good pairs of headphones, especially for their positonal accuracy; however there is also mention of the AD900X losing that defined positional accuracy in order to provide more bass (much like what I heard about AKG's). Is this a common thing?
 
Budget: around £150 says my wallet, around £250 says my irrational spending brain. ($150-$300)
 
Headphone Use: I pretty much solely play Counter Strike: Global Offensive, Battlefield 1 and H1Z1 at the moment (all FPS games) and thus will appreciate superior directional audio; However I do listen to the odd bit of new retro wave synth music/hip hop while gaming every now and then. [music is kind of irrelevant though, I would sacrifice everything for good positional awareness of my enemies]
 
Thanks in advance
Infamoose
 
P.S. I know there are masses of threads including these very headphones I have spoke about, along side the same reasons I'm speaking about them, however they never seem to end the thread with a definitive conclusion and never seem to justify one choice over the other properly.
 
EDIT 1: Completely forgot to mention, I have been driving my Fidelio X2's via the headphone port on my 8 year old logitech 5.1 desktop speakers (I'm stupid, I know), would purchasing an AMP/DAC/Sound Card "activate" the soundstage/positional accuracy/directional audio that i've been missing on these headphones?
 
The only other way I could drive them is by plugging them directly into my motherboard which is the Gigabyte X79-UD3.

 

[PurpleAngel]

Which Logitech 5.1 speaker setup do you have?
I'm guessing plugging the headphones into the Speakers is only giving you stereo audio.
 
Creative Labs Sound Blaster Z sound card, should improve headphone surround sound.
Might very improve the Logitech's audio quality.

 

[obobskivich]

I'd go with the K701. Used them for years with gaming - there are better options, but nothing that's not discontinued (if you're curious and don't mind the slog through ebay and elsewhere, the Sony MDR-F1 would be my absolute top pick if you don't care about anything but raw positional data (specifically they do somewhat better at near/far discrimination but once you get used to the 701's presentation you can be just as "good")). Haven't heard the Philips though. The AT 700X was a popular suggestion in years past - I personally haven't heard them, so won't make a recommend, but there's a lot written about them if you don't mind digging.

As far as a new soundcard - it may help drive the cans better (especially relevant for the K701), but modern games (like the ones you've mentioned) rely on software audio engines, so there's no need for h/w DSP to achieve surround processing. The Sound Blaster that PurpleAngel suggested would be suitable to drive the 701s - it has a decent little Maxim chipamp on it.


As far as the speakers go - got a model number?

 

[Infamoose]

  Which Logitech 5.1 speaker setup do you have?
I'm guessing plugging the headphones into the Speakers is only giving you stereo audio.
 
Creative Labs Sound Blaster Z sound card, should improve headphone surround sound.
Might very improve the Logitech's audio quality.

I believe I have the Logitech x530 5.1 surround sound system. I doubt it's anything particularly special since it was rather cheap when I bought it and it is decently old now. I was thinking about purchasing a sound card, at the moment I have a decent enough budget to do either or, I'm just trying to decide what is going to be the most effective for me; buy a DAC to amplify my fidelio x2's, buy a soundcard to improve audio overall throughout my speakers and headphones or just buy a new pair of cans which are particularly renowned for their directional audio and positional accuracy.
 
 

I'd go with the K701. Used them for years with gaming - there are better options, but nothing that's not discontinued (if you're curious and don't mind the slog through ebay and elsewhere, the Sony MDR-F1 would be my absolute top pick if you don't care about anything but raw positional data (specifically they do somewhat better at near/far discrimination but once you get used to the 701's presentation you can be just as "good")). Haven't heard the Philips though. The AT 700X was a popular suggestion in years past - I personally haven't heard them, so won't make a recommend, but there's a lot written about them if you don't mind digging.

As far as a new soundcard - it may help drive the cans better (especially relevant for the K701), but modern games (like the ones you've mentioned) rely on software audio engines, so there's no need for h/w DSP to achieve surround processing. The Sound Blaster that PurpleAngel suggested would be suitable to drive the 701s - it has a decent little Maxim chipamp on it.


As far as the speakers go - got a model number?

 
I am very much leaning towards the K701's due to the amount of recommendations they have, I'm just very worried about the all plastic build quality, have you had any problems with them at all due to build quality? I saw a review stating that you really do have to be careful with them and 1 mistake such as leaving them on your chair and sitting on them (not that i've ever done that before ) can be drastic. This build quality issue was the reason I was looking for an alternative such as the ATH-AD700x's or ATH-AD900X's since they have a fairly decent metal design and theyre really not that much more expensive.
 
 
Can either of you shed any light on the idea that new models adapting to a nicer bassline in order to make the audio more "fun" may lower the quality of directional audio and so on? I also read somewhere that this is the case as directional audio queues such as footsteps and gunfire is mostly mid range/treble based audio and so the bass sort of washes it out and distorts it? I have a feeling this is what is happening with my fidelio X2's, maybe i'm wrong but it seems fairly accurate. (I read about this when comparing the difference between the AD700X's and AD900X's.

 

[PurpleAngel]

  I believe I have the Logitech x530 5.1 surround sound system. I doubt it's anything particularly special since it was rather cheap when I bought it and it is decently old now. I was thinking about purchasing a sound card, at the moment I have a decent enough budget to do either or, I'm just trying to decide what is going to be the most effective for me; buy a DAC to amplify my Fidelio x2's, buy a sound card to improve audio overall throughout my speakers and headphones or just buy a new pair of cans which are particularly renowned for their directional audio and positional accuracy.
 
Can either of you shed any light on the idea that new models adapting to a nicer bassline in order to make the audio more "fun" may lower the quality of directional audio and so on? I also read somewhere that this is the case as directional audio queues such as footsteps and gunfire is mostly mid range/treble based audio and so the bass sort of washes it out and distorts it? I have a feeling this is what is happening with my fidelio X2's, maybe i'm wrong but it seems fairly accurate. (I read about this when comparing the difference between the AD700X's and AD900X's.

 
Getting the SB-Z sound card (used, $50) should improve audio quality for both the Fidelio X2 and the Logitech Z-530 5.1.
And the SB-Z's SBX Headphone surround sound should help with FPS games.
Try that setup for while, then later on you can see about getting other headphones.
 
I believe your Fidelio X2 are considered good all around headphones.
Not sure what headphones you could get that would offer a big improvement in both FPS gaming and music audio.
 
Looks like you could get some used ATH-AD700X for around $90, but the ATH-AD900X would be better for music.
Not sure the AD900X would be better for music, over the Fidelio X2.

 

[obobskivich]

WRT K701 durability: I've never gotten the appeal of "all metal" - they can be just as fragile if you're going to abuse them (e.g. sit your whole weight on them). As far as the K701s go - I had them for ~6 years and used them almost every day and they still looked good as new afterwords. They were dropped (by accident) once or twice off my desk and had no problems. They felt nicely put together and there were no weird creaks/moans/etc as they moved around. I do know when I bought them years ago there was speculation that the elastic on the headband adjustor thing may be an eventual point of failure, but like I said, I never experienced issues with them (the pads on mine didn't even deform). Regarding that elastic - there was a time when people were cutting it out and just setting the height of the headband with zipties so even if the elastic failed, you could live without it just fine. Not sure I'd go as far as cutting it up myself, but hey, whatever floats your boat.

 

[Smugsie]

If you want directional audio: Beyerdynamic. All their open backs have similar soundstaging, positioning and imagining. Competitive gaming they are better than other brands. Battlefield games have really good audio engines so their soundstage is not picky, so don't worry about it.

Unlike the Source engine used for CS:GO, has finnicky audio positioning and the following headphones have issues:

AD900X: Slightly diffused (compared to Beyerdynamic DT880, footsteps aren't prominent compared to other headphones, it's too relaxed for competitive play)
HD598: Lacks speed (in an intense firefight some sounds start to "merge" and it's so annoying when that happens, in a nutshell they're not clear enough)
AKG Q701: Lacks rear positioning (Dust II: Guarding Cat from CT ramp along the wall that has a pipe and body width cover, footsteps from cat sound like footsteps from car. I've lost so many firefights because of this, this isn't an issue with other headphones)

So far I've been having a lot of improvements with the Beyerdynamic DT 880. Everything is pinpoint accurate, the soundstage is significantly smaller compared to other headphones but everything feels so good. Sounds can come from behind and I'd be able to tell instantly. The HD598 does corner holding better because of the wide frontal stage, but the DT880 is an overall better performer when you're in the smoke and trying to do call outs because you can't see anything.

////Flame Shield////
I like the AKG Q701/HD598 better for music though. HD598 is a go to for classical/laid back recordings, Q701 is a go to for active pop/rock(except dubstep, DT880 is better).
////End of Flame Shield////

CS:GO Credentials:
SMFC/Global Elite Pre-Patch (where I was in highschool and played games 8 hours a day)
LE on holidays (where I get 1 hour warmups)
MG2 on weekdays (where I don't get warmups and dive straight to comp because casual is for scrubs)

 

[Infamoose]

   
Getting the SB-Z sound card (used, $50) should improve audio quality for both the Fidelio X2 and the Logitech Z-530 5.1.
And the SB-Z's SBX Headphone surround sound should help with FPS games.
Try that setup for while, then later on you can see about getting other headphones.
 
I believe your Fidelio X2 are considered good all around headphones.
Not sure what headphones you could get that would offer a big improvement in both FPS gaming and music audio.
 
Looks like you could get some used ATH-AD700X for around $90, but the ATH-AD900X would be better for music.
Not sure the AD900X would be better for music, over the Fidelio X2.

 
Okay this is what I was thinking because I do remember doing research on the fidelio x2 for gaming before I bought them and everyone was saying they are pretty exceptional for it.
 
I think i'm going to go with this and purchase a high tier sound card to benefit my fidelio X2's, would you consider the Soundblaster Z more than enough for the system I'm using or would your recommend spending the extra money on something like the "Asus Xonar Essence STX II"?
 
 

  If you want directional audio: Beyerdynamic. All their open backs have similar soundstaging, positioning and imagining. Competitive gaming they are better than other brands. Battlefield games have really good audio engines so their soundstage is not picky, so don't worry about it.

Unlike the Source engine used for CS:GO, has finnicky audio positioning and the following headphones have issues:

AD900X: Slightly diffused (compared to Beyerdynamic DT880, footsteps aren't prominent compared to other headphones, it's too relaxed for competitive play)
HD598: Lacks speed (in an intense firefight some sounds start to "merge" and it's so annoying when that happens, in a nutshell they're not clear enough)
AKG Q701: Lacks rear positioning (Dust II: Guarding Cat from CT ramp along the wall that has a pipe and body width cover, footsteps from cat sound like footsteps from car. I've lost so many firefights because of this, this isn't an issue with other headphones)

So far I've been having a lot of improvements with the Beyerdynamic DT 880. Everything is pinpoint accurate, the soundstage is significantly smaller compared to other headphones but everything feels so good. Sounds can come from behind and I'd be able to tell instantly. The HD598 does corner holding better because of the wide frontal stage, but the DT880 is an overall better performer when you're in the smoke and trying to do call outs because you can't see anything.

////Flame Shield////
I like the AKG Q701/HD598 better for music though. HD598 is a go to for classical/laid back recordings, Q701 is a go to for active pop/rock(except dubstep, DT880 is better).
////End of Flame Shield////

CS:GO Credentials:
SMFC/Global Elite Pre-Patch (where I was in highschool and played games 8 hours a day)
LE on holidays (where I get 1 hour warmups)
MG2 on weekdays (where I don't get warmups and dive straight to comp because casual is for scrubs)

 
Thanks for the detailed response on all the options, love seeing comparison posts; Going to weigh in all this information when I choose which headphones to pickup but for now i'm just going to go with the soundcard option and see if I can improve my Fidelio X2's.
 
I think im going to just have to order all of them at once and try each out to find which is better for myself.

 

[Smugsie]

How'd you like the HRTF Headphone option in csgo? For me it reminds me of the Razer surround, except Razer surround didn't make the galil sound like the m4a4.

 

[PurpleAngel]

  Okay this is what I was thinking because I do remember doing research on the Fidelio X2 for gaming before I bought them and everyone was saying they are pretty exceptional for it.
I think i'm going to go with this and purchase a high tier sound card to benefit my Fidelio X2's, would you consider the Sound Blaster Z more than enough for the system I'm using or would your recommend spending the extra money on something like the "Asus Xonar Essence STX II"?

 
I'm more of an Asus Xonar fan, over Creative sound cards.
But for FPS gaming, I do not think the Essence STX II will offer any advantages over the SB-Z card.
So get the SB-Z card for now, later on you can always get an external (optical) DAC and external headphone amplifier, to connect to it.
If later on you buy a high impedance (Ohm) headphone, chances are you going to consider maybe hooking up a tube headphone amplifier.
Which means you would consider getting an (optical) DAC to connect between the sound card and the amp.
 
My Darkvoice 336SE tube headphone amplifier does a nice job of driving my 250-Ohm Beyer T90 headphones.

 

[Luda]

Ive just gone through this with a local friend. The end result was a pair of AD900x and an SMSL M3 AMP/DAC hooked up USB to drive them. As a logn time AD700 user it was nice to test new cans (he ordered 5 or so and played with them for a while before choosing). THe wing system on the AD series is (for me, of course ymmv) incredibvly comfortable. I find most bands irriate the very top of my head where the band sits when im gaming since the headphone shift frequently when im talking during gaming sessions. My AD700s have never bothered me after hours and hours, even 8+ hour stints during LANs they are super comfy. After almost ... 4 years i believe i am starting to look into replacing the earpads if i cant find a successor. 

 

[Infamoose]

How'd you like the HRTF Headphone option in csgo? For me it reminds me of the Razer surround, except Razer surround didn't make the galil sound like the m4a4.

I couldnt stand it for more than 2 rounds. Maybe it's just me not having the patience to get used to a new sounds, I'm not sure, it just made all the audio sound "fake"; whatever that means. I am an avid watcher of gaming streams and alot of the pro players have took part in slating it already so I think i'll just stick with what im used to for now. 
 
 

   
I'm more of an Asus Xonar fan, over Creative sound cards.
But for FPS gaming, I do not think the Essence STX II will offer any advantages over the SB-Z card.
So get the SB-Z card for now, later on you can always get an external (optical) DAC and external headphone amplifier, to connect to it.
If later on you buy a high impedance (Ohm) headphone, chances are you going to consider maybe hooking up a tube headphone amplifier.
Which means you would consider getting an (optical) DAC to connect between the sound card and the amp.
 
My Darkvoice 336SE tube headphone amplifier does a nice job of driving my 250-Ohm Beyer T90 headphones.

I've heard very good things about both the asus line and creative however in terms of the value I'd get out of it I think the creative should do fine. I play alot more than just FPS games but as you said, I have plans to purchase an external DAC or possibly even a new audio interface for my XLR microphone that has a built in DAC (If that even exists). Especially since i'm currently in the market for a new audio interface; I have the Audio Technica AT2035 and I'm trying to find a good mixer/audio interface that has built in compressor settings. Thanks for the recommendation though
 
 

  Ive just gone through this with a local friend. The end result was a pair of AD900x and an SMSL M3 AMP/DAC hooked up USB to drive them. As a logn time AD700 user it was nice to test new cans (he ordered 5 or so and played with them for a while before choosing). THe wing system on the AD series is (for me, of course ymmv) incredibvly comfortable. I find most bands irriate the very top of my head where the band sits when im gaming since the headphone shift frequently when im talking during gaming sessions. My AD700s have never bothered me after hours and hours, even 8+ hour stints during LANs they are super comfy. After almost ... 4 years i believe i am starting to look into replacing the earpads if i cant find a successor. 

That's really interesting, I really like and always try to purchase a whole line of options when buying a new product so I can test them all for myself, for me it's the best way to find what is perfect for 'you'; I did it with my mice, monitors and keyboard. As for the DAC, did your friend/you ever get to try a soundcard with built in amplifier and compare it with a DAC to see which provided the better result? I am currently looking at purchasing the SoundblasterZ but am more than happy to put in some more money if a amp/DAC would be the better option or even a USB Audio Interface/mixer with a built in DAC as that would benefit my XLR microphone as well.
 
 
A little off topic but another note for all of you helpful people, I know this forum is about headphones but if any of you have any information on Audio Interfaces/Mixers with built in DAC's and compressors I would greatly appreciate it. I currently have the AT2035 XLR microphone and I'm using the Behringer Q502USB Interface to connect it to my computer but it just doesn't sound that great... It's difficult to explain what I mean, it sounds very clear in voice communication software but when I listen to streamers/youtubers/podcasters with the same microphone as me it sounds completely different. Their voice has more 'body' to it and generally comes through deeper and more radio like (which is weird cause I have a very deep voice in person). 

 

[Luda]

 
 
That's really interesting, I really like and always try to purchase a whole line of options when buying a new product so I can test them all for myself, for me it's the best way to find what is perfect for 'you'; I did it with my mice, monitors and keyboard. As for the DAC, did your friend/you ever get to try a soundcard with built in amplifier and compare it with a DAC to see which provided the better result? I am currently looking at purchasing the SoundblasterZ but am more than happy to put in some more money if a amp/DAC would be the better option or even a USB Audio Interface/mixer with a built in DAC as that would benefit my XLR microphone as well.
 

I have used various soundcards over the years, even ones with "headphone amps" and what not in them. But even at the $200+ Strix DLX from asus its no where near the power that a 'real' amp will have. I did like the DAC better than what im running [hifiman EF2A] But its entry level at best. You can get a entry level dac and amp like the SMSL M3, and some nice cans like the AD900x (currently $133 on amazon if you are in the US) for about the same as a high level audio card, and you remove the audio processing from all the software crap that is needed for high end cards, as well as moving it out of the electrically loud environment that is your motherboard. 

 

[obobskivich]

I have used various soundcards over the years, even ones with "headphone amps" and what not in them. But even at the $200+ Strix DLX from asus its no where near the power that a 'real' amp will have. I did like the DAC better than what im running [hifiman EF2A] But its entry level at best. You can get a entry level dac and amp like the SMSL M3, and some nice cans like the AD900x (currently $133 on amazon if you are in the US) for about the same as a high level audio card, and you remove the audio processing from all the software crap that is needed for high end cards, as well as moving it out of the electrically loud environment that is your motherboard. 

The newer Creative cards (SoundCore 3D based) either offer a Maxim IC amp which provides ~250mW/ch into 32R, or the TI IC amp which does about thrice that in Creative's configuration (Asus uses this TI amp too, if memory serves at least one of their boards gets closer to the 1W output that chip can do). These will provide enough power to completely annihilate your ears (as in, permanent, long-term hearing damage) with the majority of headphones on the market, however their volume controls will generally need to be set fairly high (and volume control position is ZERO indication of how "powerful" an amplifier is) as they're well set for headphone use. Some older cards and some onboard solutions advertise "premium headphone output" or "headphone amp circuit" or similar, but they're just offering an output buffer of some sort - it's better than the olden-days of hooking headphones straight into a line output (usually coming right off a DAC or codec), but it isn't a better solution than a dedicated amplifier (be it an IC, a discrete part, etc). The Strix DLX appears to be in the later category (the card itself is kind of a quirky design - its a USB 2.0 audio interface on a PCIe card), and I can't find any benchmarks/reviews showing measured output power. It's probably not huge though (TI's reference design using LME 49600 provides something like 10mW/ch - it isn't an extremely powerful design, but it can achieve low distortion and it will work well with a wide variety of headphones, especially more sensitive models).

There's almost no "audio processing" going on, sound-card side, for modern games these days - that era ended about ten years ago. The drivers handle what they need to handle for the device to work, and this won't change with an external solution (nor is an external solution a magic bullet for fidelity - it's still directly connected to that "loud environment that is your motherboard"). Overall the driver packages that Asus, Creative, etc are providing are very likely to offer more functionality than what "hi-fi" companies use (most of them don't develop their own drivers, they simply rely on OEM solutions), however that functionality often goes hand-in-hand with complexity, and that can lead to problems that more generic/widespread solutions (e.g. "basic USB audio") may not encounter. Kind of a six of one, half a dozen of the other proposition - there isn't a perfect answer all around; there's lots of "good" answers these days though, and the era of really really huge differences between different audio interfaces is fortunately coming to a close as well (as most of it moves into software, and all the hardware has to do is provide connectivity).

The DACs on a lot of higher end cards are usually pretty spectacular - the DLX has a nicer ESS chip. However that doesn't mean everything up/down-stream of that chip is as fancy as you might find in a more elaborate hi-fi component. But it should still deliver very respectable performance as a line source (e.g. into a headphone amplifier or integrated amplifier or whatever). And having said that, I'll also add that differences between DACs (even when you get into funny-money expensive stuff) are often (imho/ime) fairly subtle and relatively minimal. Especially when you're dealing with generally lower quality source material (e.g. game audio in a lot of games (this fortunately appears to be changing though)).

 

[Luda]

The newer Creative cards (SoundCore 3D based) either offer a Maxim IC amp which provides ~250mW/ch into 32R, or the TI IC amp which does about thrice that in Creative's configuration (Asus uses this TI amp too, if memory serves at least one of their boards gets closer to the 1W output that chip can do). These will provide enough power to completely annihilate your ears (as in, permanent, long-term hearing damage) with the majority of headphones on the market, however their volume controls will generally need to be set fairly high (and volume control position is ZERO indication of how "powerful" an amplifier is) as they're well set for headphone use. Some older cards and some onboard solutions advertise "premium headphone output" or "headphone amp circuit" or similar, but they're just offering an output buffer of some sort - it's better than the olden-days of hooking headphones straight into a line output (usually coming right off a DAC or codec), but it isn't a better solution than a dedicated amplifier (be it an IC, a discrete part, etc). The Strix DLX appears to be in the later category (the card itself is kind of a quirky design - its a USB 2.0 audio interface on a PCIe card), and I can't find any benchmarks/reviews showing measured output power. It's probably not huge though (TI's reference design using LME 49600 provides something like 10mW/ch - it isn't an extremely powerful design, but it can achieve low distortion and it will work well with a wide variety of headphones, especially more sensitive models).

There's almost no "audio processing" going on, sound-card side, for modern games these days - that era ended about ten years ago. The drivers handle what they need to handle for the device to work, and this won't change with an external solution (nor is an external solution a magic bullet for fidelity - it's still directly connected to that "loud environment that is your motherboard"). Overall the driver packages that Asus, Creative, etc are providing are very likely to offer more functionality than what "hi-fi" companies use (most of them don't develop their own drivers, they simply rely on OEM solutions), however that functionality often goes hand-in-hand with complexity, and that can lead to problems that more generic/widespread solutions (e.g. "basic USB audio") may not encounter. Kind of a six of one, half a dozen of the other proposition - there isn't a perfect answer all around; there's lots of "good" answers these days though, and the era of really really huge differences between different audio interfaces is fortunately coming to a close as well (as most of it moves into software, and all the hardware has to do is provide connectivity).

The DACs on a lot of higher end cards are usually pretty spectacular - the DLX has a nicer ESS chip. However that doesn't mean everything up/down-stream of that chip is as fancy as you might find in a more elaborate hi-fi component. But it should still deliver very respectable performance as a line source (e.g. into a headphone amplifier or integrated amplifier or whatever). And having said that, I'll also add that differences between DACs (even when you get into funny-money expensive stuff) are often (imho/ime) fairly subtle and relatively minimal. Especially when you're dealing with generally lower quality source material (e.g. game audio in a lot of games (this fortunately appears to be changing though)).

Wow i was unaware that soundcards had come that far. Honestly i havent used one in a while (no where to put it). I brought up the DLX because ive used that on another computer with my m50x's and it was underwhelming on all front compared to my ef2a.  obviously everything is subjective and a soundcard COULD be the best solution for certain use cases, im just not one of them. 


The audio processing i was referring to is less the internal closed source wizardry of the 90s soundblaster era and more of the optional software that companies offer. For instance - "
Sonic Studio utility: Take full control over loads of sound technologies via an intuitive, one-page interface
Sonic Radar Pro: Lets you pinpoint the exact location of in-game sounds and enhances critical audio details like enemy footsteps for an aural advantage"

I did not spend tons of time messing with it but it all ended up sounding muddle to me. It is nice to know that sound cards are running nicer DACs these days. I will admit i dont catch even a whiff of any sort of interference on my motherboards direct line out. I have seen a lot of boards that are running shielded audio circuitry into their boards, while i have no idea what the DAC chip is on my board, its not terrible, but i think the ef2a's dac is more accurate on sound placement, and well since i play multiplayer FPS's thats one of my biggest concerns after quality audio. 

1. Sonic Studio utility: Take full control over loads of sound technologies via an intuitive, one-page interface
2. Sonic Radar Pro: Lets you pinpoint the exact location of in-game sounds and enhances critical audio details like enemy footsteps for an aural advantage