[Plexon]

Hey guys, 
 
I have 514 USD to spend freely on a nice set of cans, a microphone, and a sound-card. I play primarily CS:GO and I also talk with friends on mumble quite a bit. I play other games like League of Legends and Bf3.
 
What do you think I should go for?
 
Thanks in advance!

 

[milk]

Maybe a Hifiman HE400i, a mod mic, and a Schiit Magni.

I would say for mics you can pick up any cans and buy a mod mic and you're set, or maybe a blue yeti or audio technica 2020/2035/etc. And then a schiit magni or Fiio e9k can satisfy a lot of cans.

It also depends if you want a very open sound or very bassy and shaky and all that sort of mumbo jumbo!

(Btw, love me some LoL)

 

[Brudda]

If you live in a relatively quiet environment, the Zalman clip-on mic is good bang for your buck. Good sound quality, picks up your voice from a decent distance, so you don't have to get the placement "perfect" or anything. Draw back is that it is not noise cancelling and quite sensitive, so it will pick up background conversations and road noise, etc.
 
An Antlion Modmic is another good choice, but its expensive compared to the Zalman. Costs about 4-5x as much as the Zalman, but you get a nice boom-style mic that has noise cancellation. Good sound quality. More durable than the zalman for sure, and theres also a mute version that allows you to mute the mic, which is something the zalman doesn't have. It connects to your headphones via a little magnet that you stick to one of the earcups of your headphones.
 
Keep in mind that these mics might end up being noisy if plugged straight into a mobo's mic jack. It's not really the mic's fault, its just that mobo's usually have crappy microphone jacks. They won't be noisy when plugged into a decent sound card tho. Even those cheap little usb dongles will do well.

 

[kapanak]

Maybe a Hifiman HE400i, a mod mic, and a Schiit Magni.

I would say for mics you can pick up any cans and buy a mod mic and you're set, or maybe a blue yeti or audio technica 2020/2035/etc. And then a schiit magni or Fiio e9k can satisfy a lot of cans.

It also depends if you want a very open sound or very bassy and shaky and all that sort of mumbo jumbo!

(Btw, love me some LoL)

I'm sorry but I don't see how the Magni or the E9K will act as a "Sound Card" for him.
 
 
 
My recommendation is the Philips X2 ($300) with Samson Meteor Mic ($50) and Audioquest Dragonfly DAC/Amp ($150).

 

[thatBeatsguy]

I'm sorry but I don't see how the Magni or the E9K will act as a "Sound Card" for him.
 
 
 
My recommendation is the Philips X2 ($300) with Samson Meteor Mic ($50) and Audioquest Dragonfly DAC/Amp ($150).

Agreed. Both the Magni and E9K are amps only. 
As a counterpoint to your Dragonfly recommendation, the FiiO E10K is also a USB-powered DAC/Amp, and costs around $80. The Schiit Fulla is also another good (but relatively new) choice at the same price.

 

[PurpleAngel]

  Hey guys, 
 
I have 514 USD to spend freely on a nice set of cans, a microphone, and a sound-card. I play primarily CS:GO and I also talk with friends on mumble quite a bit. I play other games like League of Legends and Bf3.
 
What do you think I should go for?
 
Thanks in advance!

 
Creative Labs Sound Blaster Z sound card, $60-$80
Audio Technica ATH-AD900X headphones, $160-$200
Way under your budget.

 

[kapanak]

  Agreed. Both the Magni and E9K are amps only. 
As a counterpoint to your Dragonfly recommendation, the FiiO E10K is also a USB-powered DAC/Amp, and costs around $80. The Schiit Fulla is also another good (but relatively new) choice at the same price.

Yes, Schiit Fulla and E10K or even E17 or E18 by FiiO are all great alternatives as well

 

[milk]

I'm sorry but I don't see how the Magni or the E9K will act as a "Sound Card" for him.



My recommendation is the Philips X2 ($300) with Samson Meteor Mic ($50) and Audioquest Dragonfly DAC/Amp ($150).

Oops. Totally blew past that. For ones I have experience with, other than the dragonfly 1.2, Fulla, the FiiO products and the asus xonar line, I got nothing. Unless he just wants a dac and amp combo in one then I have other suggestions, but when I hear "sound card" I generally think of computers or small all in ones. Call me crazy. Good luck.

 

[Plexon]

Well the Magni would go into the computer by USB, right? So wouldn't it take over my sound card? I then couldn't use any of the features of the SBZ?

 

[thatBeatsguy]

  Well the Magni would go into the computer by USB, right? So wouldn't it take over my sound card? I then couldn't use any of the features of the SBZ?

Wait, you already have an SBZ? Well, why didn't you say so? Since you already have one, dropping even a penny on another soundcard would be pointless.

 

[Brudda]

  Well the Magni would go into the computer by USB, right? So wouldn't it take over my sound card? I then couldn't use any of the features of the SBZ?

Nah, the Magni's just an amplifier, so it won't connect through usb. You're prolly thinking of a DAC, like the Modi, which does use usb and would indeed make a soundcard sorta redundant.
 
You can use the Magni with a soundcard if you like. Might be unnecessary depending on the headphones you end up getting though.

 

[milk]

Yeah, Magni will only make the signal louder. If you wanted a DAC, you can get a Modi and Magni or if you needed all in one, a Schiit fulla, dragonfly, aune t1, Audio GD 12, etc are all good choices if you needed it to be all in one. Though you do have an SBZ.

I've probably already been proven useless since my first comment so I'll let others carry on. Good luck bud!