I originally said sound cards were useless because, like you said, all virtual surround sounds like **** and it's the only thing they have to offer more than onboard audio or an external DAC/AMP. Might as well go with the free option, in this case Razer Surround and either cut costs and stick...

  Wow...   Are you a troll or something?   There will never be a full coverage of all these things because they can be explained in a single post of like 2 lines.   1. If you want virtual surround, get a sound card. SBX > CMSS-3D > Dolby Headphones. More expensive = better sound quality...

There's plenty of threads about this, you just haven't looked very well.   Here's the bottom line:   1. Soundcards are useless, avoid them like the plague. If you need virtual surround, you can download Razer Surround for free.   2. If you have a fairly new motherboard (last 5 years or...

Edit: After thinking about it, what if I'd get the Schiit stack (Magni/Modi), would it take the Razer Surround output into consideration when sending the signal to the Modi?   If that's indeed the case, I'd buy the stack instead because the headphones I want next will definitely require an amp...

Thank you for the info guys,   After reading for about 10 hours on the subject, I now know a lot more about headphones and audio in general. Was fun!   I ultimately decided to go with the Soundblaster Z as it was fairly cheap (CAD $100 including taxes+shipping). I think it's going to be the...

I only linked the video to prove you could hear surround even when you only have a stereo source. It's all in the way the sound is coded and in CS:GO, you can hear surround in headphone or stereo mode and it's very accurate. Also, using virtual surround you can have delay during the calculation...

  I should rephrase what I said about virtual surround. Some games have good coding regarding the position of the sound (like counter-strike) and don't require virtual surround. Other games (like BF, COD and others), don't have good audio coding and REQUIRES virtual surround to hear surround...

Well virtual surround is just a gimmick as you can hear surround with basic stereo. I don't want to use virtual surround as they're not precise at all and they're not the sounds that the developers intented the user to hear.   I tried asking my question in different places but haven't had a...

Care the explain the reasoning behind buying a sound card? All I heard and read here on the forums is that they are pointless aside from the softwares they offer (virtual surround for example, which I won't use) and that I should get DAC/AMP instead because of the huge difference in quality.  ...

I have a pair of Sennheiser's HD 555 modded to 595 (removed the foam pads).   I'm playing CS:GO on PC and I'm using onboard audio (Realtek ALC1150).   Here are the specs to my headphones: Frequency response: 15 – 28,000 Hz Impedance: 50 Ω SPL(1 kHz, 1 Vrms): 112 dB THD: < 0.2 %  ...

I don't want to put a budget on this question because I'd rather have an unbiased opinion rather than over-the-top recommandations but I'd like to stay under $300.   As for the Soundblaster Z, I read a few posts on this forums + reviews on youtube that said soundcards are pretty much useless...

Hi guys,   I'm new here and my first post is me needing help in a very specific topic.   I used to play Counter-Strike 1.5 a LOT (started in 1999) and I just started playing CS:GO with my team from back in the days. As some of you know, audio is a really important part of this game as...