I'm upgrading and already have an old champion fatality sound blaster but I'm tired of its bugs and compatibility issues. I think of getting a new motherboard that has a good enough onboard audio so I dont need to put the sound blaster again. I use a sennhaiser 600 as headphones.
I know usb audio may be better but for simplicity I'd prefer integrated if its close to in quality to for example, a dragonfly.
Any user of those motherboards, how are they?
Both come with an add-on DAC chip, which is a plus.
But with the Sennheiser HD600, you really want an external headphone amplifier, to bring out the best in the 300-Ohm HD600.
I have the Crosshair VII, the predecessor with the exact same audio solution as the C8H. It sounds just fine with the HD600 which I also have. Of course I think my Motu M2 sounds better, but the truth is for just listening the difference is very small. The Crosshair VII has by far the best sound I have heard from a motherboard. The Motu M2 can do a lot of other things, like zero latency monitoring and -120dB mic inputs not needed for only playback of sound.
C7H and C8H both have built in headphone amps in the form of separate OP-amps for headphone out. Both also use a separate DAC from the Realtek 1220 codec, the ESS9023P. Lesser mainboards have everything driven direct from the Realtek chip.
This site uses cookies to help personalise content, tailor your experience and to keep you logged in if you register.
By continuing to use this site, you are consenting to our use of cookies.
