[Davefoxx]

I recently just purchased an Astro Mixamp to go with my Sennheiser HD 598, as I am a pretty avid gamer and enjoy the surround effect that Dolby Digital provides very much.
 
However, I digress. I'd like to know what's better:
 
I understand that the Mixamp provides the user with the Game\Voice knob, which most people find very useful, however I don't really have a need for it. I'm always talking to my friends over Skype, so I'll probably never even touch the knob. And of course, most people don't use in-game VOIP on PC since it's pretty much worthless, as they can get better quality via Mumble, etc.
 
Furthermore, I really only bought it for the purpose of the Dolby Digital effect, as well as a sort of amp for my 598's. And now that I've taken a deeper look at some the Asus Xonar sound cards, I'm wondering if it would be a better choice to return my Mixamp for one of them.
 
I mean, for one it would seem like I'd be getting better sound quality out of them than through my Mixamp, which is currently plugged into my motherboard's Realtek integrated card (It's an ACL898 however, which is supposedly Realtek's top of the line currently with an SNR of 110db or so). And if I went with the Xonar DG or DX, I'd be saving some money. However I do have the spare money to purchase a Xonar Essence STX, but I don't even know if that'd be worth the extra money to begin with.
 
So really, I'd like to know what my best option is. Should I stick with my Mixamp (Seeing as I don't really have any need of its special functions)? Or should I return it and go for a Xonar card. And if so, which one would be the best?
 
Thanks in advance!

 

[Angelogalileo]

You've post this a looooooooooooooOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOoooooooooooooooooooooog time ago (maybe from a far far away galaxy ?).... And you've never have any answer, that's so sad...
But I'm sure you've found your solution at your question... And maybe you can share it Because I'm in the same case of you
 
Is the Mixamp better than a dedicated sound card ? Or an external one ?
 
I've the same Realtek 898 chipset.
 
I'm looking for like you a great spatialisation effect, I would like to feel I'm "in the game" like I was teleported in it (with an open headset)...
 
At this point I'm wondering what is the best solution for that ?
 
Just a Sennheiser 363D and his USB card ?
 
Or better a Sennheiser G4me One (open version, Zero is the close one) with the Mixamp or a soundcard ?
 
Or one HIFI headset like AKG Q701 Sennheiser HD 558 or 598 with the Mixamp or a soundcard and a microphone ?
 
Tell me (or anybody else) what you think about this ?
 
Thanks

 

[cel4145]

Probably best to start your own thread instead of bringing ones back from the dead.

That being said, the Mixamp and the Xonar sound cards use the same virtual surround technology--Dolby Headphones. So which suits you better will be more dependent on the ability of the Mixamp or the sound card to work with the headphones you select.

 

[Davefoxx]

It depends.
 
The soundcard will be more customizable, and if you're a PC gamer, then you'll want that. You get more in-depth customization for the Dolby Headphone effect, including speaker placement and three different levels of reverb\room size.
 
The mixamp will prove more useful for console gaming. Using the mixamp with my PC, I wasn't sure if my games were actually outputting in 5.1\7.1 sound. On top of that, I don't do a lot of console gaming, so I ended up going with the soundcard.
 
My monitor has a built in headphone plug that outputs the HDMI audio line. So for console gaming, I just run that output into the microphone port on my sound card and have it "monitor" that input.
 
As for what soundcard you'll get, it depends on what you're looking for! I don't think some of the Essence STX cards come with Dolby Headphone, and instead come with something called Dolby Home Theater? It's been a while since I've looked into it, but if you want Dolby Headphone, just make sure what you're buying actually has it.
 
I ended up buying an Asus Xonar DX, it suits my needs.

 

[PurpleAngel]

As for what sound card you'll get, it depends on what you're looking for! I don't think some of the Essence STX cards come with Dolby Headphone, and instead come with something called Dolby Home Theater? It's been a while since I've looked into it, but if you want Dolby Headphone, just make sure what you're buying actually has it. I ended up buying an Asus Xonar DX, it suits my needs.

 
The Essence STX/ST cards come with Dolby Headphone, it's the Asus Phoebus cards that have Dolby Home Theater.
Hopefully you disable the motherboard's on-board audio, in the BIOS, before you installed the Xonar DX?
Have you tried the Unified Xonar Drivers.
http://maxedtech.com/asus-xonar-unified-drivers/
 
The Xonar DX combo headphone/Front Speaker jack is not the greatest for driving headphones.
Hopefully you got an external headphone amplifier connected to it?

 

[PurpleAngel]

  You've post this a looooooooooooooOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOoooooooooooooooooooooog time ago (maybe from a far far away galaxy ?).... And you've never have any answer, that's so sad...
But I'm sure you've found your solution at your question... And maybe you can share it Because I'm in the same case of you
Is the Mix-amp better than a dedicated sound card ? Or an external one ?
I've the same Realtek 898 chipset.
I'm looking for like you a great spatialisation effect, I would like to feel I'm "in the game" like I was teleported in it (with an open headset)...
At this point I'm wondering what is the best solution for that ?
Just a Sennheiser 363D and his USB card ?
Or better a Sennheiser G4me One (open version, Zero is the close one) with the Mix-amp or a sound card ?
Or one HIFI headset like AKG Q701 Sennheiser HD 558 or 598 with the Mix-amp or a sound card and a microphone ?

 
Astro Mix-amp is great for gaming console, but more of a waste for use with PCs.
A $25 Asus Xonar DG sound card would be better for PC use, over the Mix-amp.
 
I would say to get the Sound Blaster Z sound card and the Sennheiser HD558 headphones (used around $80).
(disable on-board audio, in the BIOS)

 

[Davefoxx]

   
The Essence STX/ST cards come with Dolby Headphone, it's the Asus Phoebus cards that have Dolby Home Theater.
Hopefully you disable the motherboard's on-board audio, in the BIOS, before you installed the Xonar DX?
Have you tried the Unified Xonar Drivers.
http://maxedtech.com/asus-xonar-unified-drivers/
 
The Xonar DX combo headphone/Front Speaker jack is not the greatest for driving headphones.
Hopefully you got an external headphone amplifier connected to it?

Yes, thanks so much! I've had this sound card for two years and never thought to check if it was actually turned on or not.
 
Sarcasm aside, you're about two years late for giving me advice that I didn't ask for and still don't need. No offense.