Thanks for the reply Raoultrifan!
There's obviously truth to that, and seeing as how you already own both these products, I suppose we have different expectations when it comes to loudness.
For me, I dont like to listen at high volumes, and I also live in a quiet environment away from any streets with a relatively low noise floor with my PC physically cabled to another room and the door closed. Now, I wouldn't call what I have a "studio" environment, but in my case, I dont need much volume if at all to compensate for or override the ambient noise around me.
I thought I'd share this as well but about 6 years ago, I managed to permanently damage my hearing in my left ear from listening to loud music and I still experience intermittent tinnitus in that ear (it was me as a teenager using my left earbud in mono almost everyday and not really caring about how loud it was), so forgive me for being naturally cautious about loudness levels now.
There is also scientific evidence that suggests that exposure to just 80 dB SPL over time can cause and dramatically accelerate hearing loss too, so I personally try to keep my average listing volumes limited to that or slightly below without ruining my enjoyment for music.
While I do realize that not having enough power to drive those cans could limit the full potential of emphasizing certain peaks in high dynamic music, I am okay with that unless it clips or distorts, which is still very rare in my experience. And also, high dynamic content does not apply to YouTube or gaming as the OP would want it to be used for.
In your situation Caspadan, if you found your motherboard's volume levels to be adequate, then the Xonar U7 will do you just fine, while being a bit louder too. Your motherboard uses a Realtek ALC898 codec which from the datasheet says the full scale voltage output to be 1.2 vrms. The Xonar U7, will give you a boost to a fsvo of 1.3 vrms.
Last thing is the Xonar U7 is the same as the Mkii version with the exception of a new Digital Signal Processor (C-Media 6632AX instead of the old 6632A). This means everything else including hardware should be the same except for using different drivers, having native Windows 10 support, and possibly more refined DSP effects within the software.
By the way, aside from the driver issues and the weaker but mostly adequate amp on the U7, the U7 also has an output impedance of somewhere around 17-23ohms (varies by source) which isn't really ideal to be paired with headphones or earphones under 140ohms. But other than that, the U7 is amazing for the price. And you could, if you wanted, pair a quality external amp with the U7, solving the output impedance and weaker amplifier issues altogether.
Some other options like the Schiit Modi + Magni or the ODAC + O2 amp are infamous for raw performance for your money though. And if you don't need all the features of a sound card like the U7, it is definitely worth considering those options.
Anyway, sorry for the long post. I am quite passionate about this stuff and always learning. Hope I helped at the very least
), so no real benefit for me then.
