[Spike99]

Hello,
 
I'm researching to get sound card & Headphone for mostly gaming.  Currently I have a 2.1 speaker and ATH-A900.  ATH-900 is damaged and my current Creative card is a bit old.
 
Currently I'm checking out ASUS Xonar Essence ST & Beyer DT880 (Not sure to get 32 Ohm or 250 Ohm versions).
 
Would this be a good combination ?  Any other good suggestions are appreciated.
 
Thanks in advance.

 

[Spike99]

OK... So doing extra research on ASUS Xonar Essence ST... Looks like this sound card is not for me.  With this sound card either you use speakers or you use Headphones but not both at the same time.
 
In general, I tend to switch between speakers and Headphones.  Whenever I use headphone I just mute/unmute the speakers on the control pad at anytime....
 
I would like to have the ability to use both speakers & Headphone at the same time.  My understanding is that HT Omega Claro Halo has this ability to have audio to both.
 
I don't see any reviews on the HT Omega Claro Halo but checking newegg, most people are please with them...

 

[FallenAngel]

I'd keep the old card unless it's like Audio2 type of old, if it's XFi, keep it.
 
If A900 are damaged, fix them (or maybe give to me

), they're one of the best for gaming.

 

[Spike99]

 
Quote:

I'd keep the old card unless it's like Audio2 type of old, if it's XFi, keep it.
 
If A900 are damaged, fix them (or maybe give to me

), they're one of the best for gaming.

My sound card is: X-Fi Platinum Fatal1ty Champion Series
For A900, sometimes I have to move the wire where it meets the connector...  I had called AT for a repair quote... and they quoted me like $30 to replace wire.
 
I really don't need to get a new sound card & head set... but I'm almost set on my mind to change

 
Tell you what... give me quote for both... and I'll consider your offer

 

 

[FallenAngel]

I don't need a sound card, nor do I really love the AT headphones, they don't fit me perfectly (I owned an A900).
 
I could fix the cable for you if you're in Canada and paying for shipping, simply need to replace connector.
 
I recommend keeping the card, there really isn't much benefit to "upgrading", purely my own opinion.  If you want to change things around, keep card, use it to output to a DAC and get an amp.

 

[Spike99]

Since I was planning on changing A900 to a higher Ohm I thought I needed a better sound card that can handle this... hence I was looking at upgrading sound card.
 
Initially I was only looking to replace headphone, stay with Creative and was looking at mixamp from astrogaming but wasn't sure if it would be right for me...
 
What is this DAC ?  Can you give me a link so I can look into this...   Also, what amp would you recommend ?
 
One thing is that I have plenty of wires in back of my PC...  A positive of changing sound card is that I would avoid more wires....
 
Also, If look into this DAC plus an amp... Am I going to get better audio vs changing sound card ?
 
Thanks.

 

[blur510]

I have a dacmagic, which has 2 outs 1 rca and 1 balanced, I use the rca's to connect to my headphone amp. and the xlr's to my powered speakers. I can use both headphones and speakers at the same time.. 

 

[Spike99]

dacmagic, looks interesting... but how do you connect RCA outputs to your headphone ?  Also what cables do you use to connect balanaced outputs to your  speaker ?  My speaker has a 3.5mm jack that connects to sound card.
 
Can you link what cables you use so I check it out.
 
Also, do you connect Toslink Optical from sound card to dacmagic ?

 

[blur510]

I have a headphone amp.  My powered speakers (alesis m1 active mkii) has xlr inputs.  I use the mobo s/pdif  out to connect to my DAC
 
http://www.monoprice.com/products/product.asp?c_id=102&cp_id=10244&cs_id=1024401&p_id=4752&seq=1&format=2

 

[Spike99]

OK, so you connect RCA cable to headphone amp.  Not sure if this would be right for me... since my speakers don't have XLR outputs.
 
Quote:

 I use the mobo s/pdif  out to connect to my DAC

My experience is that mobo audio is terrible...  I've never tried the s/pdif though from MOBO only 3.5mm jacks.  Does it matter if you have a sound card if you are going to use an external amp ?

 

[francesjiqqw6]

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I have a headphone amp.  My powered speakers (alesis m1 active mkii) has xlr inputs.  I use the mobo s/pdif  out to connect to my DAC
 
http://www.monoprice.com/products/product.asp?c_id=102&cp_id=10244&cs_id=1024401&p_id=4752&seq=1&format=2

This is what I'm looking for, The link you provided is very useful.

 

[Xaborus]

Holey crap, how can you guys spread misinformation like this?
 
1. DAC's are USELESS for gaming.
2. There are many DAC's better than the dacmagic for hundreds of dollars cheaper. Why recommend an inferior, more expensive product?

 

[WrxSTI]

As has been said around here probably the best combination is a nice soundcard with EAX5.0 and any other gaming features you might need, outputting via digital output into a DAC of your choice.

 

[Xaborus]

Quote:

As has been said around here probably the best combination is a nice soundcard with EAX5.0 and any other gaming features you might need, outputting via digital output into a DAC of your choice.

Ulgh.. Why do you guys still tout around EAX? There are no current/future games that use EAX. The standard is Dolby now.
 

 

[zs3889]

I am looking for a pair of headphones and a sound card for gaming as well, but my budget is not that high. Kinda going after AD700, regarding the sound card, was looking at asus xonar dx a while ago, but i got distracted by creative sb x-fi titanium fatal1ty pro cause there is a new deal for it at newegg. what you guys think? the upgrade is mainly for gaming, shooting games like COD to be specific, but i do listen to music at times.
 
p/s: sorry Spike99 for hijacking your thread, i dont wanna create another thread since we are looking for something kinda similar, hope you dont mind