[Royal Amethyst]

So my audio equipment just went from this:
 
Sennheiser HD 600
Xonar Essence STX
 
To this:
 
beyerdynamic T1
Sennheiser HD 600
Schiit Modi 2 Uber
Schiit Valhalla 2
 
I'm wondering now if I should try to sell my Essence STX for some cash and use the onboard's toslink or just get a really cheap Xonar DG to process the surround sound for gaming and output via optical.
 
My options are this:
 
1) Keep the Essence STX and use its coaxial port to output to the DAC
2) Sell the Essence STX and use the onboard Realtek to process surround sound out via toslink (possibly taking a slight performance hit in gaming)
3) Sell the Essence STX and buy a Xonar DG and use its toslink
 
My questions are this:
 
1) Would there be any noticeable difference in gaming performance between the STX and the DG processing the sound?
2) Would using the toslink for surround sound gaming processing affect the sound of music listening? Is the surround sound processing something it only does when in-game, or is it a setting in the sound card itself that's always "on" unless I switch it "off" for music?
3) While I know quality toslink cables are about construction quality only, because it's glass and not affected by interference, are there any tips for quality coaxial cables?
4) Should I just use USB and forget the rest?

 

[PurpleAngel]

Go ahead and sell off the Essence STX, get an Xonar DG or DGX to replace it.
Hopefully you have disabled the motherboard's on-board audio, in the BIOS.

 

[Royal Amethyst]

  Go ahead and sell off the Essence STX, get an Xonar DG or DGX to replace it.
Hopefully you have disabled the motherboard's on-board audio, in the BIOS.

 
Yes, I have. So you would recommend using a dedicated sound card rather than the onboard audio when all I'm using it for processing surround sound for movies and games and the toslink output?
Also do you know the answer to my questions 1 and 2?

 

[cel4145]

Yes, I have. So you would recommend using a dedicated sound card rather than the onboard audio when all I'm using it for processing surround sound for movies and games and the toslink output?

Why not verify for yourself? Test the motherboard virtual surround now connected via optical. See if it gives you want you want.

 

[Royal Amethyst]

Why not verify for yourself? Test the motherboard virtual surround now connected via optical. See if it gives you want you want.

I certainly could, but that would mean testing onboard via optical versus STX via coaxial, and I feel like that's not a very objective test. I don't feel like buying the DG just to test it against my onboard. Also, I have been considering downsizing my PC to a mini-ITX form factor, and that would kill any extra PCI and PCI-Express slots for a sound card. If I went that route, I'd only have onboard optical or USB options. So, all-in-all I don't know what I want to do.
There's no way to process surround sound through USB is there? Because then it'd be relying on the Modi 2 Uber, and the DAC will only do stereo for headphones, correct?

 

[cel4145]

I certainly could, but that would mean testing onboard via optical versus STX via coaxial, and I feel like that's not a very objective test.

I don't see why not. Whether you use Dolby Headphone for virtual surround with an STX or a DG, the virtual surround is being processed by the software on your computer. If the virtual surround from your motherboard doesn't make you happy now, it's not going to make you more happy in comparison to the DG.

 

[PurpleAngel]

  Yes, I have. So you would recommend using a dedicated sound card rather than the on-board audio
when all I'm using it for processing surround sound for movies and games and the Toslink output?
Also do you know the answer to my questions 1 and 2?

I would assume the on-board audio drivers are not very "fancy", when it comes to headphone surround sound.
Better to keep it basic, less conflicts, other wise someone might just return the motherboard, if there is too many sound issues.
So I personally prefer sound cards, over on-board.
 
With Blu-ray movies, better to use something like Cyberlinks Power DVD and for all other videos, K-Lite
So for movies, the sound card (add-on or on-board) is not really an issue.
 
FPS gaming, not sure how to answer that one.
 
Performance between the Essence STX and DG for Dolby Headphone surround sound.
I would assume a lot of the work load is done by the CPU anyway.
 
Guess the amount of in game surround sound processing would be different from game to game
and how much each game relies on the sound card feature would change from game to game.
 
Over all I would assuming the main CPU is sent a lot of the sound work load, it's free processing power for any program/driver/game to use.

 

[Royal Amethyst]

I don't see why not. Whether you use Dolby Headphone for virtual surround with an STX or a DG, the virtual surround is being processed by the software on your computer. If the virtual surround from your motherboard doesn't make you happy now, it's not going to make you more happy in comparison to the DG.

 
Well as long as there's no performance hit. Cause the CPU will pick up any of the slack that the sound card can't handle for sound processing.
 

  I would assume the on-board audio drivers are not very "fancy", when it comes to headphone surround sound.
Better to keep it basic, less conflicts, other wise someone might just return the motherboard, if there is too many sound issues.
So I personally prefer sound cards, over on-board.
 
With Blu-ray movies, better to use something like Cyberlinks Power DVD and for all other videos, K-Lite
So for movies, the sound card (add-on or on-board) is not really an issue.
 
FPS gaming, not sure how to answer that one.
 
Performance between the Essence STX and DG for Dolby Headphone surround sound.
I would assume a lot of the work load is done by the CPU anyway.
 
Guess the amount of in game surround sound processing would be different from game to game
and how much each game relies on the sound card feature would change from game to game.
 
Over all I would assuming the main CPU is sent a lot of the sound work load, it's free processing power for any program/driver/game to use.

 
The CPU will only process sound if it's using the onboard sound. The motherboard's integrated sound uses the main CPU for sound processing, where a dedicated sound card like my STX handles all sound processing on its own chip, taking some of the processing load off the main CPU. That was my main question about performance. A dedicated sound card takes some of the pressure off the CPU, so the CPU can focus on processing other data for the game. But often it's such a tiny difference that it doesn't matter, unlike the difference between a video card and onboard video, where the difference is massive.
 
I think I'm going to just enable the onboard sound card and try the motherboard's toslink out to my Modi 2 Uber. Then I'll be able to see for myself what kind of surround sound processing the drivers can handle and whether or not my games take a performance hit. IF it becomes a problem, I suppose I can try it on my STX next, I just didn't want to buy both a toslink cable and a coaxial cable if I didn't have to.

 

[cel4145]

I think I'm going to just enable the onboard sound card and try the motherboard's toslink out to my Modi 2 Uber. Then I'll be able to see for myself what kind of surround sound processing the drivers can handle and whether or not my games take a performance hit. IF it becomes a problem, I suppose I can try it on my STX next, I just didn't want to buy both a toslink cable and a coaxial cable if I didn't have to.

I would try whatever virtual surround your motherboard has without the Modi, first. You may find that the DSP is not something you like, which the Modi can't improve on.

 

[Royal Amethyst]

I would try whatever virtual surround your motherboard has without the Modi, first. You may find that the DSP is not something you like, which the Modi can't improve on.

 
Might need you to ELI5 that for me. Do you mean the way the onboard might process the digital surround sound might be really crappy? Like, bad sound positioning and stuff?

 

[cel4145]

Exactly. Haven't heard anyone yet say, "Wow! My Realtek onboard audio has great virtual surround."