[chandlerr]

just got myself a set of the GSP500's and I need a recommendation for like the best mid-high tier EXTERNAL (or AMP/DAC) soundcard

I used the Asus PHOEBUS SOLO since late 2013 paired with PC360's and it was nutty.
but now the reason for my need for external/portable device is because Im playing on a LENOVO Y540 Laptop, so I need it external and USB-type of connection.

Now, My main uses are FPS games (CS:GO only currently), and Music (lots of it)

the games I play are usually competitive FPS **SO I DO NOT NEED SOME GIMMICKY 7.1 vss**

I prefer a quality soundcard/amp/dac that will be able to run my GSP's solely on stereo @ their max potential/SQ, as I was fully convinced a few years back that a quality stereo setup is always light years ahead this whole virtualization that many many people throw their money on.

**my only request about the device is I would prefer it to include a microphone jack as well, I kinda dont wanna deal with mod-mics , and I already know that Sennheiser makes pretty nice microphones on their headsets, the mic on the PC360 was amazing, and the one on the GSP500 is even better from what I've read and saw**

 

[ProtegeManiac]

Now, My main uses are FPS games (CS:GO only currently), and Music (lots of it)

the games I play are usually competitive FPS **SO I DO NOT NEED SOME GIMMICKY 7.1 vss**

I prefer a quality soundcard/amp/dac that will be able to run my GSP's solely on stereo @ their max potential/SQ, as I was fully convinced a few years back that a quality stereo setup is always light years ahead this whole virtualization that many many people throw their money on.

I've got bad news for you if you set the game audio settings to "Headphone."

It's virtually the same gimmicky 7.1 virtualization, just built into CS:GO.

**my only request about the device is I would prefer it to include a microphone jack as well, I kinda dont wanna deal with mod-mics , and I already know that Sennheiser makes pretty nice microphones on their headsets, the mic on the PC360 was amazing, and the one on the GSP500 is even better from what I've read and saw**

At a sensitivity of roughly 98dB/1mW to 99dB/1mW and an impedance of 28ohms, plus your need for a mic, any external Sound Blaster product will drive it well in terms of power. Any gains to stereo separation using much better headphone amps will be marginal and possibly useless, more so when you need a mic input anyway.

As for SBX drivers and software suite, well...not sure if they fixed those already but since you won't be using any DSP feature you just need it to run as a DAC-HPamp-MicPre-ADC anyway. That at least minimizes anything that can have a software issue.

 

[prozonelayer]

Seems like the Schiit fulla or hel would both fit your needs.

 

[chandlerr]

I've got bad news for you if you set the game audio settings to "Headphone."

It's virtually the same gimmicky 7.1 virtualization, just built into CS:GO.

What do you mean? CSGO's sound is known to be broken and sounds muffled and very bad in general if setting anything to 7.1 either from hardware or software's side.


At a sensitivity of roughly 98dB/1mW to 99dB/1mW and an impedance of 28ohms, plus your need for a mic, any external Sound Blaster product will drive it well in terms of power. Any gains to stereo separation using much better headphone amps will be marginal and possibly useless, more so when you need a mic input anyway.

As for SBX drivers and software suite, well...not sure if they fixed those already but since you won't be using any DSP feature you just need it to run as a DAC-HPamp-MicPre-ADC anyway. That at least minimizes anything that can have a software issue.

Will the G6 be a good fit for me? and yes Ive heard some harsh stuff about Creative's drivers. and also, that this particular device has some "disconnection" issues when its mid-work, but its possible that the OPs of those threads just didnt set up their PC correctly or installed something in a wrong way.

what do you think?