[sludog1]

I recently put myself together a gaming rig and up until about a month ago, I had just been using the onboard audio on the Asus P6TDeluxV2 motherboard, with the Astro A40s & MixAmp, connectd via TOSLink. I was happy with that setup, until I actually heard the difference that a good sound card & quality cans make.  So since, I've been researching online, trying to put together some kick a$$ quality sound for my PC.  After looking around, I decided on the Asus Essence STX with its headphone amp as my soundcard but I'm an "audiophile noob" and now I cant decide on what headphones or headset to get, in order to get the most from the card and the best possible quality.   I'm using the computer for gaming, music & watchin BR/DVD flix
 
 and I jus signed up to the site, so forgive me if this has already been covered somewhere else, I looked but couldnt find.   
thanks for any advice or recommendations,  I appreciate the assistance!
Cheers!
 
SLU

 

[ROBSCIX]

The STX and ST are great sounding cards.  I would suggest a good quality set of headphones.  NOT gaming headphones..if you understand what I mean.
What is your budget?

 

[sludog1]

well the budget is really wide open at this point, I would just like to get the best sounding headphones I can. Under a grand would be ideal.
 
thx

 

[ROBSCIX]

Do you have a local place where you can audition different makes and models?

 

[sludog1]

no unfortunately not.   I've been just researching online

 

[beeman458]

If the budget can handle it, I'd recommend the Sennheiser HD650's.  I'd also encourage you to upgrade you power supply unit to something such as either of these two power supplies.
 
Major boost in sound quality in the above combined recommendations.
 

 

[Dalamar]

beeman is full of BS and placebo, your power supply won't affect sound quality. It won't affect stability either, any /quality/ (corsair, seasonic, pc&p aka ocz, etc) 500w psu will have plenty of leeway for any single gpu system - as long as the amps on the 12v rail are within your card's specifications.
 
600w+ psu's are for multi-gpu (or perhaps power hungry card with 2 gpu die..). Getting a psu that is too big will result in a loss of efficiency and power will be wasted. One that's too small will run hot and won't live as long, but that's only an issue with cheap ones (or good ones with really low wattage ratings).
 
Personally I think headphones suck. And that a full-sized (aka, not lolgitech) surround system is best for gaming. But it's the absolutely most costly route and will involve lots of space loss.
 
If you absolutely need headphones, I suggest you audition before buying anything, people here spout off all kinds of BS, because that's what audiophools do best.
 
Just about anything in the price range will probably be better than your gaming headset, gaming headsets aren't exactly built with accuracy in mind.

 

[leeperry]

 

 
Personally I think headphones suck.

Maybe it's time to move to speakers-fi then? I'm sure they need your wisdow there too.

 

[sludog1]

hehe yea the rest of my pc is fine, I built the machine so that I wasnt going to need something else for awhile.  I'm a former network admin so I do know all about computers, but to be honest, I never really heard the difference in audio quality from the newer onboard chips to a nice soundcard until just recently.  And now of course, its become just as important.  The PSU is a nice Corsair 1000w which has taken everything I've thrown at it and still has plenty of juice to spare.
 
unfortunatly, I live in a pretty remote location in the country,(45min from nearest town and like 3.5h from nearest "city"), which is
perfect for regular living, but sux major for anything tech.  So, I've been researching online and taking my chances with shipping, which surprisingly has been great.  and if I was gonna make the trip, I'd like to be informed.
 
Thanks to all
 
SLU

 

[beeman458]

Dalamar wrote:
 
beeman is full of BS and placebo,
 
Have you been poking around "there" again?  I Suwannee, you do work hard at pushing your point of view.  Like a little online Sherman tank-y-ty-tank......clank.
 
Love them power supplies.  Love them cables.  Love those big azzzz WAV files.  And I especially love those mices to pieces even if others are jealous of my love for these things.
 
Just about anything in the price range will probably be better than your gaming headset, gaming headsets aren't exactly built with accuracy in mind.
 
For gaming purposes, have you considered giving the =673&graphID[1]=853&graphID[2]=&graphID[3]=&graphType=0&buttonSelection=Compare+Headphones]Sennheiser, HD-350's a try?
 
Personally I think headphones suck.
 
And to think, this being a headphone forum.
 
???

 

[ROBSCIX]

 
Quote:

hehe yea the rest of my pc is fine, I built the machine so that I wasnt going to need something else for awhile.  I'm a former network admin so I do know all about computers, but to be honest, I never really heard the difference in audio quality from the newer onboard chips to a nice soundcard until just recently.  And now of course, its become just as important.  The PSU is a nice Corsair 1000w which has taken everything I've thrown at it and still has plenty of juice to spare.
 
unfortunatly, I live in a pretty remote location in the country,(45min from nearest town and like 3.5h from nearest "city"), which is
perfect for regular living, but sux major for anything tech.  So, I've been researching online and taking my chances with shipping, which surprisingly has been great.  and if I was gonna make the trip, I'd like to be informed.
 
Thanks to all
 
SLU

It has nothing to do with the power level of the supply it has to do with how clean the power signal is.  That is why most card and sources have some power clean up circuitry....
Most modern supplies will be fine but there have been cases where people have had to change them out to inductance, EMI and RFI.
Your Corsair should be fine...if it had issues you would have noticed by now.

 

[beeman458]

The beauty of the modular PSU's that I recommended are, they both are modular and you can custom up your power cable needs as opposed to the standard pony tail that comes out of the backside of most PSU's.  Using this modular design will hopefully reduce internal EMI/RFI.
 
Here a link to a site that does crazy amounts of power supply testing for those who care about this sort of stuff.

 

[Dalamar]

And yet that site doesn't prove it actually affects sound cards. Essence ST/STX has a massive amount of PSU noise rejection, as it should. How the F do you think it measures so well, Mr Voodoo Placebo?
 
Modular PSU won't affect EMI/RFI at all. EMI/RFI are typically a non-problem for digital circuits, and the analog circuit of his card is well protected.

 

[digger945]

Quote:

And yet that site doesn't prove it actually affects sound cards. Essence ST/STX has a massive amount of PSU noise rejection, as it should. How the F do you think it measures so well, Mr Voodoo Placebo?
 
Modular PSU won't affect EMI/RFI at all. EMI/RFI are typically a non-problem for digital circuits, and the analog circuit of his card is well protected.

The discussion will continue without derogatory remarks aimed at other members. You made your point.

 

[ROBSCIX]

 
Quote:

And yet that site doesn't prove it actually affects sound cards. Essence ST/STX has a massive amount of PSU noise rejection, as it should. How the F do you think it measures so well, Mr Voodoo Placebo?
 
Modular PSU won't affect EMI/RFI at all. EMI/RFI are typically a non-problem for digital circuits, and the analog circuit of his card is well protected.

..and yet you just proved that it does affect the sound.
The ST/STX has a "massive" amount of power noise rejection.  That is how it measures so well.  -Your words.
That being said, if it didn't have the "massive" clean up circuitry it would affect the measurements.
So you have just proven and stated that power does affect the soundcard.
It is nice to see you are starting to figure out some of the basic principles behind audio electronics.