[eculley]

I have always used cheap headsets for my computer needs. I listen to music, game and will sometimes watch movies on my computer. A buddy of mine picked up the Sennheiser PC360 headset and swears by them. I wanted something a bit more. I know there is a thread with a list of good headphones for gaming, but I need more advice than that. I have the Asus Xonar DG sound card.. will this power most audiophile headphones, or do I need something a bit more robust? Also, I was looking at the DT770, AkG Q701 or the Sennheiser HD 558.. I know the Sennheisers are open, but I game in my apartment exclusively.
 
Any idea which would have better over all quality for gaming?
 
Thanks!

 

[nff]

Quote:

I have always used cheap headsets for my computer needs. I listen to music, game and will sometimes watch movies on my computer. A buddy of mine picked up the Sennheiser PC360 headset and swears by them. I wanted something a bit more. I know there is a thread with a list of good headphones for gaming, but I need more advice than that. I have the Asus Xonar DG sound card.. will this power most audiophile headphones, or do I need something a bit more robust? Also, I was looking at the DT770, AkG Q701 or the Sennheiser HD 558.. I know the Sennheisers are open, but I game in my apartment exclusively.
 
Any idea which would have better over all quality for gaming?
 
Thanks!

depending on the ohm level of the beyers (32ohm up to 600ohm)   the senns wouldent need one but would benifit.  the akg's likely would need amping.  

 

[eculley]

So you partner an amp with the sound card? Or do you just use the amp and forget the sound card? What about mic input on an amp, if we were to stop using the sound card?

 

[nff]

Quote:

So you partner an amp with the sound card? Or do you just use the amp and forget the sound card? What about mic input on an amp, if we were to stop using the sound card?  

if you dont have a soundcard (dac) how do you get sound from the pc?   onboard sound is still a soundcard.   a external DAC is essentially a ouptut only soundcard.  they all turn 1's and 0's into  electrical pulses  so that speakers can play them.  if you want mic input  go for a stand alone card like the xonar series from asus.  the higher end cards even come with a headphone amp so you can drive your higher  impeedence phones.  or if you dont care about inputs, go with an external dac/amp.   
 
this is a good option.  it has swapable op amps  so you can change the sound sig of the amp circuit it wont be as powerfull as a real amp but you can tune the sound sig. 
 
http://www.asus.com/ca-en/Sound_Cards_and_DigitaltoAnalog_Converters/Xonar_DSX
 
the stx has an amp that will drive most cans and has super clean noisefloor. 
http://www.asus.com/ca-en/Sound_Cards_and_DigitaltoAnalog_Converters/Xonar_Essence_STX/