Hi guys,
Let me start off by saying I'm in no way an audiophile, I've been building custom PCs for gaming/work (I do lots of enterprise software deployments/tuning) since I could afford to, but usually focus more on the processing power and visual output aspects. I've never even bought a dedicated soundcard before, so that gives you an idea (my last "big" audio-related purchase were a pair of Klipsch M40 cans on a great deal, which I still love - got me an FiiO E6 to try out with them recently as well, but that's a different story).
So here's the current situation (bear with me):
After a new PC build, I got myself a pair of Sennheiser gaming headphones (mostly for the built-in mic for online sessions on Far Cry 4), and was struck by how much more detail I was picking up (my current rig connects directly to a large-screen LED TV via HDMI, which works great for high-quality graphics, not so much for sound detail). But at the same time, I could hear this annoying hiss/static during quiet moments in-game.
Doing some reading, I came to believe that this is mostly due to the inferior on-board audio processing components/drivers with the default Digital Audio drivers from Microsoft. This has been bugging me for a while now, and I'd like to try my hand at improving the audio I get while gaming (when connected via headphones, for regular movies/etc the TV works well enough).
I've been reading lots of opinions on soundcards like the Asus Essence STX II (thinking of the non-7.1 version, since I doubt it'll make a difference in my setup) or external components from companies like Schiit or the USB Asus Essence U7. The thing is, I can't really decide what makes the best sense for my needs (clean, clear audio, preferably with 7.1 channel output for gaming sessions), on a budget of around $300.
Any helpful suggestions would be greatly appreciated, cheers
echineko
PS. Just wanted to add I saw another similar thread here, but I didn't want to hijack the conversation, plus I'm only using a TV or my headphones, not any dedicated speakers for the output
Let me start off by saying I'm in no way an audiophile, I've been building custom PCs for gaming/work (I do lots of enterprise software deployments/tuning) since I could afford to, but usually focus more on the processing power and visual output aspects. I've never even bought a dedicated soundcard before, so that gives you an idea (my last "big" audio-related purchase were a pair of Klipsch M40 cans on a great deal, which I still love - got me an FiiO E6 to try out with them recently as well, but that's a different story).
So here's the current situation (bear with me):
After a new PC build, I got myself a pair of Sennheiser gaming headphones (mostly for the built-in mic for online sessions on Far Cry 4), and was struck by how much more detail I was picking up (my current rig connects directly to a large-screen LED TV via HDMI, which works great for high-quality graphics, not so much for sound detail). But at the same time, I could hear this annoying hiss/static during quiet moments in-game.
Doing some reading, I came to believe that this is mostly due to the inferior on-board audio processing components/drivers with the default Digital Audio drivers from Microsoft. This has been bugging me for a while now, and I'd like to try my hand at improving the audio I get while gaming (when connected via headphones, for regular movies/etc the TV works well enough).
I've been reading lots of opinions on soundcards like the Asus Essence STX II (thinking of the non-7.1 version, since I doubt it'll make a difference in my setup) or external components from companies like Schiit or the USB Asus Essence U7. The thing is, I can't really decide what makes the best sense for my needs (clean, clear audio, preferably with 7.1 channel output for gaming sessions), on a budget of around $300.
Any helpful suggestions would be greatly appreciated, cheers
echineko
PS. Just wanted to add I saw another similar thread here, but I didn't want to hijack the conversation, plus I'm only using a TV or my headphones, not any dedicated speakers for the output
