[Simonzi]

Edit: Skip to the 2nd post if you don't want to read this whole wall of text
 
 
Hi to the Head-Fi community, first post here I'm coming here from a post I had made when I started looking into this over at Overclockers.com Forums, figured I'd migrate to a more audio dedicated area
 
First, where I'm coming from. Right now for a sound setup, I have the el-cheapo Asus SupremeFX X-Fi riser card that comes with my motherboard, a Maximus III Formula, hooked up with a Turtle Beach Ear Force X1 head set I paid like $40, and 2 speakers and sub left over from a 6 year old cheap Creative 5.1 setup that I got from Best Buy. Now, simply because that's all I've heard and used for years, this setup sounds good to me. But I know my sound can sound so much better.
 
Now, I know just about nothing about audio. I'm tearing through reviews, going from one product to the other, only really taking away a handful of what it's saying to me. My use for this setup will roughly 50/25/25% games/music/movies, respectively. First, I'll probably buy a headset and sound card, because I use my headset more than speakers. Trying to keep that initial jump in around the ~$300 range for both, with a little flexibility. After that, I want to look into getting a nice 2.1 speaker setup ($200ish range, nothing crazy), possibly a 5.1 setup for a bit more. I won't be expanding more than that, so now whole home theater branches off my PC, or hooking up an external receiver, etc, etc...
 
First, looking at a headset, I've narrowed down my headset choice to something by Sennheiser, and really don't want to change that. They seem to be a highly recommended brand. Having a hard time picking an exact pair though Going back and fourth between the PC 333D, because the 7.1 does intrigue me, the PC 350, or up to the PC 360. I've just about knocked out the PC 350's since the PC 360's aren't too much more money, and am leaning on the PC 360's, but any input would be appreciated.
 
Now, the sound card is where I'm running around in circles mainly. A member over at OCF had originally recommended me the ESI Juli@ sound card, which did look nice to me, but looking more in depth it looks to be more of a home studio card, not really suitable for gaming. Another member had tossed out the Audiotrak Prodigy HD2, but again, due to no audio acceleration, not too good for games. That though got me looking at other Audiotrak Prodigy cards, and I found the Audiotrak Prodigy X-Fi 7.1 card, which a review I read at Guru3D lured me in with the quote "Unlike most of Audiotrak's products, this Prodigy is not geared towards the home recording studio, but aimed squarely at the gamer-slash-audiophile.", which sounds like what I'm looking for.
 
Then the ASUS Xonar Essence STX got brought up, but a $200 sound card, on top of a $200 headset if I went with the PC 360, is a little more than I wanted to spend. After that I found the Asus Xonar Xense 7.1 bundle on Newegg which comes with the PC 360 $280, which seemed like a nice kit. I just don't know if say that kit with the Xonar Xense 7.1 card and PC 350's for the $280, would beat out the Audiotrak Prodigy X-Fi and PC 360's for $300.
 
Sorry for the long rambling post, I've just been going around in circles with this, trying to decide what the best setup is. Any input or insight would be greatly appreciated

 

[Simonzi]

Here's a refined post of what I'm looking for pretty much, instead of that huge wall of text, that I swear didn't look that big when originally writing it
 
I can't decided what sound card to get. I want to get a pair of Sennheiser PC 360's, and a nice sound card to match with it. I do want to eventually get a 2.1 or 5.1 speaker setup as well. I primarily game and listen to music.
 
Audiotrak Prodigy 7.1e X-Fi
Auzentech X-Fi Forte
 
With a pair of PC 360's, or settle for the PC 350's, and just get that Asus Xonar Xense package.
 
I'm new to audio, so it's hard for me to compare one card to another when tearing through all these reviews. So any input from professionals would be great

 

[RTS100x5]

DEFINATELY  the XONAR series with upgradeable OPAMPS in 2,0 or 5,1 / 7.1 the sound is phenomenal out of the box . I actually have the HDVA 1.3 DELUXE and use the 5.1 analog out for games/music/blu rays,  The sound is FAR superior to any XFI product I have owned not to mention the CREATIVE BLOATWARE curse.....Im about to leap into some serious audiophile type OPAMPS from BURSON and take my 5,1 HTPC to a new level ... As for headgear I use GRADO' SR80i and they sound amazing with music.  not so much for gaming though , Hope this hellps GL DD HF