[Super3dcow]

Sorry for posting another one of these topics asking for help on finding a sound card, but I've been reading the forums for 2 days and can't find the answers I'm looking for.
 
I got a pair of A700 headphones (as suggested by people on this website) and I am enjoying them a lot. My birthday is coming up, and I would like to improve the quality of the headphones if possible. Currently using the onboard sound card that is built into the mother board, which is a Realtek sound card.
 
People on these forums have said that an Amp can cause a small amount of sound lag, and since I do play video games on my pc pretty frequently I would prefer a sound card(even a small lag in sound would drive me crazy), unless I'm wrong about amps having lag. I also like the idea of digital surround sound that a sound card can give, because the A700s don't seem to have good digital surround sound. In a FPS game, sounds from left and right sound really good, but if the sound is coming from in front, behind, above, or below, it all sounds the same to me.
 
The main thing I want is to boost the sound quality to make music sound even better. Someone mentioned in a forum that no amp or sound card will be as big of an upgrade as upgrading the headphones themselves. If this is true, should I sell my A700s and buy something like, DT 770s?
 
Thank you for taking the time to read another one of these repetitive topics.

 

[Dalamar]

A700's are fine, they have less distortion than K701's but a worse freq response (quite colored). If you've got the measuring tools, you can equalize them out. It is true that upgrading your endpoint matters more than your dac or amp. A700's do NOT need an amp as long as the output impedance is below the headphone's - this is true of most headphones. The Beyers may need an amp to go loud enough if you decide to upgrade. If you do upgrade your endpoint, check the freq response and distortion charts at headphone.com, but a lot of headphones aren't listed.
 
amps/dacs adding lag is just nonsense. games use dsound - laggy to begin with - most the people who complain about "lag" are musicians trying to record electric guitars etc.
 
If you get a sound card, go for Essence ST/STX. It's the best priceerformance dac (on the high end), its TPA IC amp is able to drive any headphone perfectly. Only drawback is no surround for speakers unless you get ST+H6.

 

[Super3dcow]

Alright, thank you very much for the reply. I think I am leaning towards getting the Beyer DT 770 or higher someday, since those are praised quite highly on this forum. I would love to have that sound card, but I don't think I have the money to spend on it yet. But I will keep it in mind in the future now.