[amerikhan]

I just recently purchased a New Sennheiser PC 350 Gaming Headset from eBay and after configuring and testing them from my PC's 6 Channel RealTek ALC65X Onboard Audio the headphones produced horrible low volume & bass. Most reviews i've read about the Sennheiser PC 350 claim the headphones to be outstanding so I believe my issue is the lack of a sound card.

I need a cost-effective sound card that can help boost my headphones volume & bass for gaming, music, and movies. Please note that I do not want to spend more than $140 on a sound card.

Right now I'm currently looking at:

Creative PCI Express Sound Blaster X-Fi Titanium.
Newegg.com - Creative 70SB088000004 7.1 Channels 24-bit 96KHz PCI Express 1x Interface PCI Express Sound Blaster X-Fi Titanium - Sound Cards

HT | OMEGA STRIKER 7.1
Newegg.com - HT | OMEGA STRIKER 7.1 Channels 24-bit 96KHz PCI Interface Sound Card - Sound Cards

Creative Sound Blaster X-Fi XtremeGamer 7.1
Newegg.com - Creative Sound Blaster X-Fi XtremeGamer 7.1 Channels 24-bit 96KHz PCI Interface Sound Card - Sound Cards

Any feedback is much appreciated.

 

[12345]

that seems a bit much compared to spending only $150 on headphones, i tohught you are supposed to spend double on the headphones compared to soundcard, but don't hold me on that. have you looked at external dac's? they are popular around here don't know how much they cost though. the low volume may be because you need an amp?
i'm a bit of a noob so i apoligisuse if anything i've said is wrong

 

[amerikhan]

I've questioned buying a DAC/Amp combo but it seems to be out of my price range. So at the moment I'm just looking for a quality sound card so that my headphones will output at their normal strength.

 

[chinesekiwi]

What OS do you run and games do you play? (important).

Anyway, I'd sell that craphausen PC350 and buy an Audio Technica AD700 + Zalman clip-on mic (combo = $104 on Amazon) for gaming. If you need a closed headphone and/or bass for gaming, the Audio Technica A900.

PC350 = the most overpriced piece of junk in the whole Sennheiser range. The AD700 carves it up in positional gaming, such as FPS's.

 

[amerikhan]

Windows XP (32bit). I play a wide range of a games, FPS (Counter Strike: Source, Day of Defeat: Source, Call of Duty 4), RTS (Warcraft III), MMO (Warhammer Online) are some examples.

I'm not really interested in selling my new headphones and I've already read many very positive reviews about them as I previously stated. I'd just like some help and recommendations on a good sound card so I can get some real bass flowing though my new headphones.

 

[chinesekiwi]

Quote:

Originally Posted by amerikhan /img/forum/go_quote.gif I'm not really interested in selling my new headphones and I've already read many very positive reviews about them

From "general consumer sites" in which they dunno what the hell they are talking about as they are not experienced with audio.

Here's a counter review:

Headphonic: The Sennheiser PC350 | Headphonic: Australian Headphone Specialists: Buy Etymotic, Alessandro, Audio Technica, Ultimate Ears, Talisman, Meier Audio and more

Anyway, since you have XP and play Warhammer, which cries [BSOD's, sound driver issue] if you use an Asus soundcard to play the game....

An Auzentech X-fi Prelude

Newegg.com - AuzenTech Auzen X-Fi Prelude 7.1 7.1 Channels 24-bit 192KHz PCI Interface Sound Card - Sound Cards

The X-fi Prelude is a bassy card as well.
But really, the PC350 is an overpriced piece of junk.

 

[amerikhan]

If 30+ different "general consumer" websites all rate the Sennheiser PC350 headphones from 4.5/5 to 8.5/10 on average as great gaming headphones I believe it's safe to assume as a somewhat general consumer I might enjoy these headphones.

I find the review that you've posted to be a undetailed biased comparison of the reviewers favorite headphones vs the PC 350. Also the fact that the reviewer had problems even getting the headphones out of its original packaging shows his capacity.

I appreciate the recommendation on the AuzenTech Auzen X-Fi Prelude 7.1 but unfortunately that sound card has a faulty mic input.

 

[FallenAngel]

Review as a "great gaming headphones" are tended towards people who generally listen to 128kbps MP3s off their computer or DAP and know next to nothing about what good audio sounds like, as was clearly stated before. If it is possible to return those for a refund, it is strongly recommended.

We are just trying to be helpful and are not presumptuous or arrogant, just know from a lot of experience that "consumer audio" sounds quite bad compared to "audiophile audio", even (and especially) at similar price points. Look at all the great reviews and recommendations Bose, SkullCandy, WeSC, etc are getting - and they all sound like crap compared to a $15 Koss KSC75.

As for sound card recommendations, I'm a fan of my Creative XtremeMusic at about $50 off eBay, just make sure it's retail and comes in a box, not OEM pull from Dell/HP/etc.

 

[Landis]

Geez, you guys are taking bats to this fella's knee caps just as he's walking into the room!

To be honest, you'll be getting quite low volumes out of the PC350 unamped off the bat as it is higher impedance than most gaming headsets! Even if you can get a cheapo CMOY or portable amp, it'll make a bit of a difference running through your sound card and give you some of that bass you keep mentioning!

It's not a terrible headset, but the point that these guys are trying to make is that you for an equal or lesser price, you can get a much better bang for you buck.

For gaming, I couldn't be happier with my DT770 Pro/250s, which you can score on these forums for about $160-$180 USD in like-new condition. But if you're absolutely happy with your PC350s and refuse to budge on the matter, then all the power to ya!

For a matching sound card, I'd personally recommend just about anything from HT Omega as their service, build quality, compatibility and performance is excellent and because of all that, superior to Creative by my books; I got tired of their compatibility issues and alienation of loyal customers years ago.

 

[FallenAngel]

No idea what you're talking about with the amp requirements:
Sensitivity: 108 dB
Impedance: 150 ohms

That's quite sensitive (gets loud easily) and an easy load (high impedance actually means EASIER to drive).

Those should get to ear-splitting volumes easily with any onboard soundcard.

 

[chinesekiwi]

Quote:

Originally Posted by amerikhan /img/forum/go_quote.gif I find the review that you've posted to be a undetailed biased comparison of the reviewers favorite headphones vs the PC 350.

1) not his favourite headphones

2) Read his other short reviews on his products. Marcus is known to be downright honest about his own products he sells and if he states they are crap, he will say they are crap even though he sells them.

How is the review not detailed!?

It states everything you need to know as a gamer: soundstage, the mic quality, the actual sound quality, build quality, isolation....

tbh, you're suffering from confirmation bias + the consumer psychology of justifying their own purchase.
Thing is, we here, want to get your the best deal for your money and your needs. If that means criticizing a purchase you did, then so be it. We're trying to do you some good by getting the best value for your money. Don't take no offence. Thing is, there are much much better headphones you can get for the price of the PC350's for gaming.
It's not bias. You just don't want to accept a counter opinion by someone who is actually into audio and knows what they are talking about and is respected for their opinion of stuff.

 

[amerikhan]

Thanks for the feedback everyone I appreciate it. By the way I only payed about $100 total for my PC350 headphones.

It turns out that Creative Sound Blaster X-Fi cards cause sound issues with my rigs nForce chipset so I've decided to go with the HT | OMEGA STRIKER 7.1 for $90. If the sound quality from my current PC350 headset doesn't improve with the new sound card I will definitely take the recommendation of selling the PC350 and buying a different headset.

BEYER DYNAMIC DT770-Pro ($250) is out of my price range ($100-$150) for headphones. The Audio Technica AD700 seems like a good recommendation however I'm considering the Sennheiser HD-555 Audiophile Headphones.

 

[davidastoria]

Ahh, so you were the guy who won it on ebay! i was watching the auction as well. after looking this over, the AD 700 has harnessed my attention. Now here's a quick question though, I already have HD650s, am I better off just picking up the Zalman mic, or is the AD 700 particularly known for FPS gaming performance?

 

[amerikhan]

If I owned the HD650s I'd definitely continue to use those as my main headphones and add a clip on mic.

 

[Luk3d4wG]

Wow. There are some totally out-of-line comments in here. No one asked you for your supreme knowledge on the headset itself, did they? Answer the man's question, possibly suggest another set of cans, and then move on. No need to be downright rude about it...

Amerikhan: I'm in the same boat, looking for the best pc headset (with mic) for less than $200. It seems the only advice you can get from people who know audio is "forget the mic, get the good headset and add on a crappy external mic" or "get the $400 beyerdynamics". I'm still not sure what I'm going to do either, but managing an external mic is a pain. Why is it so hard to find a headset that meets these relatively simple criteria?