Sound card dilemma...help

[Sieg9198]

Hi, I'm new here

, was thinking about getting a new headphone and a sound card. After reading the post around here, I've decided to get a pair of Senn HD595(to much good review and comment about it, can't....resist......

)

As for the sound card, originally I planned to get the X-fi Platinum, but after all the readings, I had a second thought, should I get the E-mu 0404 USB, or the X-fi...(everyone seems to say good things about the e-mu)

Any good suggestion??

I don't plan to get an amp yet, maybe in the future.

P.S I'm wondering if HD595 suites my music type, any comment?(I like trance the most, low trance though, and a bit of rock, acoustic and techno etc.I'm no basshead, but I like punchy bass, they go well with my music.)

 

[Joshatdot]

for a cheep/value music sound card get a AV710. For music and gaming, get a X-Fi XtremeMusic or XtremeGamer.

I recommend building or buying a CMoy amp. An amp really brings headphones to a much better level.

 

[Ahriman4891]

If you game, get an X-fi Platinum. The headphone out on the front panel should be enough for hd595. If not, EMU 0404USB--I doubt you can do better for the money, plus it gives you speaker connection as well.

 

[Sieg9198]

I do game quite a bit. So you're saying that e-mu 0404 USB doesn't help much in gaming??

 

[Ahriman4891]

Not only you'll have to use software EAX, but due to USB being a very slow bus, actual data transfer to the card will be slower, making your whole machine sluggish. Obviously you can use onboard sound for gaming--you only need the EMU in foobar (or your player of choice), really. Youtube videos and such won't benefit from it

Really, the only difference between my fatality and 0404usb is that emu has more natural timbre and just a bit more detail. It is very possible that if I upgrade to better speakers, I'll feel more of a difference (although it's still noticeable). Both my headphones have better resolution than my speakers, but volume-matching the 2 cards and switching between them is much easier and faster through a receiver--hence I only did "serious" A/B testing using speakers (which is what I use most of the time anyway).

My point is, X-fi is a fine first step into good audio. There are better sounding things, but I think for the $$ it is a good solution for your needs. You can always add an E-MU later

Oh, and if you have an Nforce 4 motherboard, you may want to do extra research regarding the x-fi cracks/pops issue.