[orlnub123]

I recently bought a pair of Sennheiser HD558's. They sound amazing but I'm not sure if my on-board audio is bottle-necking them or not. I'm looking for a sound card in the $50-$150 range that might improve the audio. I have my eyes on the Creative Sound Blaster Z and the Xonar DX but if there's anything better out there in that price range then I'll be sure to check it out.
 
My current motherboard is a GA-Z87X-OC and it has a Realtek ALC892 codec in it (I might be wrong about the codec).

 

[superjawes]

The Tech Report editors recommend the Xonar DX and DSX, as seen in their System Guide. They exclude Creative cards because they have not been able to test any for some time (and audio isn't really their "thing" either).

Regardless, any sound card will improve your sound. Motherboards can have good parts, but an expansion sound card will isolate your analog components from some of the noisy digital stuff, and it provides extra board space for more/better chips, resistors, capacitors, etc.

I recommend anything that gets decent reviews and has an optical/coax output. You'll get the added benefits I mentioned above, and you'll keep the ability to add an optical DAC later if you so desire.

 

[orlnub123]

I've been playing some games recently and noticed that I can't really tell where some sounds are coming from unless i concentrate (footsteps etc). Will a sound card help with this?

 

[cel4145]

Yes. Virtual surround can assist with creating a bigger soundstage which will help with better determining where sounds are coming from.

The Xonar DX (or D1) is not a great choice because it does not have a headphone amp.

 

[PurpleAngel]

  I recently bought a pair of Sennheiser HD558's. They sound amazing but I'm not sure if my on-board audio is bottle-necking them or not. I'm looking for a sound card in the $50-$150 range that might improve the audio. I have my eyes on the Creative Z and the Xonar DX but if there's anything better out there in that price range then I'll be sure to check it out.
 
My current motherboard is a GA-Z87X-OC and it has a Realtek ALC892 codec in it (I might be wrong about the codec).

 
The Xonar DX and SB-X both use the same CS4398 DAC chip
But the SB-Z is better at driving headphone.
 
Or another option is to get the Xonar DX (used $60) and a FiiO E11K headphone amplifier, $60.
The E11K has a better headphone amplifier, then the SB-Z and it gives you a volume knob at your finger tips.
Plus you can use the E11K with more then just your computer.

 

[orlnub123]

I've looked around a bit and decided to get the E10K and a Xonar DG for its surround sound. Will I be able to hear a noticeable difference in the sound quality compared to my on-board?

 

[pavinjoseph]

  I've looked around a bit and decided to get the E10K and a Xonar DG for its surround sound. Will I be able to hear a noticeable difference in the sound quality?

The E10K has a discrete DAC with amp. So what is the point in buying the Xonar DG? (it also has a DAC - i.e., sound card and a built in amp). IMHO, the surround sound is just a marketing gimmick when it comes to headphones. Software virtual surround works almost the same for headphones.
 
I think what you're looking for is either just an E10K or a Xonar DX with an E11K. 
 
This makes sense because the E10K connected to your USB port acts as a discrete DAC and its built-in amp amplifies that signal without passing through your onboard DAC/soundcard.
 
Or,
 
The Xonar DX can act as high-end DAC and the E11K can then amplify the signal from the DX.
 
For surround sound virtualiztion, try the Dolby Home Theater v4

 

[PurpleAngel]

  I've looked around a bit and decided to get the E10K and a Xonar DG for its surround sound. Will I be able to hear a noticeable difference in the sound quality compared to my on-board?

 
The E10K is USB, which means it would bypass any sound card.
Just get the Xonar DG or DGX sound card and plug the HD558 directly into the sound card.
The DG/DGX basic amplifier can easily drive the 50-Ohm HD558.
 
Remember to disable on-board audio (ALC892), in the BIOS, when you install a add-on internal sound card.

 

[SSSN]

Consider that every Creative/Asus soundcard has high output impedance ranging from 10 to 100 Ohms. Your HD558 are sensitive in that regard and will have their frequency response altered. An external DAC/amp combo like the Fiio E10K would be a better match for your phones. Not to mention the Fiio E10K generally sounds better than an evenly priced soundcard. You can get virtual surround via the free software "Razer Surround". It works with every soundcard or interface. I would just stick with stereo though. Surround simulations are gimmickry in my opinion. It's not like games need 5.1 sound. Battlefield 4 for example even has a built-in surround simulation as far as I know.

 

[jodgey4]

I wouldn't recommend Razer Surround, though you're welcome to try it. There's a slight lag in the audio that bothers many users. The HD558's will certainly benefit from a low output impedance, but the difference caused by that is going to be much smaller than the difference caused by the DSP. ANYTHING is better than onboard ... so I think a soundcard would be worthwhile.
 
What games do you play? If they have built in headphone options like BF4 or CS:GO, maybe you don't need DSP, and the E10K could therefore be your best option.

 

[mindbomb]

bf4 doesn't. It's hard to imagine any game that doesn't support hardware accelerated sound (ie, all modern games) actually having that feature.

 

[orlnub123]

Thanks for all the replies! I'll be getting the E10K

 

[orlnub123]

It came in today, I've noticed that there are no more popping sounds when something like once is said. tbh I wasn't expecting it to sound any better but it did. Couldn't be happier with it