Hello everyone,
I'm certainly an audio noob compared to most on the head-fi forums so I apologize for any confusion and/or incorrect assumptions. I've read through the main post and several good responses, but I haven't gone through all 250 pages.
I've been a huge PC gamer for the past 20 years, but I've never worried too much about the audio side of things. I have a Sound Blaster Z sound card that I generally use with headphones (ATH-AD700s), or bookshelf speakers for gaming. I've always made use of SBX Pro Studio surround for bianural headphone surround sound when playing first person shooters, and I've never tried the Dolby Headphone alternative offered by Asus/Xonar so I can't compare. Other game genres I play without any surround effects while using speakers or headphones.
I've recently become a lot more interested in getting a better experience for gaming audio and have been debating the Sound Blaster X7 and the Sennheiser GSX 1000/1200 so I can use some of my better headphones on my PC. I realize these are quite different products, but I could make use of either. I've read a lot of reviews and I really couldn't decide between the two.
I've unexpectedly come into a bunch of other audio equipment to try out and I'm hoping to get some recommendations or suggestions.
I've got the following equipment sitting on my floor.
Amp/Dac/Etc.
Asus Essence One (x2 for some reason, maybe different opamps, I haven't checked)
Zero (version 09)
Woo Audio WA7 - one of the tubes on the top is broken, is it worth replacing to try this out? Looks like the replacement tubes are about $55. Hopefully the amp is functional otherwise.
Asus Xonar Essence STX Sound Card
Headphones
Dennon D7000
Beyerdynamic 770 Pro 250
Beyerdynamic T1
Sennheiser HD 650
I've read through Mad Lust Envy's Headphone Gaming Guide and can certainly compare and choose which headphones I like myself, but I would appreciate any advice on the best setup/configuration to try out with a focus on PC gaming. Would any combination of the above come out comparable to or superior to the X7 / GSX 1000 options? Note that I do also listen to music and watch movies on my computer, but I have a main living room setup that focuses on this so a lot of this may be overkill.
I'll most likely be selling any of the above that I can't make use of and could use the proceeds to buy a more suitable product if it's recommended. I realize Asus also has a new line of gamer-centric sound cards (strix soar?) available but I haven't bothered to research these yet.
If it helps, my main living room setup for music and movies is a NAD T747 with a Tannoy dc4lcr and a pair of KRK monitors.
Thanks!