[hastafareh]

Right now I've set aside $100 for a USB DAC, decided that internal sound cards are too much of a hassle with slow driver updates and compatibility issues with Vista. Also, I vow never to buy any creative products again. That said, I currently own a HD555 and I'm looking to buy the hotusb1. I will only use 2.1 speakers or headphones.

I was hoping those with USB DACs would be kind enough to share their gaming experience here. With USB DACs, do you lose positioning or soundstage due to the lack of DSP chip? Would I still be able to tell how far my enemy footsteps are in FPS games ?

 

[Ricey20]

if you have some good headphones u should still be able to tell directional sounds. As for performance, as long as u have a dual or quad core you should be ok. I haven't used a sound card in 5 months or so.

 

[synaesthetic]

The only thing you really lose is the "inside a tin can" EAX.

 

[argentum]

Yeah EAX is overrated. I had Creative Xtreme Music and it sounded the best for gaming, when I used audio creation mode and bit perfect playback. My Asus Xonar D2X sounds the best in Hi-Fi mode
. All these EAX and Dolby phones produce unnatural and tinny sound for me.

 

[synaesthetic]

I use an Alien DAC and it works really well for gaming. No effects or anything, but it has much better channel separation, far lower noise floor and pretty much beats the pants off my old Audigy and the el-crappo onboard AC97 sound chip.

 

[Ricey20]

yep I use a USB TrendAudio UD 10.1 transport connected to my Cary. No comparison sound quality compared to my old X-Fi and I don't miss that sound card at all.