Do Sound Card really matters for Gaming?
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Chairman_Wang
62
Oct 29, 2018
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IMO best use case is better surround sound imaging. Certain sound cards do it better. Obviously none of the fancy audiophile stuff supports it unless you count the X7 (which I have and love xD) or Sennheiser's gaming line
Someone on head-fi made a great comparison. Based on an old X-Fi card i have and what I've heard elsewhere, it holds water. the software stuff is ehhh. Shame Creative never capitalized on the EAX stuff, Mass Effect was amazing.
Alerion
810
Aug 10, 2018
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They are hardly worth the money though if you don't need the extra ports.
If you want a full blown 5.1-7.2 experience just hook up a HDMI receiver and if you crave the headphone experience get an external DAC.
Ho1y
62
Aug 10, 2018
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im using a soundblaster Z, i might invest in an AMP/DAC and connect it to the soundcard to retain the surround sound.
phoenixsong
968
Aug 10, 2018
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I haven't tried soundcards, but compared to a good budget purifier/dac/amp setup, my laptop's native soundcard is nigh unlistenable. Congested soundtage, smeared presentation, lack extended frequency response, wooly bass, thin treble, veiled mids. You name it XD
Rhamnetin
168
Aug 10, 2018
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Yeah, and the relativity here is crazy. A Chord Mojo, which is probably my favorite sub $1,000 DAC at least, is congested, smeared, lacks extended treble, has wooly bass, etc compared to its big brother the Hugo 2 when using a revealing enough setup (electrostatic especially). And the Hugo 2 is probably all of that compared to the DAVE.
phoenixsong
968
Aug 10, 2018
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True, true. Not just the product, but also the amount of spare $$$ one has as well XD
boot2skull
89
Aug 9, 2018
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Not worth the cost or effort to me, but I'm a casual gamer. I use just left and right speakers or a cheap headset. If I had a nice headset or surround sound speakers, I would definitely consider external, but even then internal soundcards can "do" those things, just maybe not great. Just depends on your PC sound needs and whether internal soundcards fall short for that.
ku11a
0
Aug 7, 2018
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in some games i had soundlags with the external soundcard. I switched to a good internal soundcard so the lags went away.
Rhamnetin
168
Aug 5, 2018
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A sound card today just acts as an improved DAC and possibly headphone amp, with its own software suite. The days of hardware accelerated sound is pretty much over (although at least two 2017 games do support it but current day sound cards do not even support it), therefore today's sound cards no longer offer UNIQUE benefit for gaming. External DACs and amps can provide better quality and virtual surround can be obtained via external solutions or free software like Razer Surround.
Glinkster
1
Aug 5, 2018
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I totally agree on what you have said, But I have personally experienced an enhanced gaming experience having external sound card on. So yeah, it depends on games to games but whatever you said is also true External DACs and amps provide better sound quality.
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Beyerdynamic DT770 250 ohms
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High Gain: 150 - 600 ohm (2.3V RMS @ 150 ohm, 2.9V RMS @ 600 ohm
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Maximum Power 16 ohms 2.8W RMS per channel
Maximum Power 32 ohms 2.4W RMS per channel
Maximum Power 50 ohms 1.6W RMS per channel
Maximum Power 300 ohms 410mW RMS per channel
Maximum Power 600 ohms 215mW RMS per channel
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Kookabvrra
Drop shipped me the wrong item, how can I get CS to actually respond?
On August 4 I placed an order for the Drop + HIFIMAN HE4XX Planar Magnetic Headphones ($160), and I paid extra for the 2 day shipping. When the box arrived, the packing slip was correct but the item in the box was a pair of HIFIMAN HE-35X ($75). I've emailed Customer Service multiple times trying to get a response from anyone. Is there a phone number I can call to talk to somebody in person or will I be better off disputing the charge since Drop took my money, didn't send me what I ordered and I'm not getting a response?
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bookmark_border
JxstJxckk
Best Dac / amp for HD660s
Hey guys, new to this so im not sure if this will work haha!
Im a gamer, moved from console around 7 months ago to PC. I play alot games, mainly being FPS shooters like call of duty, escape from tarkov and the like.
I purchased some DT990 pro 250ohm, with the Fiio E10k, as this was a budget kind of setup to get into 'decent audio quality'. These seemed fine on escape from tarkov as the audio on there isnt perfect. I went back to call of duty today and realised that the audio on this setup, compared to my old setup of some 8 year old Steel series with an astro mix amp was no way near as good. Footsteps were quiet, and unclear, if turned up to be able to hear the footsteps the highs would almost deafen me (also on tarkov).
So i did some digging around and settled on some HD660s as apparently the audio quality is very good along with the sound imaging, which it is. Very good. However, ive now been researching a better amp / dac than the e10k as a few people have told me its pretty...
Aug 10, 2020
bookmark_border
mudkipex
Recommended amp/dac?
hey, I just got my sennheiser pc37x headset and I wanted to know if I should get an amp/dac and if yes do you have any good suggestions for starting?
i thought about maybe the soundblaster x3
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bookmark_border
mahon232
Hi, I am looking for headphones costing up to 1000$ cad(750us dollars).
I listen to rock,hard rock and metal. I really want the cymbal crashes and the drums to stand out. I really enjoy high energy songs like "time bomb" by hollywood undead or "bang bang" and "pray" by the same band. I also enjoy power metal by bands like rhapsody,stratovarius, dream theater.
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bookmark_border
kermiter
Do I need a SCHIIT stack if only for PC gaming and movie watching?
Headphones
Beyerdynamic DT770 250 ohms
Sennheiser HD 6XX 300 ohms
HiFiman HE4XX Planar Magnetic 35 ohms
PC gaming
Soundblaster AE-7 DAC/AMP
Headphone Amp (600Ω): Custom-designed discrete headphone bi-amp (Xamp)
Output Impedance: 1 Ω
Headphone Impedance Range: 16 – 600Ω
Output Impedance: 1Ω
Supported Headphone Impedance: 16 - 600Ω
IEM: 16 -31Ω (1.9Vrms, -5.5dB)
Normal: 32 - 149Ω (3Vrms, -1.6dB)
High Gain: 150 - 600Ω (5.3Vrms, +3.3dB)
HTPC movies
Soundblaster X3 DAC/AMP
Output Impedance: 10 ohms
Supported Headphone Impedance: 32 ohm - 600 ohm
Low Gain: 32 - 149 ohm (1.2V RMS @ 32 ohm, 1.5V RMS @ 150 ohm
High Gain: 150 - 600 ohm (2.3V RMS @ 150 ohm, 2.9V RMS @ 600 ohm
SCHIIT HERESY
Maximum Power 16 ohms 2.8W RMS per channel
Maximum Power 32 ohms 2.4W RMS per channel
Maximum Power 50 ohms 1.6W RMS per channel
Maximum Power 300 ohms 410mW RMS per channel
Maximum Power 600 ohms 215mW RMS per channel
Will buying a new SCHIIT stack add any value, especially if I am NOT listening to...
Aug 3, 2020
If you ask this question to the experts, they will tell you that spending on a dedicated sound card is worth and it does create a difference when it comes to the gaming experience, but at the same time, if you ask this question to the normal person, then the answer could be different.
The sound card alone cannot do a job of providing the best sound experience, If you do not have a good quality gaming speaker or gaming headset, then I doubt it that you will get the value for your money.
Why Gamers buy sound card? One of the reason is definitely because of the better sound quality experience while playing intense games and get immersed into gaming experience, The games like CS go, PUBG and battlefield requires high end sound experience. But if we look at the technical aspect of getting a sound card, then it is dedicated sound card reduce the amount of CPU usage.
If you are not into gaming and just looking for having a dedicated sound card for your listening music, then you might have to drop the idea of buying a dedicated sound card. But if you are one of those gamers who are into intense gaming and play quite often, then a dedicated sound card of good quality can make a huge difference in your gaming. You browse this article for best sound cards available in the market ( https://www.glinkster.com/best-sound-card-2018/ )
Disclaimer
So the answer to the question, Do Sound Card really matters for Gaming?
Yes, as I have already explained, if you have time and money to have one, then definitely a dedicated sound card can give you the edge in gaming among your friends.