are cheap sound cards worth getting?

[Froger]

Hi all,
im a gamer, and i am looking into getting a headset/headphones+mic and someone said that you will not get much better sound quality out of headphones over this price/quality without a sound card its not worth it.
so,if this is true, is there any point in getting a cheaper sound card for mainly headphone use with gaming and some music(but music quality doesn't matter that much as its normally youtube.
at the moment i have on board intel sound with a z68 board.
example cheap sound cards from quick look (not researched)
http://www.ebuyer.com/345387-creati...rsion-for-system-builders-no-cd-30sb135000000

or

http://www.ebuyer.com/129740-creative-soundblaster-x-fi-xtreme-audio-pci-express-oem-30sb104200000

something like this, or is it a thing of you need to spend some real money before you see any difference?
and how much difference do they make anyway?

 

[WillSK]

Absolutely worth getting! I have an ASUS DGX 5.1 and am very happy

http://www.asus.com/Sound_Cards_and_DigitaltoAnalog_Converters/Xonar_DGX/

I wouldn't recommend creative cards, you're far better off with ASUS

 

[SuB]

Of the two you link, the x-fi is FAR superior, do NOT buy a recon3D card.

That said, I'd go with WillSK's idea and get an Asus card,

 

[Froger]

ok, il get that, but can you give me an example of it changing the sound quality, and when it has been noticeably better, and what headphones would you recommend for under 50 for this sound card. as i was recommended the sennheiser hd 202, but what would you recommend for a beginner

 

[SPS]

A dedicated sound card will make a definite improvement, but stick to the Asus Xonar range.

EDIT: The sound range is much more dynamic and crisp.

 

[Drakkonen]

For £50 I would go with some Creative Aurvana Live cans. Pretty much the best thing you are gonna get for that price. Stay away from the 202s, they are ok for the price but still not very good and are by no means comfortable. With headphones it's always a good idea to use the budget you have. The 202s will leave you wanting something else after a couple months, whereas the Aurvanas are much more likely to keep you satisfied. There are of course other headphones out there for that price range such as the Audio Technica ATH-M30 or the Sennheiser HD419s, but imo the Aurvana lives are just a tad better overall.

 

[MacLeod]

The thing youre after with a sound card is getting a bigger headphone amp. It doesnt take a fancy sound card to deliver a transparent signal from the source. The fancy sound card just has a more powerful headphone amp than the stock one on your motherboard and more power means better sound quality. Another way to go if youre in the market for it is to get a really good 2.1 set of speakers that also has a 3.5mm headphone jack. This will have a much more powerful headphone amp than the one on a sound card even and give you great sound quality with or without the cans on. Something like the Klipsch Promedia 2.1 system would be perfect. Thats a little more expensive option than what youre looking for but I was just throwing it out there.

 

[SuB]

I'm sorry MacLeod but discreet sound cards make much more difference than just headphone amplification, you're giving bad advice there fella.

 

[tinytomlogan]

Asus do a £40 GBP Xonar and its deffo better than 90% of the on board stuff you get.

Thing to point out though is a DECENT sound card will be in your rig for years. Ive had a D2X Xonar for 4 years and its been in everyone of my rigs since. Its a very worthwhile purchase if you have decent speakers and or headset to go with it and tbf if you can tell the difference between quality audio

 

[SuB]

Yeah a sound card these days is one of those things you buy and just keep and put in all your rigs.

 

[B3rni3]

I agree with Tom, I have had my Creative xfi fatality now for a good few years and it works well. Might not be the best one for music but in games it is really good. I bought mine when I was still playing source competitively and the difference it makes to not only position but how far away people are and you hear the slightest noise. It helps clear up the sound which in turn makes it easier to hear things across the map.

They will also improve input sound too. So if you use a mic your voice will come out clearer. I recently put together a rig for my mate using an Asus xonar d2 and his voice over comms actually sounds like his voice does in real life compared to his old rig which made him sound mental lol.

 

[MacLeod]

I'm sorry MacLeod but discreet sound cards make much more difference than just headphone amplification, you're giving bad advice there fella.

Sorry you think so.

The only thing you want from your DAC is to reproduce the source signal as transparent as possible. The DAC on your motherboard is perfectly capable of this. The fancy, expensive DAC's can't reproduce the source transparent'er than the stock one that comes on your motherboard.

Now I'm not saying you shouldn't buy a sound card because they do have benefits. You get really good software usually that gives you better flexibility in tuning the sound. You'll get better decoding of a greater range of digital surround sound like DTS, 7.1 and so on. And like I mentioned, you get a much better headphone amp.

Power is what it's all about. Don't confuse more power simply with just being louder. It doesn't take a lot of power to make screeching guitars loud but it in order to get the intricate, delicate details in songs and game soundtracks to really come to life with dynamics and impact, you need the power. The tiny crappy headphone amp that comes on a stock motherboard isn't enough.

So yeah I agree that you get better sound and many more features from a good sound card, but you could get equally good sound by going with a quality receiver to dedicated bookshelf speakers or buying a good headphone amp/DAC instead. Of course that's for stereo listening and you'd have to have the sound card for surround sound and such.

 

[jamesriley94]

The only thing you want from your DAC is to reproduce the source signal as transparent as possible. The DAC on your motherboard is perfectly capable of this. The fancy, expensive DAC's can't reproduce the source transparent'er than the stock one that comes on your motherboard.

I'm not too sure you understand what you're saying about DACs.

The DAC doesn't reproduce, or really alter the sound at all. The sound processing chip in the card does that.

The DAC does just what the name says - converts the digital signal into analogue. The motherboard's onboard sound does this, as does every device - iPods, phone speakers etc... The difference is, a cheaper DAC will add background white noise into the audio, whilst the more expensive ones add very little. Of course when this is amplified, the background noise is also amplified and so simply running an amp between your headphones and onboard sound won't really do much in terms of quality other than make the static louder too...

The idea is you run the audio through a high quality DAC so as little white noise gets through as possible, and then amplify the cleaner audio.

I'm even more confused by your final paragraph:

So yeah I agree that you get better sound and many more features from a good sound card, but you could get equally good sound by going with a quality receiver to dedicated bookshelf speakers or buying a good headphone amp/DAC instead. Of course that's for stereo listening and you'd have to have the sound card for surround sound and such

Yes, you can get as good a sound from an external amp/DAC - but you can't honestly be suggesting someone who's put in the title of this thread 'cheap sound card' to be spending a lot of money on high quality external equipment.

For the record, one of the best soundcards you can really buy is the Xonar STX (yes there are better ones, but most of the better ones aren't available in 99% of the countries in the world)... But to beat the STX with external equipment, you need to be spending over £300 - more than double the price of the STX, plus you've then got massive external receivers and amps that aren't really portable at all.
For a PC, the only reason to really be buying external DACs and amps is if you're a serious audiophile, or producer or some sort, where you need the best possible quality, and price is really irrelevant for you.

 

[MacLeod]

The Digital to Analog Converter takes the digital source signal from the CD, DVD or whatever and converts it to analog so that it can be played thru your speakers. In order to listen to digital music, you have to have a DAC.

You don't need an expensive DAC to have a transparent or noise free signal. That is marketing. The DAC on a $20 Walkman is sufficient to give you a transparent and noise free signal. If you're hearing white noise (it's actually pink noise 20-20 KHz) thru your speakers, it's not from a cheap DAC, it's from a weak amplifier. The weaker an amplifier, the lower the signal to noise ratio. A quality amp will have enough juice to deliver the power you need with a high enough signal to noise ratio that you get no noise. The cheap amp on your stock motherboard is so weak that you have to turn the volume up into the range where the noise floor is so high that it feed thru your cans.

When it comes to sound quality, the speakers (or headphones) are the most important link in the chain and power is the 2nd most important. Without proper power, you can't have great sound quality.

No I'm not suggesting OP buy a $200 audiophile headphone amp. There are headphone amps that are cheaper than a sound card though. I was just throwing it out there as an example of what you could do.