Onboard or Xonar DG 5.1?

[Jan]

I'm buying either steelseries siberia v2 or sennheiser hd 449, should I buy this soundcard or doesn't it improve quality over the motherboard which is a gigabyte ga-970a-ud3? I don't want to spend much more on a discreet soundcard so is it worth the upgrade?

 

[tinytomlogan]

Any soundcard is better than on board. The £40 Xonars are actually quite good as well.

 

[SuB]

Anything over onboard is worth it. Pickup pretty much any Xonar for Stereo !

 

[jamesriley94]

It will probably make a difference - not sure how noticeable it would be in terms of quality however...

But - the DG does have a headphone amp, which will help with the headphones as your motherboard may not be able to power them to their fullest extent.

It's up to you though. If it were me, I'd save up for something better tbh.

 

[tinytomlogan]

The Xonar is actually pretty good.....

 

[Jan]

Thanks for the help, could you guys also recommend which is better between the siberia v2 and the HD 449?

 

[tinytomlogan]

Thanks for the help, could you guys also recommend which is better between the siberia v2 and the HD 449?

Ferrari or 4x4.......

All depends what you are using it for obviously!

 

[Jan]

I'd say about 70% gaming and 30% for all kinds of music but mostly dubstep, drum & bass... so bass is also important I guess?

 

[jamesriley94]

I say get the headphones.
Headphones are always better than headsets.

 

[AgentHydra]

I would deffo get a Xonar DG, I love mine. I have not tested both but some people cannot tell the difference between the DG and the DX. Pretty much the best bang for buck soundcard out there.

I say get the headphones.
Headphones are always better than headsets.

This. Just add a clip-on mic and you're set. Also in this price range and for this application the Samson SR850s and Creative Aurvana Live! are worth considering.

 

[Jan]

Ordered the HD 518 from sennheiser. I'll compare the xonar dg to the onboard.