What soundcard?

[QKGH]

Hey guys, for christmas I will be hopefully aiming to get a computer from my parents, one that I can build to all glory, won't be real expensive, but will be something that hopefully can last for a year, being that for the past 3 years i've been running just a few different laptops.

On Topic

I want some nice gaming headphones and good regular headphones for listening to music and playing games, and just regular use for my pc, and i'm thinking the PC 360's by Sennheiser would be good. Now from what i've read in some of these few last posts and some other videos of these headphones are that you need a good soundcard, back to the /point/ of this post (I go on too much

sorry)

What would be a decently priced (not too expensive being that the headphones are quite expensive in New Zealand) soundcard that would work well with these headphones? I was hoping for one made by Creative, being that my store near me only really sells those and are in stock with them, but wouldn't mind if you could link me to one, so I could compare to my store.

http://www.pbtech.co.nz/index.php?z=c&p=audio

Link to my stores soundcards, if you want to look there and show me which one would be best with the headphones.

Please and thank you!

 

[fcb]

If you're just going for an all around inexpensive upgrade to the onboard sound, then I'd suggest the Asus Xonar DG. If you want something better, I'd suggest the Asus Xonar DX. It's a very good unit for even homt theatre use. If you're planning for future upgrades in sound systems like a 5.1 speaker system, then the DX will be perfect for almost anything you throw at it. Asus has better overall support for their software and drivers.

http://www.aria.co.u...productId=41352

http://www.aria.co.u...productId=37597

 

[Excalabur50]

+1 for the Asus cards

 

[fcb]

Although, if you need a sound card and don't have the necessary space for components in your case or on the motherboard I would opt for an external sound card like the Creative X-Fi Surround 5.1 Pro. I had a good experience with it and haven't had any problems.

 

[QKGH]

Although, if you need a sound card and don't have the necessary space for components in your case or on the motherboard I would opt for an external sound card like the Creative X-Fi Surround 5.1 Pro. I had a good experience with it and haven't had any problems.

Mmm, well basically I have to buy everything in store at PB Tech, trying to discuss with my parents all this because of how we don't get alot of money and that their finance card only works there, and I saw they have the Asus Xonar DX, also did a youtube search on it and Albert from Tiger Direct showed an overview of it, I quite like it

!

Tell me, i'm also gonna be getting some Logitech Z523 speakers,

http://www.pbtech.co.nz/index.php?z...ECH-Z523-Speaker-System-2.1--40-watts-(RMS)-3

With the Asus Xonar DX, is it possible to put those 2.1 speakers into it and the Sennheiser headsets? On Alberts overview he said how theirs a front header connection for it, is it possible to plug the speakers into the back and then plug the headset into the front header and still get the same quality sound?

Just wondering, either way I don't mind switching and pulling each out when i'm not using one or the other, lol. Sorry, learning process for me, never touched an inside of a computer before and just from research i'm trying to learn all about these computers.

Thanks again for your reply.

 

[QKGH]

+1 for the Asus cards

Thanks for your reply also

!

 

[Excalabur50]

I had a creative soundcard and the cards are good just lousy when it comes to drivers i am using senn's as well as logitech z5500's and yes you can run both from the sound card. what you can do is run the senn's from your front panel and the logies from the back.

 

[QKGH]

I had a creative soundcard and the cards are good just lousy when it comes to drivers i am using senn's as well as logitech z5500's and yes you can run both from the sound card. what you can do is run the senn's from your front panel and the logies from the back.

Sweet, totally want the Asus Xonar DX now xD, hoping my parents can figure it all out, really wanting a nice pc to upgrade to from this laptop.

!

 

[Excalabur50]

When you connect your front panel header use the hd plug rather than the ac97 plug as your senn's will be better connected to it

 

[fcb]

Yup, you won't have any issues with the Asus Xonar DX. I'm sure you'll be very happy with it.

 

[SkinToxicated]

just a further query on soundcards, im gonna treat myself to a Xonar DX, im gonna use the spdif/optial output to go to the mixamp on my astro headset, does it have another output so i can use my Sp2500s? as i dont want to be swapping cables in and out of the one output if i wanna swicth between my headset and speakers for audio

 

[fcb]

just a further query on soundcards, im gonna treat myself to a Xonar DX, im gonna use the spdif/optial output to go to the mixamp on my astro headset, does it have another output so i can use my Sp2500s? as i dont want to be swapping cables in and out of the one output if i wanna swicth between my headset and speakers for audio

You have a separate receiver where your headset is connected and you're going to connect the receiver by optical cable correct? Well your SP2500 can use the 3.5mm jack for the audio connection. I think it shouldn't be a problem.

 

[SkinToxicated]

thanx Coca, so i can use the optical out put on the sounds card for my headset and the will still be 3.5mm output for my sp2500s

Thanx again

 

[fcb]

thanx Coca, so i can use the optical out put on the sounds card for my headset and the will still be 3.5mm output for my sp2500s

Thanx again

Yup, make sure you use the plug in the speakers to the Front ouput and the receiver via optical cable to the Line In/Mic In port. They are all 3.5mm ports, so it may look a bit confusing. I believe the Xonar DX comes with a small adapter, TOSLINK, I think it's called for the 3.5mm connection?

 

[SkinToxicated]

thanx again. so im right in thinking my astro mixamp will use 2 connections, the optical out connection for my music/games sounds and use a mic input for the mic of course (as i do now, but run form the soundcard) and then i can use another output on the soundcard to go to the speakers, then i can just use the control panel to decide if i want sounds coming thru the headset or the speakers

sorry for the newbish questions

 

[fcb]

thanx again. so im right in thinking my astro mixamp will use 2 connections, the optical out connection for my music/games sounds and use a mic input for the mic of course (as i do now, but run form the soundcard) and then i can use another output on the soundcard to go to the speakers, then i can just use the control panel to decide if i want sounds coming thru the headset or the speakers

sorry for the newbish questions

You're welcome.

The 2 ports you'll be using is most likely the 1st 2, the Line In/Mic In and the Front out. The rest are for connecting to a 5.1 or 6.1 speaker system.

You can find the user manual here and may take a look to find out more info on connections and the program.

http://www.asus.com/Multimedia/Audio_Cards/Xonar_DX/#download