Need help with Choosing Soundcard and Headphones for new build

[Shaker8]

Hey Guys,

Thought I would post here for this, if not the right place please just tell me where to post about sound cards.

Going to be building a new system which I have a thread in general hardware here My new Build

No on is helping on the Sound Card/SPeakers/Headset so thought I would try here.

Right now I have selected the Creative Sound Blaster X-Fi Titanium Fatal1ty Professional Link and this headset TRITTON TRI-AI712 4 x 3.5mm Circumaural AX 51 - Gaming Headset Link

Now I am very confused about the sound cards This review Linkage show that the ASUS board can stand up to creative in EAX but apparently isn't 100% as good.

This Review show the PCI Express cards against each other and its the same ASUS card is better but not in EAX 2nd Review

What I would really like to see is a preformance test between the two cards in the new OpenAL games but no one seems to have done that, and I just read that EAX is no longer supported in Vista so creative created a program called ALchemy or something to play EAX affects from legacy games on vista, it converts them to OpenAL the new EAX or something and sometimes it doesn't work right on some games.

Considering Vista doesn't support EAX anymore should I even care? I like having EAX in BF2 and other games that supported it. I am just not sure if it worth it settling with creative's bad customer support and drivers just so I can have good EAX.

Would rather go with the ASUS card more expensive but so bad ass looking and also its ASUS which I trust more than Creative.

Not sure if I should care about EAX, Also I am concerned about vista compatibility. Basically I never been more confused by a component before.

Also I can't seem to find anyone who will definitely say get these headphones/speakers since I can't find a decent 5.1 speaker set right now I decided I would like headphones that would be great in gaming and chose the 5.1 ones above until i have time and money to get really good speaker.

Still not quite sure on the headphones they have some bad Newegg reviews but professional reviews say there rebranded Medusa that are supposed to be really good headphones from Europe .

So if anyone here can recommended a kick ass set of headphone for around 100 bucks I would appreciate it. Sort of want 5.1? Not sure if it matter but heard that games are better in them.

Thanks in advance for any suggestions.

Edited cause I forgot the links

 

[YOyoYOhowsDAjello]

As for the surround headphone issue, from what I've read from real "headphone guys" is that it's not a good idea.
Check out http://www.head-fi.org/ for a ton of headphone information.
Budgets tend to get out of hand there though, so be prepared.

I'm not current enough on soundcards to offer an opinion there (especially with Vista issues).

As for speakers, $100 headphones are going to sound way better than $100 speakers. If you can live without speakers, then putting your money into headphones is going to get you a lot more bang for your buck.

 

[Shaker8]

Originally posted by: YOyoYOhowsDAjello
As for the surround headphone issue, from what I've read from real "headphone guys" is that it's not a good idea.
Check out http://www.head-fi.org/ for a ton of headphone information.
Budgets tend to get out of hand there though, so be prepared.

I'm not current enough on soundcards to offer an opinion there (especially with Vista issues).

As for speakers, $100 headphones are going to sound way better than $100 speakers. If you can live without speakers, then putting your money into headphones is going to get you a lot more bang for your buck.

Jello thanks for the Reply and the Reference to the site I am looking at it right now. Man you weren't kidding about the budgets getting out of hand.

I saw your new build in General Hardware, hope it works out well for you. Hopefully someone here will point me down the right path as far as sound cards go.

Thanks Again

 

[moonboy403]

What's your budget for your headphone Shaker?

 

[Shaker8]

Originally posted by: moonboy403
What's your budget for your headphone Shaker?

Hey Moonboy,

Well I just want good bang for the buck, with Audio equipment that seems hard to find.

I guess I could go up to 150 maybe 200 hundred but in the interest of saving up for some really good speakers under 100 or around there would be great.

However I understand that you get what you pay for so if theres a good set for more I will go with it as long as there highly recommended.

Thanks for the Reply

 

[moonboy403]

I take it that you wanna go without an amp.

Something like the Audio Technica ATH-AD700 for around $100 should fit your needs unless isolation is a must for you. It's an open headphone so sound WILL leak in and out.

Note: GENERALLY, open headphone outperforms closed ones.

 

[Shaker8]

What do mean go with an amp?

Sorry to ask in no way am I an Audiophile yet, should re title this thread to "the growing pains of becoming an audiophile".

Thanks for the recommendation I will take a look at those headphones. Isolation isn't a must I can tune out anything that I don't want to hear rather easily at least thats what ever woman in my life has told me i.e. Mom, Sister, and Girlfriend's

 

[YOyoYOhowsDAjello]

An amplifier would be something you'd put between your source and your headphones to improve the sound quality and give your headphones more power. Depending on the model of headphones, you may or may not get good results without an amp. I have a couple pairs of sennheisers. One of the pairs is fine without amplification while the other really shines when there's an amp being used.

On a $100 budget though, you should be looking for some headphones that will sound good without an amp.

 

[moonboy403]

Most headphones benefit from use of a headphone amp. Some benefit very little and some benefit to a point that, it's really not worth to buy those headphones without having an amp to go with it.

Generally speaking, headphones start to reach the point of benefiting a lot from an amp at around $150. Anything above $200 pretty much need an amp to shine.

 

[Shaker8]

Hey guys, Thanks for the replay's I am digging through Review at the Head-FI site as soon as I choose on a few Head Phones I will post them here to see what you think about them.

If anybody reads this and knows which soundcard is best for a gamer on vista 64 please help me out. How much I spend on the headphones sorta depends on how much I spend on the Soundcard. Right now I am gonna put off speakers for a long time, maybe get some cheap 2.1 to hold me over.

I can get the budget for sound card and headphones up to 400 Dollars maybe but would like to keep it a 300 if the extra hundred wouldn't get me that much bang for the buck. It all sort of hinges on the soundcard first.

To those who will reply thanks in advance for you help

 

[moonboy403]

Always keep your priority on the thing that actually output sound whether be it speaker or headphone. It's effect on sound quality has much more impact than the sound card you choose.

I'm a fellow head-fier, so I recommend that you do a search on the Full Size headphone forum on gaming headphone. There are SO many threads asking about the same thing. The general consensus are AD700(the one I mentioned), DT770/880(needs an amp to shine), Senns HD555/HD595, Denon D2000(needs an amp), and my personal favorite - any Stax setup. The only ones that fit your budget would be the AD700 and Senns HD555/HD595.

 

[Shaker8]

Originally posted by: moonboy403
Always keep your priority on the thing that actually output sound whether be it speaker or headphone. It's effect on sound quality has much more impact than the sound card you choose.

I'm a fellow head-fier, so I recommend that you do a search on the Full Size headphone forum on gaming headphone. There are SO many threads asking about the same thing. The general consensus are AD700(the one I mentioned), DT770/880(needs an amp to shine), Senns HD555/HD595, Denon D2000(needs an amp), and my personal favorite - any Stax setup. The only ones that fit your budget would be the AD700 and Senns HD555/HD595.

Wow Thanks, that makes it much easier to find some info on this, that site has so much info on headphones and sound cards and I am still trying to figure out half the terms they use by using the wikipeda. I will focus my search on those you mention. Thanks Alot!

 

[moonboy403]

No need for wiki-ing! Head-fi got it covered in terms of Glossary. :beer:

 

[Shaker8]

Dude you rock thats exactly what I needed