Sound Card + Headphones recommendations

[karioskasra]

I'm growing tired of the Realtek onboard sound I've been using on Vista x64. Does anyone know if an X-Fi would be a good upgrade? I also have an Audigy 2 sitting on a shelf.

I also need a pair of decent headphones to go with these. I'm going to be gaming, watching movies, and listening to music, and I've heard good things about the HD280 and HD555, though I have no idea what their strengths/weaknesses are. Something up to about $150 would be good for me. Any ideas?

 

[PurdueRy]

I would only get the 280's if you need isolation. The HD555's are MUCH better than the 280. The most noticeable aspect of this difference is the bass response. The sealed design kills most of the low end frequency response.

The HD555's are open which means that you can still hear people around you and they will be able to hear...somewhat...what you are playing.

If gaming is very important to you then a X-fi would be a good upgrade. However, it isn't necessary if gaming sound isn't that big of a deal to you. If music/movies are more of a concern..then there are many more options.

 

[Ika]

... I swear I had already posted in this thread before. Oh well. Let's write it all again!

It's not the sealed design that kills off the bass, it's just the design of the drivers of the HD280 Pro. I'd say that most sealed designs give the headphone MORE bass - see DT770, AKG K81DJ, HD 25-1, A900, etc etc. What the closed design does do, however, is make the headphone sound "tinny". The lack of bass in the hD280 Pro drivers combined with this "tinny" effect makes them seem worse than normal.

Anyway... if you have ambient noise, like people around or a noisy street next to your window, you should probably get a closed pair of headphones. If not, then the HD555s will be much preferable.

 

[karioskasra]

Yes, I saw a few threads mentioning these cans, though when I posted I was hung up on whether there'd be any competitors of note like Grados or V6s. After a bit of looking around, it seems Grados mainly get docked for comfort issues, so I went ahead and bought the 555s since I'll be using them in an enclosed room.

My sound card problem is going nowhere though. And I thought choosing a pair of headphones was hard! I'm currently stuck between the Omega Striker ($80), X-Fi Gamer ($80), or just staying with my onboard sound. I'm running Vista x64 so EAX is worthless, but I can't tell if the supposed X-Fi's superior sound quality would justify its terrible drivers, or an upgrade over the Realtek codecs I'm using right now, and I don't think there's any other card of note under $100.

 

[Ika]

To be honest, the Creative drivers aren't so bad anymore. I'm using an OEM version of the XtremeMusic and once you get past the stupid install issues (I spent around 3 hours messing around with the driver CD and safe mode and rebooting), it's fine. It definitely sounds better than my onboard sound with my Grado SR60s, and there are tons of options for tweakage (although there isn't DTS/THX on my version, I don't think). EAX does work in Vista x64, you just have to use ALchemy (which I believe is a software workaround... haven't really noticed a difference, but even placebo is better than nothing, right?

 

[Christobevii3]

Buy an HT-Omega sound card, they list all the features that work and don't on vista 64 and don't fuck you sideways like creative.

 

[acegazda]

Can you spend $150 on the headphones alone or on the whole setup? In either case check out the Equation Audio RP-21. The bass is plentiful, they are closed cans that isolate well and great overall sound quality. they cost $100 online. You can then go for an xfi extremegamer or extremusic if you can find it cheap. That situation would be if you could spend $150 TOTAL. If you have $150 for just headphones, take a look at the beyerdynamic dt770 and audio technica ath-a700 both around $150 I think... the beyer might be closer to $175. Excellent bass phones, both closed though. The hd555s are a great phone but senns generally have a more "laid back" sound. What this means for gaming is that the sounds in the fast, intense scenes might, to your ears, begin to mix together. They are a great headphone though.