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Cleem · Rated PG-13

I used to be an audio fidelity enthusiast a couple of years ago, but I have since moved on from that hobby. Specifically I was interested in maximizing computer audio quality for both games and music, so I may be able to help you here. Personally, I think one of the best resources for everything about headphones is head-fi.org. I strongly recommend checking them out if you have more detailed questions about any headphone setup on the market.

So to answer your question, yes, you will see a difference when upgrading your soundcard (especially in bass impact, vocal detail and treble speed/detail), but only if your other components are on par as well. In fact, if done correctly, I bet you will hear things in songs that you never heard before. The basic setup can be thought of as the following chain: Source--->Soundcard--->Headphones (there are a few optional components but they are not necessary for right now). So when you upgrade your soundcard, you need to make sure that the source or headphones are not the weakest link. Think of it like a car - if you have an 800 HP engine, it won't do anything if you have paper tires.

For a music source, make sure you are using at least 192 kbs mp3 files, preferably 320 kbs or uncompressed (FLAC is considered to be the gold standard uncompressed format). This will enable your new soundcard to really shine. If you are only using 128 kbs, then you probably will not see much difference between on-board and a new card. For source from games, just try turning the settings all the way up..this differs from game to game so it is more difficult for me to suggest the best settings.

Also, make sure you have some good headphones. Some people like myself buy $300 headphones but you don't need that to hear a difference. I think a great option for all around listening (with some nice bass kick) are the Sennheiser HD 555s or the HD 595s. I personally feel that the purchase of HD 595s can be a great first step into high fidelity audio due to their high ratio of detail to cost. Note that both of these are "open", meaning that you can hear outside noise clear as day with these (which gives better sound quality but can be annoying depending on the environment). There are many great options out there but it all depends on your budget and your needs..there is AKG, Sony, Grado, Beyerdynamic, Audio-Technica and Sennheiser like I mentioned. Note that different headphones have different "ohm" ratings, such as 300 ohm or 120 ohm; this number dictates how power hungry the headphones are. Since you will (presumably) be using a desktop with this setup, power should not be an issue, but if you were using a portable player then we would have to consider whether or not the batteries would be able to power the headphones for a long period of time. Just some quick "ideal" recommendations, if you are looking for the best in gaming audio from closed headphones (blocks outside noise), I would suggest looking into the Beyerdynamic DT770s or the Audio-Technica A-900s. If you think open headphones would be tolerable in your environment, I would suggest the Sony MDR-5000s or the Sennheiser HD650s. Note that some of these use a 1/4" plug and would need an adapter to fit into a typical soundcard's 1/8" headphone jack.

Ok, now that the importance of the source and headphones are out of the way, I can write a bit about soundcards. First, I would avoid the Chaintech card like the plague, both from personal experience and from others. The 7.1 setup is only very mediocre and trying the "high quality" 2.1 setup is actually a nightmare with games and WinAMP. For example, in CS: Source, this card will default to a sampling rate of 96,000 Hz, which is fine for DVDs but Steam does not like that at all and plays back sounds at half speed, even while playing. I have heard that this is the case with other games as well such as Quake 4 or Age of Empires III. With WinAMP, the card seems to have trouble during song transition and would hang up my whole computer for some reason for a little bit. That bothered me a heck of a lot, but wasn't so bad once it got going. In fact, the 2.1 setup was pretty good for music, but I would suggest it only if you want to listen to music and do not want to play games.

My recommendaiton is to check out Creative's line of X-Fi cards. I know, Creative has not had the best reputation, but I think their line of X-Fi cards are great. I have had experience with their basic X-Fi Xtrememusic card and have loved it for both music and games. It is nice too that you get all of the nice EAX effects that come with the card - nothing too amazing but can sometimes be complex sound bites. If you want to spend more money, the X-Fi Fatal1ty or the Elite would be my other choices. Some say that the difference between the two is negligible without uncompressed music files and super headphones, but others say the difference is noticable with lesser systems.

All of the cards I mentioned above seem to not benefit much from a headphone amplifier. I've used a custom built PIMETA amp with them and have only heard minor differences in bass but nothing worth the money for one. Which is great because you don't need to spend extra cash on one. The headphone amplifier is another component in the chain I mentioned in the beginning (between the card and the headphones). Unless you want to use your soundcard with something crazy, like the AKG K1000s or electrostatic headphones, I wouldn't worry about adding a headphone amplifier to your setup.

If you want more detailed information I would be happy to oblige. If you write about your budget range I could try to put together a nice audio setup for you if you wanted; if not, that's fine too. In case you missed it at the top, I would definitely recommend checking out head-fi.org if you get some free time. Smile