Sound quality! Best Soundcard? Best headset/headphone?

J

Jeroen

Member
I'm buying a new laptop (Cosmos II) with a decent sound card (ASUS™ XONAR-U7 Compact 7.1 USB soundcard and headphone amplifier).

I'm acually looking for the best sound quality possible. Is it a good thing to go for this soundcard? Or should I go for the Creative 5.1 soundcard?

Also, I want to buy a headset/headphone for around €150. I don't really need a microphone, since I already have decent one. So where do I have to look for a decent headphone/headset which provides me with both excellent sound quality, 7.1 surround sound and comfort (I want to be able to wear the headset for several hours a day)?
 
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S

Spuff

Expert
You're looking for the best sound possible within your budget.
You don't necessarily need a soundcard if you get an appropriate USB headset.
Are you happy get a virtual surround headset or are you aiming for 'true' surround?
 
S

Spuff

Expert
If you want a surround setup of speakers then you would need the ASUS or something like it.

I don't actually have any experience of using surround headphones so I can't give guidance on that.
 
SpyderTracks

SpyderTracks

We love you Ukraine
I've used 3 pairs of virtual surround headphones.

Logitech G35: best overall sound, very smooth and deep bass response, excellent warranty.

http://mobile-gaming.logitech.com/en-gb/product/g35-7-1-surround-sound-gaming-headset

Plantronics Gamecom 780: sound is a little lacklustre but very cheap

http://www.plantronics.com/uk/product/gamecom-780

Turtle beach earpiece PX22: bought them spur of the momemt solely for use on PS3 but ended up using them on laptop. Pricey, about equal quality of the Plantronics

http://m.turtlebeach.com/productsDe...9&productName=Ear+Force+PX22&backUrl=backPage

Of those, the Logitech ones are definitely up the top, no contest.
 
J

Jeroen

Member
I did some short research myself, but it's still not compleately clear to me...

So I have this soundcard in my laptop: 'ASUS™ XONAR-U7 Compact 7.1 USB soundcard and headphone amplifier'. I assume it provides 7.1 surround sound technology/software. I've seen that a lot of both virtual and true 7.1 surround sound headsets are provided with its own sort of built in 7.1 soundcard.

Therefore, since the virtual 7.1 surround sound headsets are actually just stereo headsets with a built in soundcard, I could buy a quality stereo headset and both enjoy good music, movies and 7.1 surround during gaming?
 
SpyderTracks

SpyderTracks

We love you Ukraine
[email protected] said:
I did some short research myself, but it's still not compleately clear to me...

So I have this soundcard in my laptop: 'ASUS™ XONAR-U7 Compact 7.1 USB soundcard and headphone amplifier'. I assume it provides 7.1 surround sound technology/software. I've seen that a lot of both virtual and true 7.1 surround sound headsets are provided with its own sort of built in 7.1 soundcard.

Therefore, since the virtual 7.1 surround sound headsets are actually just stereo headsets with a built in soundcard, I could buy a quality stereo headset and both enjoy good music, movies and 7.1 surround during gaming?
Click to expand...

To get true 7.1, the soundboard would be able to drive a 7.1 speaker package and put a decent virtualised surround through stereo headphones. Yes. The xonar range is probably the best range to go for, think they surpassed creative a while ago and have always been a little ahead of the field since.
 
S

Spuff

Expert
[email protected] said:
Therefore, since the virtual 7.1 surround sound headsets are actually just stereo headsets with a built in soundcard, I could buy a quality stereo headset and both enjoy good music, movies and 7.1 surround during gaming?
Click to expand...

Yes, the virtual surround headsets do all the surround work themselves, and get all their audio information via USB. You just plug them into a USB socket on your PC and you don't need anything else.
 
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