please help me get a better audio setup for gaming and movies

Local stores as in...?

Depends on your location, I suppose. I know I have purchased all my audio gear, blind and online.
 
Alai said:
Sony MDR-v6 (aka 7506), but I'm not sure of it's soundstage capabilities.
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Not as good as ATHs but not bad either. They're also a bit more secure on your head, not as bulky, and can fold up (should any of those things be of interest). They're nice and comfy with the velour pads.
 
cannondale06 said:
well we have pretty much every store but Frys.
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I don't know any big chain stores that typically carry these except MAYBE the Sony. You will have to find your local hifi store and check them out. But I don't think hifi stores are around much. I only have one around here and it is 20 minutes away without traffic (but often there IS traffic).
 
Alai said:
I don't know any big chain stores that typically carry these except MAYBE the Sony. You will have to find your local hifi store and check them out. But I don't think hifi stores are around much. I only have one around here and it is 20 minutes away without traffic (but often there IS traffic).
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I went in a couple big electronic stores today and they had none of the ones suggested. I guess Im going to have to risk ordering a pair. I think I may go with the JVC HARX900. I just hate to order them and not notice the difference or not like the way they fit. I have the cheap Sony MDR-VR150 headphones right now and love the way they fit.

also if I get a sound card I am thinking about this one. http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16829132006 I dont care about music but I certainly want my games and movies to sound better so will that help? I really want to clean up the sound from the front panel for the headphones and that sound card has front panel connections. do you think that some of the interference noise I am getting is just from poor shielding on the front panel? if it is would running the front panel from the sound card even help that? sorry if these are stupid questions.
 
cannondale06 said:
I went in a couple big electronic stores today and they had none of the ones suggested. I guess Im going to have to risk ordering a pair. I think I may go with the JVC HARX900. I just hate to order them and not notice the difference or not like the way they fit. I have the cheap Sony MDR-VR150 headphones right now and love the way they fit.

also if I get a sound card I am thinking about this one. http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16829132006 I dont care about music but I certainly want my games and movies to sound better so will that help? I really want to clean up the sound from the front panel for the headphones and that sound card has front panel connections. do you think that some of the interference noise I am getting is just from poor shielding on the front panel? if it is would running the front panel from the sound card even help that? sorry if these are stupid questions.
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Not stupid at all. Also, I wouldn't worry about the fit of the HARX900. It's pretty darn comfortable after you stretch it out a bit (unless you have a small head). Only issue may be heat, but that's the case with all closed headphones.

As for soundcard, the difficulty of audio reproduction goes like this: Music>Movies>=Games.

If it is good for music, it is good for anything else. The Asus DX should be a great starter card for you. Not sure, but it PROBABLY will clean up most if not all noise coming from your computer.
 
I've yet to meet a front panel that didn't introduce considerable noise.

The Xonar DX is nice as sound cards go. The Essence STX would be better for headphone use, but costs more too. Or, use the old external option.
 
ashmedai said:
I've yet to meet a front panel that didn't introduce considerable noise.

The Xonar DX is nice as sound cards go. The Essence STX would be better for headphone use, but costs more too. Or, use the old external option.
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Lol. Funny thing is I have never used front panel connectors in my life except for mic. My headphone experience has all been through external DACs and amps. So I wouldn't know about front panel noise.
 
Alai said:
Not stupid at all. Also, I wouldn't worry about the fit of the HARX900. It's pretty darn comfortable after you stretch it out a bit (unless you have a small head). Only issue may be heat, but that's the case with all closed headphones.

As for soundcard, the difficulty of audio reproduction goes like this: Music>Movies>=Games.

If it is good for music, it is good for anything else. The Asus DX should be a great starter card for you. Not sure, but it PROBABLY will clean up most if not all noise coming from your computer.
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okay thanks. I have never had this kind of interference on all the cheap oem comps I have had so it really pisses me off that I have it on the one I built. I checked around and some other Antec 300 and 900 case owners said it was fairly common interference issue so Im thinking a sound card may not actually fix that if the front panel itself is poorly shielded.
 
Great thread going on here, I'm thinking of getting a soundcard for my 2.0 setup, but I hear it's not worth it if the speakers are cheap and the speaker hardware isn't up to it? At $99 for MS20s, I consider these cheap.
 
[H]adouken;1033893790 said:
At $99 for MS20s, I consider these cheap.
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Behringers? Cheapish, sure, but not crap. Speaker quality is the concern, not budget - if the output device is crap, it will outweigh most other sources of distortion. If the output device is reasonably faithful to the signal it's fed, then we can start worrying about source quality.

cannondale06 said:
if the front panel itself is poorly shielded.
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It's part that, part not wiring it with consideration for the application and/or using crappy jacks, and a whole lot of running little thin unshielded wires through a case full of EM noise bent in all sorts of directions so they pick up 90% of it and mix it up with your intended signal.

There's no reason in particular that you can't build a front panel connector that works well - people just rarely do it. I think the breakout boxes some cards come with might be an exception, but I wouldn't bet heavily on it.
 
okay I bought a sound card and those x540 logitech speakers. I just wanted to see what they sound like since I have never had 5.1 before. anyway I first hooked them up to onboard audio so I would have something to compare it to when I put the sound card in. the speakers would not even get recognized as 5.1 but did as 7.1 which was odd. anyway they did not sound all that great so I went ahead with the install of the creative xfi gamer card.

the sound card actually made a huge difference. the speakers easily got recognized as 5.1 and seemed much louder and more crisp. I did hook my front panel jack to the card but I am still getting a little interference so the front panel is definitely poorly shielded. I plugged the headphones into the rear audio jack in place of the speakers and it was clear.

after playing several games I have to agree with you guys that the x540 speakers do suck. the highs are screechy and the bass just doesnt seem to mix in right. I have played around for several hours and I am pretty sure they are going back. it looks like I will be going the new headphone route for now as I dont want to torture my roommate that I share a house with.
 
^ I got the X-540, then the Z-5300e, then the Z-5500.

All sucked crap, but each one progressively turned into better-crap. If that makes sense...

In the end, 150$ monitors blew them all away.

Headphone route is good. My 50$ CDN phones (HA-RX700) are awesome. If you want open headphone though, go for the AD700. huge soundstage
 
Adreneline said:
^ I got the X-540, then the Z-5300e, then the Z-5500.

All sucked crap, but each one progressively turned into better-crap. If that makes sense...

In the end, 150$ monitors blew them all away.

Headphone route is good. My 50$ CDN phones (HA-RX700) are awesome. If you want open headphone though, go for the AD700. huge soundstage
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well Im really starting to like the 5.1 stuff now. lol. I can tell I am missing so much with my headphones. is there any way to get those effects with the headphones? I used dolby headphone on my last setup but that only works when I plug in my headphones in the front panel which has interference. also that only works in the few games that let you select 5.1 from within the game. so what does soundstage actually mean?
 
cannondale06 said:
well Im really starting to like the 5.1 stuff now. lol. I can tell I am missing so much with my headphones. is there any way to get those effects with the headphones? I used dolby headphone on my last setup but that only works when I plug in my headphones in the front panel which has interference. also that only works in the few games that let you select 5.1 from within the game. so what does soundstage actually mean?
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Yeah, what Kool Bubba Ice said. The RX700 has a good soundstage imo but not as big as the AD700. The AD700 is great especially for it's price.

But try out some headphones before you decide, I personally loved the AD700 but preferred RX700 (after mods) for music.
 
Adreneline said:
Yeah, what Kool Bubba Ice said. The RX700 has a good soundstage imo but not as big as the AD700. The AD700 is great especially for it's price.

But try out some headphones before you decide, I personally loved the AD700 but preferred RX700 (after mods) for music.
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so what does vertical depth really mean? will headphones like the AD700 give me close to the 5.1 feel? sorry Im new to all these audio stuff.
 
cannondale06 said:
so what does vertical depth really mean? will headphones like the AD700 give me close to the 5.1 feel? sorry Im new to all these audio stuff.
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Fairly close, yes. As long as the soundcard and/or movie file is giving off those surround effects, the AD700 should present them nicely.
 
Alai said:
Fairly close, yes. As long as the soundcard and/or movie file is giving off those surround effects, the AD700 should present them nicely.
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well after playing around with the Creative console it seems the X-Fi XtremeGamer does a pretty good job. in fact the difference is immense in some games and the positional audio is wonderful. it even makes my crappy headphones sound good.

you guys were right about how crappy the onboard sound was so thanks for all the help. of course I will be returning the shitty Logitech speakers this weak and narrowing down my search for better headphones. even as it stands right now I am extremely happy with my $100 X-Fi XtremeGamer card.
 
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