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Question about a sound card.

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deathrament

n00b
Joined
Jul 14, 2019
Messages
4
I bought a usb headset(Arctis pro no dac) and a sound card. I didn't realize that the sound card would be useless with a usb headset. The headset does however come with a 3.5 mm adapter. so i'm wondering then if i use the adapter and plug it into my sound card, will the headset then use the sound card? If so will i loose any of the sound quality. I want to know before i open the sound card.
 
You'll be moving from the DAC in the USB adapter to the DAC in your soundcard. Yes, it will work and the "quality" between both will likely indiscernible. We don't know the specs of the DAC in the headset adapter or even what soundcard you bought but I can assure you unless you bought something with a well known, tested DAC you'll likely not notice the difference anyway without sufficiently high quality pair of headphones and amplifier.

tl;dr, sure, both options work and you probably won't notice a difference between either but give them both a try.
 
Ok thanks, i bought this sound card. Sound blaster Z Gaming sound card with high performance headphone amp. I'd rather just keep the sound card then i guess if it will sound good. Iv'e been reading online some people saying that a DAC would be better then a sound card but not sure.
 
deathrament said:
Ok thanks, i bought this sound card. Sound blaster Z Gaming sound card with high performance headphone amp. I'd rather just keep the sound card then i guess if it will sound good. Iv'e been reading online some people saying that a DAC would be better then a sound card but not sure.
Click to expand...

I have that soundcard. I bought it for the more advanced settings it has. The ability it has to create surround sound way surpassed my onboard sound for normal speakers.

I can’t comment on specifics in your case though.
 
It'll depend on the quality of the DAC/features of the headset. If it's a cheaper USB headset using the sound card to drive it via analog will make more sense. However, if it's a bit higher end like the Alienware headset, etc I wouldn't use the sound card.
 
deathrament said:
Ok thanks, i bought this sound card. Sound blaster Z Gaming sound card with high performance headphone amp. I'd rather just keep the sound card then i guess if it will sound good. Iv'e been reading online some people saying that a DAC would be better then a sound card but not sure.
Click to expand...

The Sound Blaster Z was not the highest end model of that series, there was also the Zx and the ZxR which both have better internal DACs. The Z should still be quite capable in that regard however. Really the benefit should come more down to the great features the sound card has whereas most integrated USB sound implementations are very basic. If you eventually do decide to upgrade to an external DAC, it does not have to replace the sound card. In most cases you can run digital output (optical or coax) from your soundcard to the external DAC, allowing you to continue to use the features of your sound card while just using your external DAC for it's DAC.

Also, FYI, the forum has a section for Computer Audio, no need to post in the Video Card section:
https://hardforum.com/forums/computer-audio.33/
 
GotNoRice said:
The Sound Blaster Z was not the highest end model of that series, there was also the Zx and the ZxR which both have better internal DACs. The Z should still be quite capable in that regard however. Really the benefit should come more down to the great features the sound card has whereas most integrated USB sound implementations are very basic. If you eventually do decide to upgrade to an external DAC, it does not have to replace the sound card. In most cases you can run digital output (optical or coax) from your soundcard to the external DAC, allowing you to continue to use the features of your sound card while just using your external DAC for it's DAC.

Also, FYI, the forum has a section for Computer Audio, no need to post in the Video Card section:
https://hardforum.com/forums/computer-audio.33/
Click to expand...

Wasn't the Z and ZX the same card but the ZX got the headphone /mic pod vs just the mic?
I had the ZX and now a ZxR and to be honest, they sound the same. I got the ZxR since a member had one for sale for $100 and I wanted the black headphone/mic pod.
 
Ya i think i will just use the sound card. I was mainly concerned about using a usb to 3.5mm adapter. But if i won't lose much sound quality then i'll be good.
 
deathrament said:
Ya i think i will just use the sound card. I was mainly concerned about using a usb to 3.5mm adapter. But if i won't lose much sound quality then i'll be good.
Click to expand...
Isn't those headphones connected to the usb via the plugs?
 
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