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Sound card for AD700

P

panta

Weaksauce
Joined
Apr 21, 2009
Messages
106
Is a sound card a worthwhile investment for these 'phones? Would there be much (any?) difference over the onboard (Realtek ALC 1200 | Asus P5Q Pro motherboard)? If so, what should I get?

The budget is flexible, but preferably a card with the best price : performance.
 
i have the same motherboard
this past week i just bought a auzentech forte and a pair of AD700 from amazon
i had the ad700s since saturday they are very comfortable. They sound amazing in games great sound stage. the bass is there its just really tight and not boomy. overall i like the purchases i made. Teh forte has a nice headphone amp and i like the drivers over my creative x-fi . I iam still breaking in the AD700s they are a bit bright out of the package but after listening for about 10 hours they settle down and become natural. I believe they are good headphone for the price range. They are great for gaming if thats your thing
 
does your motherboard hiss or hum when you move the mouse or an HD accesses? if not, thats a good sign, means the onboard is usable (should be)

if thats the case, the only things you'll gain from a soundcard, like the X-Fi Forte that 123lanoix suggested, is extra "effects" for headphone usage (in gaming and when watching movies), as well as the headphone amplifier, the DSP effects are nice in games and movies, its a cool feature, the headphone amplifier isn't all that big of a deal given the characteristics of your AD700's and what the motherboard's solution should be able to drive), so I'd probably agree with the X-Fi Forte suggestion based on its price, based on the extra features, and because the onboard amplifier can't hurt under any circumstances

if cheaper is your goal, the Xonar DX/D1 or the new DS would probably be the only other half-decent option, at least in terms of offering more features than the onboard (like processing effects), and similar or somewhat better drive characteristics, although you're not talking about a large price difference between that and the Forte
 
Thanks guys. I'll probably try the onboard sound first, seeing as the good soundcard costs more than the AD700 in the U.K.

I have never noticed the motherboard hissing or humming.

The Xonar DX/D1/DS prices compared to the Forte:

http://www.scan.co.uk/Product.aspx?WebProductID=804924&source=froogle

https://www.pricelover.com/product/..._7.1_CHANNEL_AUDIO_CARD_IN/90-YAA060-1UAN00Z/

http://www.m4store.co.uk/asus-xonar...-p-8846.html?zenid=46v0hsh145289dk1816gsuhjo3

http://www.scan.co.uk/Product.aspx?WebProductID=924547&source=froogle

Pricey huh? Certainly the Forte is not an affordable card for me. My question now is really whether or not any of the Xonar cards are going to give me ~£40 worth of extra sound quality. Is it really just the extra 'effects' that I'd get?
 
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if the board isn't introducing hum/hiss, basically all you're getting is the effects/features, yeah
 
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