Standalone gaming mic,soundcard and speaker questions

Predje

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Apr 13, 2013

• Aug 20, 2014

• #1

Hello,

I've been looking for a gaming mic, sound card and speaker set to combine with my current headphones (sennheiser HD558) and came up with the following:

-Mic: Blue snowball (€66)
-Sound card: Asus Xonar DGX (€30)
-Speakers: Genius SW-G2.1 1250 (€50)

Now for my questions:
- any other/better recommendations for the same price?
- is the sound card worth it compared to my current onboard audio, Asus maximus VI Hero
- how much audio quality loss do you have when you plug in a headset through the speaker controller

 

ATMINSIDE

Sim Racing Aficionado Co-Owner

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Joined

Jun 28, 2012

• Aug 20, 2014

• #2

Antlion Modmic, if you'd rather have it attached to your HD558.

With the cans you have, I would say the sound card is worth it.

 

OP

Predje

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Apr 13, 2013

• Aug 20, 2014

• Thread Starter
• #3

Not really interested in attaching a mic to my headphones, I'd rather have a good standalone mic so I can use the mic without needing to put on my headphones

Is it worth it to go for a more expensive sound card or is this one good enough?
Considering I'll mainly use it for gaming.

Any suggestions for the speaker set?

 

ATMINSIDE

Sim Racing Aficionado Co-Owner

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Joined

Jun 28, 2012

• Aug 20, 2014

• #4

Not a lot of people know the Modmic exists, just making sure it wasn't missed

I'll let others jump in on the sound card/speakers, not as much experience there.

 

OP

Predje

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Apr 13, 2013

• Aug 20, 2014

• Thread Starter
• #5

Yea I checked it out when my mic on my old headset broke but went with the zalman clip on because the modmics were always sold out

 

Avulsion

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Aug 2, 2013

Location

Northern Virginia

• Aug 20, 2014

• #6

Predje said:

-Mic: Blue snowball (€66)
-Sound card: Asus Xonar DGX (€30)
-Speakers: Genius SW-G2.1 1250 (€50)

Click to expand...

Did you ever look into this one?

Here it is on the Egg.

It's basically the same thing that I run in my rig. It comes with a beamforming mic and the sound quality is actually amazing for the price. The mic itself is pretty sweet. Although, later on I ended up getting a bluetooth headset for my rig for those late night gaming sessions

 

OP

Predje

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Apr 13, 2013

• Aug 21, 2014

• Thread Starter
• #7

Haven't checked that out will do that asap, would still love to have some more opinions/suggestions on this topic though

E. I've just finished reading a bunch of reviews and I'm liking it so far, except for the mic which seems to be subpar.
I have a question though.
Are there other cards where you can plug in your headphone and speakers at the same time? Does it cause any sort of problems?
I know for cheap stuff if you want to plug in both it just makes the sound of both go a lot lower.

 

Last edited: Aug 21, 2014

NiHaoMike

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Mar 1, 2013

• Aug 21, 2014

• #8

If you have a good speaker setup, you'll be using the analog output for the headphones and the digital output for the speakers.

 

OP

Predje

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• Aug 23, 2014

• Thread Starter
• #9

I currently do not have a speaker setup, so if you have recommendations for a decent one for around ~100$ that uses these analog outputs I'm all ears.

Currently I'm also looking if it's possible to get my hands on a used essence stx as they're the same price as the sbz, so any speaker recommendations for that card would be nice as well. It uses rca plugs though

 

NiHaoMike

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Joined

Mar 1, 2013

• Aug 23, 2014

• #10

Only get the sound card if you're interested in better sound through the headphones. The speakers will be driven off a digital amplifier and work just as well even with onboard.

Take a look at places like Goodwill for cheap speakers and receivers. Be on the lookout for receivers that have S/PDIF but not HDMI as those often go for cheap.