Sound card for Sennheiser G4ME ZERO

Motherboard - ASUS z97 Maximus VII Hero with onboard sound FXSupreme 2014, I've bought Sennheiser G4ME ZERO, using main - games, sometimes - films, maybe - music, budget - not more than $150, so questions are:
1. Do I need upgrade my onboard sound?
2. What sound card is best in quality/$
Thank you!

P.S. Subjective I prefer ASUS products over Creative )

Save up a little more for an Asus STX. The cheaper ones aren't that much of an upgrade over decent onboard.

Does your onboard have optical?

The go-to cards on the current market are the Creative Z series, but there are some options from ASUS's last offering:
- ASUS Xonar STX
- ASUS Xonar Phoebus

There are other internal solutions, but these 3(including the Creative Z series) are what to look for at this point in time. Keeping in mind, the Creative Z and Zx are nearly the same card with the Zx simply having better caps, and of course the ZxR offering a superior dac and amp. The STX was held as the absolute go-to for audiophile internal cards if you did not care for the TitaniumHD's lack of power, and the STX is simply a great card. The Phoebus is almost the same as the STX, but as an offering more aimed at the gaming crowd and more neutral tonality while the sound is just a nuance worse than the STX.

As NiHaoMike mentioned, getting a lower end soundcard is becoming pointless with the advances in onboard solutions. So an upgrade from your onboard, I would highly recommend any of the 5 total cards mentioned in the paragraph above^.

ATMINSIDE said:

Does your onboard have optical?

Click to expand...

That's a good question, but note that the game zero headset uses 3.5mm

You can get an external DAC/amp unit. The CS4344 chips in some cheap but good DACs (around $20 or so) are quite good, though it does take a bit of "magic touch" to bring out the best of it.

Guys, thanks for your helpfull answers (especially sobe).

ATMINSIDE said:

Does your onboard have optical?

Click to expand...

Yep, according to specs of ASUS Maximus VII Hero it does have S/PDIF optical.

I have network player Cambridge Audio STREAM MAGIC6 V2, can I use it somehow between computer and phones? ) I dont use it like network streamer anyway.

you best bet to get the most out of your head phones, is to use a dac/amp combo.
http://www.head-fi.org/products/category/amp-dacs

zheads said:

Guys, thanks for your helpfull answers (especially sobe).

Yep, according to specs of ASUS Maximus VII Hero it does have S/PDIF optical.

I have network player Cambridge Audio STREAM MAGIC6 V2, can I use it somehow between computer and phones? ) I dont use it like network streamer anyway.

Click to expand...

Get a DAC to go from optical to your headphones, that'll be cheaper and give you better sound quality.

I use the Audioengine D1 and have been very happy with it.