Card VS Onboard

I would like to get the most out of my new AKG K142HD headphones....Do I need a sound card or is my P35-DS3L onboard 5.1 adequate enough?

They look like fairly nice headphones although I'm not familiar with that model, K701/702 are what I've read about most. Most likely to really get the most out of them you would want a dedicated headphone amp, barring that a soundcard with a headphone amp section would be better than onboard although the onboard should work. I am pretty sure that AKGs in general, except for maybe their real cheapo outsourced phones, scale well with better amplification.

Asking about 'getting the most' out of something in audio land is a very slippery slope so you've really got to figure out what you might be willing to spend and where you want to be on the price/benefit curve.

Onboard will do, but to get the most out of them, take a look at the Asus Xonar Essence STX.

Tis a PCIE 1x audiophile sound card, with a headphone amp built in.

Hammie said:

On board is not professional , dedicated 200 bone sc used for DAW

You running a DAW forget it. If you want music and games to sound good, its good enough that normal most people can't tell difference.. gl

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Forgive me what is "DAW"

Just go buy the Essence STX.

Hammie said:

Sorry RJ, DAW is

Digital Audio Workstation ,

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Thank you

I just downloaded the R2.40 drivers for the Realtek onboard sound card made a big difference Im sticking with the onboard for now save some money I just game so sound not that important to me....