Need Sound Card and Headphone recommendations

[atraps]

Like the title says I'm looking for a decent sound card. I will be using it primarily for gaming, but I also listen to music and watch an occasional movie. I also need it to work with Windows 7 64-bit.

A few I've been looking at-
HT | OMEGA STRIKER 7.1
ASUS Xonar DX 7.1
HT | OMEGA CLARO Plus+ 7.1- Worth the cost?
ASUS Xonar D2X 7.1- Another pricey one

I'd like to spend less then $100 but if the more expensive ones are worth the cost I'm willing to spend more.

I'm also looking for a new pair of headphones. My 6 year old Philips are starting to show their age. I've been considering the Sennheiser HD 555 but I'm concerned about the sound leakage and lack of bass. Perhaps the reviewers make it sound worse then it actually is?


Feedback would be greatly appreciated.

[Ishan]

I'm not that knowledgeable in sound cards but the only thing i see in them is the EAX support thingy that many games tend to use like for eg San Andreas and there are more new ones that has it.
Now According to it only the first one has it(EAX 1.0, 2.0). And there are sound cards like from creative that i like more.
Like Creative Sound Blaster X-Fi Titanium Fatal1ty has EAX 5.0. These cards come with dedicated XRAM(sound RAM you can say upto 64 MB)So it's a thing to be looked into.

So look for those imo EAX HD stuff and all that.

And from what i know who use Sennheiser HD 555 i haven't heard any complaints about it and people here on TWC that have them simply love it.

Hope this helps.

[atraps]

The Creative sound cards do seem impressive but I've heard from others to stay away from them. Supposedly they have horrible driver support for Vista/Win7?

It would be great if someone with 555s can comment on the issues I'm worried about.

[woodsof]

I'm not that knowledgeable in sound cards but the only thing i see in them is the EAX support thingy that many games tend to use like for eg San Andreas and there are more new ones that has it.
Now According to it only the first one has it(EAX 1.0, 2.0). And there are sound cards like from creative that i like more.
Like Creative Sound Blaster X-Fi Titanium Fatal1ty has EAX 5.0. These cards come with dedicated XRAM(sound RAM you can say upto 64 MB)So it's a thing to be looked into.

So look for those imo EAX HD stuff and all that.

And from what i know who use Sennheiser HD 555 i haven't heard any complaints about it and people here on TWC that have them simply love it.

Hope this helps.

I agree with this sound card,it works well

[atraps]

After much research I went with the HT OMEGA Claro Halo ($200 USD). For your use I would recommend the Omega Striker 7.1. There is certainly no reason for you to get a more expensive card. HT Omega has excellent driver compatibility + extremely good customer support if for any reason you need it.

The Omega Striker 7.1 seems like a solid card but I'm worried it won't produce sound in games as well as other cards. I'm tempted to just go with the Creative Sound Blaster Card Ishan linked. It seems they've improved the drivers since the fiasco with the crap drivers for Win7/Vista.

I use my Claro Halo with my Sennheiser HD595's. Just like the 555's they lack bass, but using the soundcard you can adjust the bass, midrange, and treble. I get very nice bass now with my 595's and the soundcard. You can't go wrong with the Stiker + 555 setup for the price BTW Amazon.com has the Sennheiser HD555 for $95, that's the cheapest I've seen them from a reputable online seller.

Yea the HD 555s look like a good pair of headphones but the sound leakage scares me off. Some reviewers say its like having speakers on your ears...

Damn it, wish I could test this hardware before I bought it...

[english tyrant]

Out of interest. Does a dedi soundcard actually make THAT much difference? Or is it just an audiophile thing?

[Zerosliver]

Probably is important for anyone that makes/composes/whatever music on the computer.

[Top-Tier-Tech]

After much research I went with the HT OMEGA Claro Halo ($200 USD). For your use I would recommend the Omega Striker 7.1. There is certainly no reason for you to get a more expensive card. HT Omega has excellent driver compatibility + extremely good customer support if for any reason you need it.

I use my Claro Halo with my Sennheiser HD595's. Just like the 555's they lack bass, but using the soundcard you can adjust the bass, midrange, and treble. I get very nice bass now with my 595's and the soundcard. You can't go wrong with the Stiker + 555 setup for the price BTW Amazon.com has the Sennheiser HD555 for $95, that's the cheapest I've seen them from a reputable online seller.

[Jaketh]

Creative is the only one that makes sense if your going to play games

[Top-Tier-Tech]

A sound card like creative is going to try to artificially enhance the audio one way or another. A card like the HT Omega is going to simply provide high-quality stereo sound on headphones. I used to mess around with gaming headsets (" 7.1 surround " etc.), and I found that for raw quality you're better off sticking with a solid sound card and stereo headphones. Audio enhancers and the like are ultimately crap. Freddie would concur, I didn't believe him until after I got my Sennheiser's and sound card. The 555's are indeed open, there is sound leakage. The good thing about that is you don't have heat buildup as they "breathe" and the audio sounds clearer, not to mention it's easier on your ears (if you care about your hearing later in life )

[atraps]

Alright. Well I took Chaob's advice and went with the Striker 7.1 and Sennheiser HD555. I'll post a review when I get them.

Thanks for the help everyone.

[atraps]

I did get them and all I can say is wow. The sound card produces excellent sound for $65 (bought it off Ebay), and the drivers work flawlessly with Windows 7 64-bit.

The headphones are amazing as well. Much more comfortable then my old ones. The sound leakage is much lower then I expected, around 5-10%. The bass is a bit weak, but like Chaob said it can be tweaked with the right sound card. One problem with the headphones is the plug. It's 1/4" by default and comes with a big 1/8" adapter. The plug with the adapter is about as long as a pen which can be a problem in some situations.

Overall I'm very pleased. Thanks all for the input.

[Top-Tier-Tech]

The plug with the adapter is about as long as a pen which can be a problem in some situations.

All audiophile type headphones use the 1/4" plug. A 3.5mm male to female cable came with my soundcard so I plug the adapter into that rather than directly on the back of the soundcard. No chance of the adapter ever getting snapped off that way. Glad to hear your experience was as good as mine with Sennheiser