Re: Hardware
Posted: Wed Dec 25, 2013 1:44 pm
The whole headphone idea is great - but you are dead wrong with the soundcard not being important. ESPECIALLY important when you have headphones. I went with just the headphones and board - issue is that when you play some nice music, and get to a silent bit, you will hear noise - also sound reproduction just isn't there.
You will need something quiet for your headphones. Sweet point is around $150 for your headphones - more - going a little silly. Less, you will get poor quality. The best of course, is to go and listen to a pair. You need closed ones, as open back will leak sound and annoy your wife. My recommendation is the Audio Technica ATH M50 (closed). The ATH AD700/x is also wonderful (have a pair), but is open back (the sound flows over your ears, giving you wonderful, wonderful positioning (which is compromised in a closed back headset). If you want to go wild, the 900x is even better. No need to go for more.
This is how to set them up --> http://www.head-fi.org/t/475872/asus-xo ... asic-guide
"At least the 780 GPU's have display ports..." On Video cards, the AMD has display ports too, I am running 3 monitors off a single card, you just need an active box (about $15) for one of the monitors w/ eyefinity.
Edit : Forgot to mention some headphones have high impedance, require an amplifier to work properly - the sound card is amazing because it already has one on board! It also includes replaceable components on the board that let you go silly and custom the board if you suddenly become an audiophile. If you can score one of these things for cheap, awesome!
You will need something quiet for your headphones. Sweet point is around $150 for your headphones - more - going a little silly. Less, you will get poor quality. The best of course, is to go and listen to a pair. You need closed ones, as open back will leak sound and annoy your wife. My recommendation is the Audio Technica ATH M50 (closed). The ATH AD700/x is also wonderful (have a pair), but is open back (the sound flows over your ears, giving you wonderful, wonderful positioning (which is compromised in a closed back headset). If you want to go wild, the 900x is even better. No need to go for more.
This is how to set them up --> http://www.head-fi.org/t/475872/asus-xo ... asic-guide
"At least the 780 GPU's have display ports..." On Video cards, the AMD has display ports too, I am running 3 monitors off a single card, you just need an active box (about $15) for one of the monitors w/ eyefinity.
Edit : Forgot to mention some headphones have high impedance, require an amplifier to work properly - the sound card is amazing because it already has one on board! It also includes replaceable components on the board that let you go silly and custom the board if you suddenly become an audiophile. If you can score one of these things for cheap, awesome!