Do I need a dedicated sound card to power gaming headset around $150?

snake8

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I am looking at purchasing a new gaming headset around $100-$150. In my research, I have been reading that some people say that you need a dedicated sound card to adequately power headsets in this price range and some people that the onboard audio is good enough. I have a newer pc from this year (2018).

Most of the posts I read are older so I am wondering in the onboard sound is good enough to power gaming headsets in this price range. Thank you.
 
Solution
you can do this,

right click on your recording device, there should be a tab that says listen...than a box you can check that says Listen to this device.
click it...and now you can hear yourself. i had normally plug things in the back because my front port didn't work. i did once had an issue with my mic not working at all but it turn out to be a driver issue...aka Window 10 and my Realtek driver was out of date. now it is also possible that you could have gotten a defeated mic which amazon will replace with zero issue.

jive

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Hi,

The only thing important is if your mobo's get an amplified output for your headphone and If your headphone need one.

In my case 8-9 year ago I bought a pair Senheiser 555 or 665, I don't remember which one, but when I tell the seller It's for gaming He tell me exactly what I tell you. At this time my mobo dind't have amplified output so I bought an Asus Sonar Essence XTX. I never regret it in still today 6-8 mobo later I still used this sound card with the a pair of Grado 325e and never regret it, for gaming, for musics even for cinema.

All of that mostly for gaming... I'm nuts. For your gaming headset without microphone try grado s60 or s125 you will never regret it. the prie of Grado Prestige Series SR125e 150$ on amazon may be less if you search a bit.
 

finitekosmos

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I think this has more to do with the Gain. The average impedance delivered by a headphone jack is 32-300 ohms. For most headphones this is perfectly fine. however if you are purchasing high impedance headphones rated to 600 ohms then you may need to pair the headphones with an audio card that can match the headphones impedance.

You should be able to check the specification of the headphones to check their impedance. Some motherboards incorporate a built in headphone jack that offers this kind of gain, but you'll need to check the motherboard spec to be sure. I use a sound card myself in my machine and I use a Creative Labs Sound Blaster ZxR, this card allows me to adjust the gain from 300 Ohms to 600 Ohms within the drivers. This card is fairly expesnive and there are probably cheaper options that will do the job for you. Good luck! :)
 

xraulb

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let us know which headset you thinking of getting

shp9500/ with v modo boompro mic are easy to drive
Hyper X alpha are a little harder to drive but still can be power by game console controller or your pc.

just named two examples
 

snake8

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I am leaning towards the Sennheiser 506065 GAME ONE, but am still open to any suggestions or recommendations. Thank you. Also it looks like my MSI motherboard has the RealTek ALC887 codec (not sure if that tells you anything about it's amplification capabilities or not.)
 

xraulb

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does it have to be close back? if not...shp9500 with vobo boompro mic. it be like 100 in total but the audio quality would be amazing compare to any gaming headset out there
 

xraulb

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no, the 9500 are like 70$ and the mic 30$

https://www.amazon.com/Philips-SHP9500S-Precision-Over-ear-Headphones/dp/B00ENMK1DW/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1527211128&sr=8-1&keywords=shp9500s

https://www.amazon.com/V-MODA-BoomPro-Microphone-Gaming-Communication/dp/B00BJ17WKK/ref=pd_sim_23_1?_encoding=UTF8&pd_rd_i=B00BJ17WKK&pd_rd_r=9XNZHV59FXC1HJY9QSBA&pd_rd_w=ClHat&pd_rd_wg=MDCCR&psc=1&refRID=9XNZHV59FXC1HJY9QSBA


these are the pair i like to use, also if you do want to get a dac since you do have the money for one you can grab this one

https://www.amazon.com/Syba-SD-DAC63057-Stereo-Headphone-Amplifier/dp/B009WN7QT4/ref=pd_rhf_gw_p_img_2?_encoding=UTF8&psc=1&refRID=21R6ZX53TFE8S1MV7V83

just search it on amazon. its stock over there

...140$ in total for a great headphone, good mic, and nice/amp.

or just 100 for the headphone/mic combo

it is one possible route you can go. i personally love this and many do as well.

 

xraulb

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no you dont need a dac for those but i put it in there because it fit your 150$.

i dont think you can say if a headphone is made for "Gaming" what you want is a headphone that Sounds Good to great because they do than they will reproduce the audio in game great. since the shp9500 are open back you do get a larger sound stage and the imaging are good as well.

the mic is a mic..it sounds good. Google shp9500 gaming and you see it gets a lot of praise. The Dac i showed you is something that could help you if you want it. it has 3 options as well. 2 that you should care more about.

D means direct audio with no EQ and
B means bass boost

now i will warn, with any mic including any "Gaming" mic that uses a slit audio/mic cable could have buzzing sounds. this is cause because of grounding issue. if your system does have said issue than the Dac i showed you will fixed that nicely.

edit: for personal references i owned Turtle beaches 60$, g533 150$, and the G4me one 250$...and these 70$ simple killed them those 3.
 

xraulb

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video review of the mic

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kP51RrOXdrQ&ab_channel=Podcastage

video review of the headphones

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aipXii-qWiQ&ab_channel=ZReviews

video review of the Dac if you need it or want it. (again if you have the buzzing sound when you speak than this will fix this for you///for any headset you choose.)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A234flP1prA&t=2839s&ab_channel=ZReviews

watch these 3 plus any more you wish and hope this helps.
 

snake8

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Just wanted to say thanks again for all the great info. I will watch those videos. It looks like I am in between $100-$150, which is where I want to be, especially if it means I do not have to buy a sound card. Just wanted to ask one more thing, I have a set of Plantronics Backbeat Pro headphones. Do you know if it will take a mic (like the one you linked)? And if so, how would you rank the Plantronics vs. the shp9500's? And would my motherboard be able to drive the Plantronics?
 

xraulb

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does it take a 3.5 jack? if it does you can use the V moda boompro mic yes, from the picture it looks like a normal jack which means that yes...you can simple use this has your headphones. (just check the your plug..)

any headphones with a 3.5 jack should work without issue. i have never used this headphone in my life so i can not tell you how the audio quality, sound stage, nor imaging are. they do seem to be wireless which means it power itself thus you dont need anything at all when wireless.
 

snake8

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Yes, they are bluetooth but I do not have bluetooth on my computer so I would use the 3.5mm jack. Can I just use the v moda mic from 3.5mm to 3.5mm or do I need to use the splitter that goes to both mic and headphone?
 

xraulb

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most motherboard dont have a 2 in one port...at least my does not. no worry because the V mic brings its own splitter. if your motherboard does have a 2 in one than of course. if anything you can play the Dac. 30 for the mic and another 40 for the Dac..its a possible
 

snake8

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xraulb, v-moda Boom pro mic was just delivered :) I connected it to my Plantronics BackBeat Pro headphones and then used the splitter into the front mic and headphones jack on my Win10 computer. Anything special I have to do in Win 10 settings to get it to work. Not having any luck getting the mic to work but I can hear sound through the headphones.
 

xraulb

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right click your volume icon on the bottom right,
click Recording Device
now speak and see if any of the bards lights up green
if so than right click and make it default.

if you dont than right click and press show disabled devices. than redo the test

 

snake8

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I am barely getting 1-2 green bars unless I jack the mic boost up to +30 db but then I'm told that a lot of my game sound from my headphones is coming thru my mic. Any way to reduce that? I have tried dropping the mic boost to +10 db or +20 db but then I am told that I cut in and out when I talk. Any suggestions?
 

xraulb

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oh dont worry about that, as long there is movement its good. start at zero DP.

go into discord, have a new server by yourself. than go into chrome incognito mode than go into discord, create a new name without using a email. join the new server you create yourself with this.,

now you can speak and hear yourself through discord and know how you will sound like IN discord. play with the advanage option in discord to get the sound right

hell, iv me in discord and i walk it through with you lol