Recommended sound card?

[Guest]

So I finally finished building my pc and the last thing I need is the sound card. I know nothing about sound cards so it would be great if I can have some help. The headset I own is the Astro A40 2013 with the mixamp as well. What would be a good sound card with 7.1 audio with a optical output? Anything below 150$ would be good. The motherboard I have is a GIGABYTE GA-970A-D3P.

Edit: I just found out that it'll probably need Dolby Digital Live

 

[edogawa]

If you are using optical output you do not need a sound card. A sound card is a digital audio converter that converts digital zeroes and ones to analogue sound that you can hear.

If you use the optical output you will bypass the DAC on the sound card and use the DAC on the Astro headset which renders the sound card pointless.

So basically the best option with an Astro A40 is to use your motherboards on-board optical output. Even if you were to get a sound card in the $100 to $200 dollar range it would be wasted on something as low quality as an Astro headset(sound quality wise that is).

 

[Guest]

If you are using optical output you do not need a sound card. A sound card is a digital audio converter that converts digital zeroes and ones to analogue sound that you can hear.

If you use the optical output you will bypass the DAC on the sound card and use the DAC on the Astro headset which renders the sound card pointless.

So basically the best option with an Astro A40 is to use your motherboards on-board optical output. Even if you were to get a sound card in the $100 to $200 dollar range it would be wasted on something as low quality as an Astro headset(sound quality wise that is).

Where's the optical output at? There's an S/PDIF Output but I can't find the optical output. Would it be next to the usb's in the back?

 

[edogawa]

S/PDIF is the optical port. Can you verify if your motherboard supports Dolby digital first though?
If you do NEED a Dolby digital sound card I can give you some options.

 

[Guest]

S/PDIF is the optical port. Can you verify if your motherboard supports Dolby digital first though?
If you do NEED a Dolby digital sound card I can give you some options.

No, it doesn't support Dolby digital. It'd be great if you can provide me with some options.

 

[edogawa]

Some cheap options would be the following:

http/www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16829132052

http/www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16829132006


Also, since you have the mixamp, it should already support dolby headphone too.

 

[thee_prisoner]

Also remember that optical(S/PDIF) can't do true/discrete surround sound. S/PDIF can only support 2.1 uncompressed digital signal. SO anything above 2.1 is simulated surround. Only analog, display port or HDMI can give you true surround.

A sound card like Edogawa said will just to a pass through to your headset. The sound card won't do anything.

If your mobo has an optical output, use that and forget about the sound card if you are just using the Astros. The mix amp works pretty well but the headset themselves are only average.

PS: Most mobo say they support Dolby, DTS and etc and they do support those codecs but the problem is that almost all mobos don't include the software for Dolby and DTS. It costs licensing fees to add those.

be seeing you, the Prisoner...

 

[edogawa]

Thee is correct too, optical will carry 2.1 uncompressed, but it will only carry 5.1 and 7.1 compressed via DDL.

 

[Guest]

Some cheap options would be the following:

http/www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16829132052

http/www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16829132006


Also, since you have the mixamp, it should already support dolby headphone too.

Thanks, I'll probably get the DGX 5.1 for now.