Setting up headphones for gaming (What do I need to simulate surround sound)?

unholyonslaught

Prominent
Aug 15, 2017
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Im looking to simulate surround sound for gaming purposes. My laptop uses an ESS Sabre Digital-to-Analog Converter (DAC), though the exact model is difficult to discern, and a Texas Instruments Burr-Brown headphone amp (yes I have a gaming laptop, dont shame me). I know very little about how this whole thing works, I've been using a pair of 1st gen A50s to great content, only for them to finally crap out on me. I was going to grab a pair of Lucidsound LS40s because I had heard great things and loved that they could be stand-alone headphones, but when I asked about it online, I was encouraged to toss the headsets and get a pair of headphones

So my question is, can I simply buy a nice pair of headphones and plug and play with what's onboard? Do I need go get an amp like the Sennheiser DX1000 or a card/amp like the Sound BlasterX G5? I'm trying to keep this under $300 (though I'm flexible with that number, hard ceiling is $400). Need some help guys