Solved! Should I use the USB dongle for logitech g430 headset or onboard sound card?

[forgetfulzee]

Hello all. I'd like to ask for advice regarding my new logitech g430 headset. It's my first time owning a virtual surround headset. It comes with a usb dongle that acts as a soundcard. Now I have realtek alc887 - 8 channel high definition audio codec as onboard sound card.

Upon checking the advanced tab in the sound property when using the usb dongle, sample rate can only go up as high as 16bit 48000 hz (DVD Quality). Then I tried connecting the g430 headset directly to my front panel audio jack as it is the hd connection of my board and sample rate goes up to 24bit 192000 hz (Studio Quality).

I am not much of an audiophile and cannot tell the difference in sound quality. Both can virtually give me 7.1 surround sound. I want to ask you guys since you know more about this. Maybe I'm just missing something when I listen to 24bit 192000 hz. I'm guessing it should be better because of the high numbers. I use my headphone for music and mainly gaming. Should I use my onboard or the usb dongle? Will there be a difference that I'm just not experienced enough to hear? If you can give me a simple explanation about the sample rates, I'd appreciate it. Oh and btw, if I'm using the usb dongle i need to keep the logitech gaming software running in the background with dolby turned on for the surround to work as opposed to plugging it directly to the onboard sound card which gives me the 7.1 sound when it's set in windows 7. Thanks in advance.

 

[coolguybaddude]

Since you are the user & you say that you can't find any major difference in sound quality that is worth noticing.
So you can choose anyone as the effect is null. i.e. we dont have a worthy reason to accept or reject anyone.
For simplicity choose the onboard & do something worthy with the usb card & if you want to crunch on numbers vice versa.
Feel free to ask more & choose the solution for completing what you begun.

 

[someguynamedmatt]

Unless you have a $150+ set of high-quality headphones, you won't be able to notice the difference between sample rates. Use your onboard audio for simplicity's sake.

I myself have a pair of Shure SRH-940s, running on a Maverick Audio D1 outboard DAC/amplifier combo - with some aftermarket ear pads and the likes, it's a little over $600 total, and I can confidently tell you that you'll be a lot more limited by the quality of your actual music files than your hardware sample rates... actually, anything over 16/44100 will be hard to differentiate between. Don't worry about these things until you feel the need to drop a lot of money into a more serious audio setup.

Besides that, modern onboard audio is actually quite acceptable. Again, I can hear the difference between an onboard processor and a quality outboard DAC, but that difference is so small that you'll need an extremely sensitive pair of headphones to hear it in the first place. For a gaming headset, it will serve you perfectly well.