Was never really big into the sound thing but I recently got a pair of AD700s to play games and listen to my deadmau5. I've heard that sound cards are miles better than onboard sound and I'm willing to spend up to ~$120, though if the difference won't be noticeable cheaper is always better. Also, if I can get significantly better performance for say $50 please tell me and I'll simply save up some cash.
The Asus Xonar series are good for gaming/music. I have a pair of AD700s paired with a Asus Xonar D1. The AD700 do not need a headphone amp so you wouldn't need to justify paying extra for a card with built-in headphone amp.
If the AD700s are anything like the HD555s they will benefit from an amp. However I'm under the impression that they do not need an amp at all. You could always grab yourself some external DAC with a headphone amp within that price range. Might be super awesome possum.
I know from experience the difference between onboard and even a cheap sound card is there. Is it radically different? Varies from person to person. For gaming purposes not so much as most sound is being processed via the CPU or lacking Direct 3D. Not many games do have that "umph" like they used to. However, it is more due to trying to play older games under windows Vista/7. Even under ALchemy the difference is still there.
I would get a Xonar with a built-in amp. I myself now use X-Fi Xtreme Audio => Pioneer 650W amp => HD555's. Not getting a sound card yet tho cause I need to buy a GTX570 and a Crucial 64GB SSD to the 1055T/GTX275 PC... But yes, an amped Xonar would be a good choice I think.
I've tried both a non headphone amp and a headphone amp connection and the difference was massive. Either way, the HD 555s still sound like 50 dollar headphones.
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