Just bought Sennheiser 497's...

[maddog2030]

I just bought a pair of Sennheiser 497 Headphones and was thinking about getting a sound card. I am no audiophile, so am I really missing out on anything by using the onboard AC97' on my MSI KT333? If so, what in particular?

I play 3D games occassionally, but I mainly listen to music. I've never had a premium speaker setup for my computer (my 2.1 setup now is great for 2.1 - it's easily capable of doing well beyond what I push it), so I'm not even aware of what I'm missing out on with a quality 5.1 setup. But getting a 5.1 setup is for another holiday. 🙂 For now, I'm just settling on headphones and the 2.1 setup.

Anyway, if you guys think that there will be a large and very noticeable improvement in getting something like a SB Live! or TB Santa Cruz, I'd really like to go for. I don't mind shelling out the cash if it will actually make a big impact 🙂. I'm just a little bit wary of the opinions of audiophiles who demand perfection 🙂. Thanks in advance for the help!

 

[BeauJangles]

I bought a Phillips Acoustic Edge sound card for $20 bucks a while ago. Best money I've spent. I went from my onboard sound to this and it was like night and day. Although the Acoustic Edge is not as good as TBSC, according to reviews it isn't that far behind. I would highly recommend getting a decent sound card, even if you listen to music... everything just sounds better 🙂

 

[Yoshi]

I would also recommend getting a better sound card. Those Senn's have good resolution and detail and will bring out all of the shortcomings of inexpensive onboard sound.

 

[Derango]

Originally posted by: Yoshi
I would also recommend getting a better sound card. Those Senn's have good resolution and detail and will bring out all of the shortcomings of inexpensive onboard sound.

Yea, I definitly agree. I never realized how much my laptops sound card sucked untill I got these headphones. Very revealing.