Onboard sound with amp or HT omega claro?

[notigg]

I have the P6T motherboard... it has onboard sound. Would I get better sound if I somehow connected an amp between my headphones and my onboard sound.... or if I went with an HT omega claro ?

for the record... I am looking primarily to game... and I was incredibly happy with an asus xonar STX . However I simply cannot get an asus xonar ST to work (I had two sent to me) so these seem like my other two options for good sound. any ideas?

here is my motherboard link

Enjoy high-end sound system on your PC!
The onboard 8-channel HD audio (High Definition Audio, previously codenamed Azalia) CODEC enables high-quality 192KHz/24-bit audio output, jack-sensing feature, retasking functions and multi-streaming technology that simultaneously sends different audio streams to different destinations. You can now talk to your partners on the headphone while playing a multi-channel network games. All of these are done on one computer.

http://www.asus.com/Motherboards/Intel_Socket_1366/P6T/

 

[Anarchist420]

You'll need a DAC and an amp, but it will probably sound better than an HT Omega Claro, largely because the HT Omega Claro is in your case without an EMI shield while the DAC/Amp will be isolated from your computer.

 

[jolancer]

Im no audio expert. so am curious... I googled DAC so i know what it does... however I'm missing why he should use it between his Onboard and headset? am i wrong or isnt the Onboard audio already doing the job of the DAC, and another would be redundant?

EDIT: side question, though no one commented on the aftermarket card option yet... since he's only using a headset(2 channels i assume) theres no need for an aftermarket card no? as long as he usess an external amp.

EDIT: sorry for the dumb question, think i mighta found it though... the DAC would be for the S/PDIF output?

 

[The Boston Dangler]

the biggest improvement in sound quality almost always comes from better headphones/speakers. they are the only part that actually makes sound.

 

[darkswordsman17]

OP, any reason you're focused on those two cards? Especially since your focus is gaming, I would think the X-Fi Titanium HD would be high on your list.

As for onboard with an amp or sound card, I would say the latter.

Im no audio expert. so am curious... I googled DAC so i know what it does... however I'm missing why he should use it between his Onboard and headset? am i wrong or isnt the Onboard audio already doing the job of the DAC, and another would be redundant?

EDIT: side question, though no one commented on the aftermarket card option yet... since he's only using a headset(2 channels i assume) theres no need for an aftermarket card no? as long as he usess an external amp.

EDIT: sorry for the dumb question, think i mighta found it though... the DAC would be for the S/PDIF output?

DAC is digital to analog converter. Its also used to describe the product that houses the actual DAC chip, and in that instance can accept various digital input (often SPDIF, coaxial, USB, or HDMI). A DAC chip is one of the components of a sound card (which is basically just a board to interface with the computer, and then has a sound processor, DAC, ADC, and then the input/output connectors).

Yeah, the chip on the motherboard is basically a DAC/ADC/audio processor all in one. Newer ones are actually fairly decent. The biggest factor on their quality is how much noise they get from the rest of the board/computer, which usually would be inaudible.

In absolute terms, you're right, but he's seeking improved quality. He really doesn't have to use an external amp either, as the onboard chip also includes some rudimentary form of that.

One reason why a DAC might be preferred on computer is to offer the best protection against electronic interference. There are also quite a lot of DAC/amps that include both in a single "box". Generally the amp on a sound card or onboard sound is very basic, but that doesn't always mean a dedicated amp will improve things much.

With headphone amps, assuming its able to properly drive your headphones with low distortion, the biggest factor is output impedance matching, and that's a total crapshoot (depends on headphones you have and the output of your "amp"; ideally you'd want it to be low, 2 or below but the more impedance your headphones have the higher it can be with little to no impact on frequency response) as it pretty much never gets listed in specs or measured in testing.

the biggest improvement in sound quality almost always comes from better headphones/speakers. they are the only part that actually makes sound.

This is true, and so depending on what headphones this might be the most cost effective thing to do.

 

[darkswordsman17]

http://nwavguy.blogspot.com/2011/02/gain-and-headphone-ampsdacs.html

He has some other good articles as well.